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Posted by: John_Hamilton on 10/06/2013 03:16 PM
Updated by: thepinetree on 10/08/2013 06:41 PM
Expires: 01/01/2018 12:00 AM
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Murphys Worked Magic Again for the 2013 Grape Stomp & Street Fair. ~By John Hamilton
Murphys, CA...The 20th Annual Calaveras Grape Stomp is in the books. It was another great day in Murphys. This year marked the 20th year for the Stomp. The Grapeful Dead produced a prodigious 18.73 lbs of juice from the 50 lbs of grapes that filled the barrels for the finals. This year 6 time winners the “Cluster Busters” announced that they are retiring their stomping feet and mucking hands and letting a new wave of competitors rise to prominence. They made the finals and finished in 7th place for their swan stomp. It is teams and efforts such as the “Cluster Busters” that have helped make this event one of the best of its type in Northern California. Beneath the costumes and frivolity there is always a competitive edge that drives many of the teams...
 
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Above are over 160 photos from the Grape Stomp and Street Faire. Below are videos of the the final regular heat and then the semi-finals and then the finals. Below that is the video of the costume awards.
The Top 10 Were...
Grapeful Dead Los Gatos 18.73
Broll Mountain Vineyards Murphys 17.49
Mucker Truckers San Mateo 17.19
Dwelley Devastators Angels Camp 16.86
The Giant Grapes of San Francisco Mill Valley 15.86
The Wright Stuff Hercules 15.36
Cluster Busters Murphys 14.97
Chico Crushers Chico 13.28
Stomp, Hammer Time Campbell 12.50
Don't Stomp Believing Santa Clara 10.64
Between heats and even after the event you could hear discussions on technique and different approaches to extracting the maximum amount of juice in the minimum amount of time. We hope that the accompanying video is entertaining but we also tried to capture some of the different styles for those of you who aspire to stomping greatness.
There are the hyper stompers that believe the shear volume of stomps will do the trick and then there are sweepers who constantly sweep grapes and juice against the drain hole. Not to be outdone are the pressers who exert pressure on clusters Some of the best teams are a flurry of motion and then there are some that are just very efficient and seem almost in slow motion.
Drawing even larger crowds than the stomp is the accompanying Street Fair on Main Street with it's booth after booth of exhibits. Food, Caramel Corn, Beer, Wine, Spirits, Crafts, Art and much more were available the the visitors.
The volunteers that man the stomp year after year did another great job. MC Extraordinaire Doug Brown turned in another masterful performance keeping the crowd entertained, informed and the show stomping along.
The heavy lifting was courtesy of the Bret Harte Football team's players and coaches who kept the barrels filled and refilled heat after heat. For those of you who may not have been a part of the stomp it is a very sticky business that even necessitates a dedicated wash down area for the competitors to rinse off after a heat.
The results are below and plans are already being made for the 2014 Grape Stomp and the bragging rights that go with it.
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