The grape harvest
From the vineyard to the wine press, and from the grape skins to the still — how the grape harvest used to be done in our villages.
Before the olive harvest, the year had one more great celebration of work: the grape harvest. In September and October, depending on the year and how sweet the grapes had become, the vineyards filled with people. Kissamos has always been wine country, and every household wanted its own barrel for the year ahead.
In the vineyard
The harvest began early in the morning, before the sun grew hot. With small knives or shears they cut the bunches and dropped them into baskets. The children ran between the rows, eating more grapes than they picked. As with the olives, families helped one another: today in your vineyard, tomorrow in the neighbour’s.
At the wine press
The full baskets were loaded onto the animals and taken to the patitiri, the large stone or built treading vat. There the grapes were trodden underfoot, and the must ran through a channel into a vessel below. It was hard work, but also a celebration, with talk, teasing and sometimes song.
The must filled the barrels to become wine. Part of it became moustalevria or petimezi (grape-must pudding and syrup), the sweet treats of autumn.
The raki still
What was left after treading, the grape skins, was not wasted. After fermenting for a few weeks it went into the still to make tsikoudia. The raki-distilling gatherings were, and still are, among the warmest occasions in the village: a fire, potatoes roasted in the ashes, small dishes, and the first warm glass straight from the still.
Your memories
Today many vineyards have been abandoned and the old wine presses stand empty, yet the harvest and the stills still keep the tradition alive.
Do you remember the grape harvest in Vathi? Where were the village’s wine presses? Whose still was lit every autumn? Do you have a photograph? If you would like to share it, write to me and I will add it here, with your name.