SUMMERSVILLE, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – This weekend, all those who visit Kirkwood Winery & Isaiah Morgan Distillery in Summersville will have the opportunity to get their feet dirty. On Friday, September 17, and Saturday, September 18, the winery will host the 30th Annual Grape Stomp Festival.
Throughout the event, festivalgoers will have the chance to run in a 5K race that benefits the local Children’s Home Society, shop through various vendor booths, spend the day tasting wine, listen to live entertainment and- in honor of the festival’s namesake- stomp grapes.
Elizabeth Dix, who has co-owned the winery with her husband, Frank, for the last four years, says she is excited to keep the tradition alive.
According to Dix, the winery’s original owner, Rodney Facemire, started the event in 1991. The winery had opened the year prior in 1990. He chose for the festival to fall on the third week in September because it aligns with the grapes’ harvest.
Since the first festival three decades ago, the event has grown, welcoming visitors from West Virginia and beyond. The last festival in 2019, saw more than 800 people, Dix shared.
“We are looking forward to it,” Dix said of this year’s event. “We love this time of year, harvest time. It’s fun, and we look forward to it. People can come in and try the wines and enjoy the entertainment. We just love having them here and seeing a big crowd.”
While the opportunity to taste Kirkwood’s wine and participate in other activities is a popular attraction for the festival, Dix says people love to jump in the wooden wine vat and stomp grapes.
“Everyone wants to get in and stomp around. It’s not something you do every day.”
Because Kirkwood attracts tourists from all over, Dix says it isn’t uncommon for visitors to stop by thinking they can stomp grapes year-round.
“This is the one time that they can do that.”
Dix estimates that the winery uses 40 bushels of grapes to fill the grape stomping vat each year at festival time. One bushel is 40 pounds of grapes.
Not all of these grapes are harvested on-site. According to Dix, because Kirkwood is a farm winery, 25 percent of what the business produces must come from their own harvest. Typically, they can harvest 1,000 pounds of Concord, Catawba and Niagara grapes per year. The business currently produces roughly 40,000 bottles of wine per year on-site.
To fill the vat, the winery does use some of its own grapes and then buys the rest; however, no grape goes wasted. Prior to filling the vat, Dix says they crush the grapes to get the juice for later usage, leaving only the unusable pulp behind. The pulps are added to a yeast and sugar mixture in the vat which creates bubbles as it begins to ferment.
This mixture is what people can stomp around on at the festival. And don’t worry! It isn’t turned into wine when the event is over.
After missing 2020 to COVID-19, Dix says the winery is happy to continue the tradition and celebrate a successful harvest.
“We are looking to having folks here again. We missed them last year and love being able to bring something to our community. Folks come and stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores when they come into town for the festival and different things. We have been very active in our community, and we hope this helps continue to bring tourists to our area.”
Tickets to the festival can be purchased at the gate for $12 on Friday and $25 on Saturday for those 21 and over. Admission for those 21 and under is $5 and children 12 and younger may enter for free.
Learn more about the 30th Annual Grape Stomp Festival here or online at kirkwood-wine.com.
