No plans this weekend? Now you do! Grab your friends and family and head to Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville for one of the most fun fall festivities... GRAPE STOMPING!
Brotherhood Winery has been part of the Hudson Valley for nearly 200 years. Founded in 1839, it’s known as America’s Oldest Winery (in continuous operation) so they definitely know a thing or two about making wine! The large vineyard was founded in 1835 by John Jaques, an elder in the Washington Presbyterian Church, who first produced wine for sacramental use. Now... just a few (short) years later, Brotherhood is run by Cesar Baeza and the families of Luis Chadwick and Pablo Castro, who have deep roots in the famous winegrowing region of Maule Valley in Chile.
You can visit the winery year round for tours and tastings... but fall is where the fun begins!
Every Saturday and Sunday through mid-October, you can head to Brotherhood and literally stomp grapes the old fashioned way... with your feet!
Yep… you heard that right! The stompers get to take off their shoes, jump into a barrel of grapes and see how much juice you can squeeze out! Stompers are paired with a mucker, who helps collect the grape juice in hopes of collecting the most! Whoever collects the most out of the three teams wins a small Grape Stomping Champion bottle of wine... unless they're under 21... then they win a pencil that smells like grapes. Pretty much the same thing, right?!
The weekly Grape Stomp is fun for the whole family, so if you'd like to give it a shot-- come spend a day at the winery!
And here's the best part… at least in my opinion...
WHUD's Jimmy Lyles (that's me!) will be at Brotherhood Winery EVERY SUNDAY from NOON–4PM to DJ the Grape Stomp!
So come say hello, bring your friends, bring the family and get ready for a Sunday Funday!
Come stomp, sip and have some fun with me this fall at Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery in Washingtonville!
