Camilla's Granddaughter Smooshes Grapes

While digging around on the internet stalking my cousins as I usually do — I found this really cool article on Cheryl Peterson Fitzloff. She is Camilla's only surviving grandchild. It is from 2010 but it's fun to see what folks are up to.

Pat Christman, The Free Press

Inaugural grape stomp is a smash

By Pat Christman
Free Press photographer Sep 12, 2010

Cheryl Fitzloff and DeAnna Goodrich wanted to do something special for Indian Island Winery’s first ever grape stomp. The winery is a favorite destination for Fitzloff and Goodrich, so the pair wore costumes evoking the famous Italian grape stomping scene from “I Love Lucy.”

The winery opened in May as an extension of Ray and Lisa Winter’s vineyard operation south of Smith’s Mill.

The family owned and operated winery offered 14 varieties of wine in its first year and won awards for their creations.

But as any winemaker knows, good wine starts with the grapes. And those grapes need to be stomped to extract the juice.

Pairs of grape stompers spent three minutes squashing grapes with their feet, creating a mash of unappetizing-looking liquid. The mixture is strained and measured to determine how much juice was gleaned from the grapes. The four teams that extracted the most juice from the grapes earned prizes from the winery.

Of course, the winemaking process is just beginning for the Winter family. The only tasks left for the tired stompers was to hose off their feet and sample some of the wines that will be made from the fruits of their effort.