Submitted photoMaragas Winery’s fifth annual Grape Stomp is slated for Saturday at the Terrebonne winery.

Local oenophiles can get their feet wet making their favorite libation on Saturday at Maragas Winery’s Sixth Annual Grape Stomp.

The event features a tournament-style competition in which participants stomp juice out of nearly a ton of grapes picked from the winery’s vineyard to raise money for Redmond’s St. Thomas Academy.

The juice will be transformed into medal-winning wine, Maragas officials said.

“It’s more exhausting than people think,” winery co-owner Doug Maragas said of his grape stomp competition. “Everybody’s trying to pump out as much juice as possible. … (and) when you’re in half a barrel and you’re being timed, you’re going to get tired.”

Set to take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the annual event also will feature a blind tasting where people can win prizes for correctly guessing four different varietals of wine, live music from Wayne Worthen and The Allen Byer Project and an array of dishes prepared by Chef Peter Vergari.

Grape stomping is an old tradition. People used their feet to squeeze the juice from ripe grapes into a bucket or barrel where it can be fermented and turned into wine.

It’s long since been replaced by the use of wine presses and other mechanical methods of maceration, but the pastime has become a competition that culminates with a world championship in Santa Rosa, California, in October.

Grape stomping has been depicted on Roman sarcophagi dating back to the third century, children’s books and on an iconic episode of “I Love Lucy” in which Lucy Ricardo picks a fight with an Italian woman while standing in a waist high barrel of grapes.

Grape stomping also gives a winery’s guests and supporters the perfect party game to play when they celebrate the start — or, if this pattern of warm springs and hot summers persists, the finish — of their yearly harvest season.

Maragas said his winery’s grape stomp, which he may have to hold before Labor Day weekend if these early harvests continue, brings a crowd of 600 to 800 guests to his business each year. That’s about half the people who visit the Turner-based Willamette Valley Vineyards for its yearly Oregon Grape Stomp Championships and Harvest Celebration.

Willamette Valley Vineyards is hosting its 25th grape stomp competition.

“(Our grape stomp) has become an annual tradition for people near and far and we do see a lot of repeat visitors,” said Christine Collier, the vineyard’s winery director. “Some families plan their get-togethers (sic) over this weekend every year.”

Maragas, who called Willamette Valley Vineyards “king of the Oregon grape stomp,” said he’s also seen a lot of repeat guests at his winery’s event.

Maragas is not certain about that, however, as he’s never kept records of who has competed or who has won each year’s competition.

“We should keep a list of the people who compete but we don’t,” he said, explaining he’s so busy at each event he doesn’t think to write down this information until it’s too late.

Maragas vowed to start keeping track of people’s names at this year’s celebration.

He also promised that the fruits of this year’s stompers will be as good as they have been in the past. The winery’s 2013 Central Oregon Tootsie, a Greek dessert wine made with the juice produced at its 2013 grape stomp, won one of 17 silver medals given to a Rosé or Blush wine at the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. His 2010 Central Oregon Tootsie saw similar results at the Chronicle’s 2012 competition.

“There must be something magic in those toes,” Maragas said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7816, mmclean@bendbulletin.com