Stomping grapes with Farmer Redbeard

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I left home this morning on a beautiful fresh day to head off to Farmer Redbeard & his wife on their farm in Ashton, just up the road from Robertson! My mission? Grape stomping!! What a a lovely setting, tucked up against the Langeberg mountains with vineyards & orchards spread out under the slowly warming sun. We started off with a cup of 'moerkoffie' which is really strong & brewed over an open fire. Then it was off to the vineyards where everyone was already hard at work on the last block to be harvested - Shiraz. Up to the cellar to see how the next stage goes, with a cool machine that separates the grapes from the stalks & feeds them into a huge stainless steel tank that can hold a ton!! My fun was about to begin... after being lifted up by forklift (!) I stepped into the tank to start stomping!!! Wow, wierd feeling of grapes squishing through your toes & quite cold too! Gets a bit scary when you start sinking down deeper into the juicy mass & amazing hard work too - I built up quite a sweat!! Such a stunning experience - thanks to Albertus & Tertius & of course, Patrizia, for inviting me to experience this awesome day!

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