Dozens of people whooped and cheered as they watched teams of grape stompers race to smash grapes and make grape juice as quickly as possible at Port Townsend Vineyards.

The stomping, along with country music and activities for children, was part of the 15th annual Jefferson County Farm Tour, with the vineyards being one of the stops on the tour.

“The feet are pretty much the best tool you could really use because you can feel the grape,” said master of ceremonies and winemaker Ben Thomas during the event.

“You can get the right pressure on the grape; squeeze out the juice. Back in the old days before they added yeast … some of the yeast came on people’s feet … we don’t typically do that anymore,” Thomas joked.

But if they were to actually do it, “It would probably be just fine. It might even be delicious. We can try it,” Thomas said.

One of the teams was made up of Lisa and Joe Hedrick.

“I’m going to stomp them because my husband and I will do anything for free wine,” Lisa Hedrick told the crowd just before the contest began.

Fellow stomper Sym Sebastian, with team Sunfield Stompers, said, “I’ve been been training for the last two weeks.”

Each team had two members: One to stomp, and the other person to clear grape skins from a small juice filter inside the barrel. The juice was collected in a plastic bucket.

It’s the first year the vineyard has been on the Farm Tour. The tour celebrates locally grown food and farm-made products. It is an opportunity for members of the community to learn from and engage with area farms.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Port Townsend Vineyards owner Jens Coppenrath of the Farm Tour. He was excited that the tour would give people an opportunity to learn more about the 11.5-acre vineyard.

NEW ON THE TOUR

Port Townsend Vineyards began planting its Portuguese Hill vineyard in 2015. The site is just one of three locations the business operates in the city; there’s also a winery at 2460 Sims Way and a downtown tasting room at 215 Taylor St.

Guided vineyard tours during the Farm Tour allowed visitors to dive into the world of winemaking and learn about lesser-known varieties of grapes, such as iskorka and garanoir, as well as the more well-known chardonnay, pinot noir and others.

Coppenrath said the Farm Tour is “very inspiring. I think it is wonderful that we have the opportunity in Jefferson County” to get to know the community and other farm tour participants, he said.

“It’s a great network and wonderful to have.”

Country musician Buck Ellert performed his country music during the stomping.

“He’s a big fiddle guy and singer ... fun time to listen to him play,” Coppenrath said.

For youngsters, “We [had] animals there, some fun activities for kids,” Coppenrath said.

Coppenrath said the young vineyard is just getting to the point, after two and a half years, at which the vines are growing into their distinctive look.

This past year was a hard year for the vineyard because of the early, wet weather, he said.

HISTORIC BUILDING

The business is also remodeling the 1885 Clapp Building at 725 Water St.

Coppenrath said the remodeling project was a “major undertaking,” and he hoped it would be ready by next summer.

The business has more than 20 employees, Coppenrath said.

“We’re growing rapidly,” he said, adding that he planned to add more positions next year.

“We have a full business plan,” he said, which has included planning the vineyards in 2015, starting remodeling of the Clapp Building in 2016, and opening the tasting room in 2017.

By 2022, Coppenrath wants to be at a point where he can serve its local artisan wines on tap.

At present, the vineyard offers its Discovery white and Discovery red blends on tap.

“We wanted to create something very local … our big goal is to get into sparkling wines and create a bubble wine as well as a white rosé on tap,” he said.