Yes, this actually still happens in wineries, and not just for fun! Foot treading is a very gentle way to break up some of the berries when doing a whole cluster fermentation. A couple weeks ago, Thomas, our winemaking intern from Champagne, lightly tread (with sanitized feet!) on these whole bunches before we sent them to a tank. After a few days, the natural yeast from the berries started fermenting the juice released from the treading. For us, winemaking is never a recipe: we only do whole cluster when the vintage, vine age, and vineyard are right for it, and we only foot tread in a tiny, firm berried vintage like 2022. #dumolwinery #dumol #harvest2022 #vintage2022 #winegrowing #californiawinecountry - @dumolwinery