Cypress Bend Vineyard holds 21st annual fall festival

WAGRAM — Throngs of people experienced the serene countryside on a breezy day while enjoying a glass of wine, music, activities, vendors, and food trucks at the 21st fall festival held at Cypress Bend Vineyards on Saturday.

The Sand Band was playing under a large event tent with a wine bar and plenty of seating for patrons to savor the music, wine and food.

Food vendors and trucks were serving up tacos, BBQ, and a variety of desserts. Craft vendors had merchandise ranging from hats to table runners to ceramics to candles and more. Face painting was also available and if the shopping and music weren’t enough to keep festival goers entertained, there were a variety of more options.

Visitors could step back in time and participate in an old-fashioned grape stomp. This was how grapes were processed before the invention of the mechanical press. Friends and family, young and old stepped up to give it a try.

“We are replicating the old ways for entertainment purposes. It fits in with the harvest theme,” said James Alexander, Cypress Bend’s winemaker.

For the purposes of a competition, four small wooden barrels, with a hole in the bottom, sat on a raised platform with a jar underneath each. Participants had 3 minutes to stomp as much juice out of the grapes and into the jar as they could. Many people squealed as the grapes squished between their toes.

“I didn’t like doing that. It felt icky and nasty,” said 5-year-old Kiyomi, who participated with her mother.

At the end of 3 minutes, James Alexander and Theresa Bick, another Cypress Bend employee, measured the output in each jar. The winner of each round was awarded the chance to pick their own bagful of grapes from the vineyard’s pick-your-own section.

The fall festival also offered tours of the vineyard in an open-air wagon pulled by a tractor. Long-time employee Cullen Edwards drove and explained to patrons the different muscadine grapes (Noble, Carlos, and Magnolia) grown at Cypress Bend and what the vineyard has going on in each season. He also explained how and when the grapes are pruned and harvested.

Vineyard owner Tina Smith gave behind-the-scenes tours of winery operations. Visitors could see the crusher and press, which is the equipment used to extract the juice from the grapes, as well as the multiple 2700-gallon storage tanks for the extracted juice. She explained the process from harvest to finished product.

Cypress Bend planted their first grapes in 2002 and opened to the public in 2005 (though they started the festival before this). They have 35 acres of muscadine grapes that produce about 100 tons of grapes a year which they turn into award-winning wine.

The winery is located at 21904 Riverton Road in Wagram. Check the website for hours of operation and other events.