Recalling fond memories of wine preparation.

Byline: Frank Lepore

COLUMN: Frankly Speaking

I would like to put to rest a rumor that seems to be prevalent that some Italians had a unique method of crushing grapes when making wine. Seemingly, in order to get the juice from the grapes, many of the Italian children found it expedient to stomp on the grapes with bare feet in order to get the juices flowing. It didn't happen that way. And I can comment from hands-on experience.

Way back, when I was a youngster, I was in a position to observe very closely the method by which my father and three uncles made their own wine for the approaching winter season. And I always had my shoes on during the entire process ... never was barefooted nor required to stomp on the grapes to get the juices flowing.

At that time, making wine was a heralded event.

Early in September, a truck would arrive from Worcester (via Boston) and crates of grapes would be unloaded in front of an uncle's home. Most of the time, other uncles would be involved in the entire process.

There were two types of grapes delivered. Most were red, but there were also a couple of crates of green grapes. The green ones were used for eating; the red for wine making. Overall, when the grapes were delivered, it was rather a festive day.

The red grapes were quickly carried by the children and the uncles to the rear of a then unused store. The store was located on the bottom floor of a four-apartment building owned by an uncle. Located at the rear of the store and adjacent to a nearby cellar was some type of crusher.

As I recall, the crusher also had a handle one would turn slowly. The red grapes would be in a large vat and as the handle was turned, the crusher would smash on the grapes below and the juice would ebb slowly into the channel. From the channel, the juice would end up into another large container.

I think it must have been the Prohibition era for this activity seemed to have been done in great secrecy, but the truth is I don't recall whether wine was on the prohibited list.

My uncle, always extremely creative in mechanical and woodworking matters, had also built a "presser" which was used for the next step in the wine making process. All of the grape peels would be tossed into another large vat, and the presser would eke out every last drop. The peels would later be used for fertilizer.

All of the remaining grape juice would then be drained into large barrels with each barrel having a spigot at the...

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