The stakes at Surdyk’s Annual Wine Stomp are high. Not necessarily for the winner: The winner gets a $10 Surdyk’s gift certificate, which is nice. But the loser — the loser has to drink the juice the winner made… with his or her feet.
This is the fifth year Surdyk’s and Northern Vineyards of Stillwater will haul two wine stomping barrels onto the corner of University and Hennepin. So far, organizer Melissa Surdyk says, there’s been beautiful fall weather every year.
Competitors go head to head, stomping for one minute to see who can produce the most juice. Usually, Surdyk says, it’s between one and two cups. Participants can choose whether to compete against a friend. There are two ways to look at that: On the one hand, only one of you could get the gift certificate. On the other, you know where your friend’s feet have been. Participants get a souvenir T-shirt to take home, with their grape-juice footprint stomped on it, if they choose.
Inside the wine shop, Northern Vineyards will be pouring samples of four of their wines: St. Croix (a dry red), Yellow Moccasin (a semisweet white), Ladyslipper (a blush), and Prairie Smoke (a dry white).
Robin Partch, winemaker at Northern Vineyards, says he brings about 400 pounds of grapes to the event every year. “It’s fun,” he says. “It’s the old Lucille Ball kind of thing.”
Surdyk says some of the 50 or so participants come ready to get really, really messy — including, yes, swim goggles. And cheering crowds tend to fill the parking lot.
This year, however, she wants it to feel even more festive.
“We plan to have music this year,” she says, “so I’m looking for songs that have to do with grapes and wine. But so many of them are slow. I need to find music that you can really stomp to.”
303 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612.379.3232
Saturday, September 22, noon-2 pm
$5, register online