Plenty to grape about

If you had asked me this morning what this was a photo of, I might not have guessed. Now I know for sure.
It's grapes in a press.
When our dear neighbours, who do everything the 'old way' said we were required to help with 'treading grapes,' we were assured by friends that it was now all done mechanically and that feet and grapes would not meet.
Erm, not so.
Our job was to help turn 1,800 kilos of grapes into a liquid, literally by treading on them. With four of us in the tub, another dealing with the sieving and another manning the barrels, we got the grapes fairly well compliant.
Then we trod some more. And some more.
When the required number of hours - and liquid - had passed we made what they called 'a cheese,' a round pile of them formed around a metal frame (which was very useful to hold onto while treading). A long rope was then wrapped around the cheese to stop it escaping once it was being pressed. The press itself simply consisted of a circular piece of wood like a table top which fitted over a metal frame, with blocks of wood on top then - a car jack.
Our neighbours, I should say, are also masters of invention.

You can see the actual treading on this link.

http://fincafranceses.blogspot.com/