Crushing

  :: Click here to view the grape treading process :: (video)

Grapes are crushed as soon as they are picked. Some are taken to the :: lagares. ::

Here, following a long harvest day, the men begin the winemaking process by marching through the piles of grapes.

Sometimes they keep pace with the help of musicians. Often they will play games similar to blind man's bluff.

The treading may continue until past midnight even though they have to get up early for the next day's harvest.

Most grapes today, however, are crushed mechanically. Machines strip the grapes from the stems, crush them and remove the seeds. If all the stems and seeds were left in the grape juice, they would give the wine a bitter, puckering taste.

Stems and seeds can be left with the grapes in the lagare because the foot crushes only the fruit. The sole of the foot is sensitive enough not to crush the stems and seeds.

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