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Behind the Scenes at SAMsARA Winery: Hands and Feet
It all begins before dawn. Grapes are handpicked in the cool, foggy morning hours, when the temperature hovers around fifty degrees in mid-September. This chill is essential—it preserves the grapes’ acidity, flavors, and aromas, and prevents natural yeast from starting fermentation too early. Plus, it saves energy since there’s no need to pre-chill the grapes before crushing.
Samsara is a boutique winery with two locations in the Santa Barbara area: one in Los Olivos and the other in Goleta, where I’ll be volunteering today. Goleta is just fifteen minutes from downtown Santa Barbara and the Mesa, where I’m staying. All the staging and production happens at this location, tucked behind the scenes. Out front is a beautiful two-story tasting room that not only showcases Samsara’s award-winning wines but also carries my hat line—another reason I love this place. The wines, crafted by winemaker Matt Brady, are driven by my good friends Dave and Joan Szkutak, whom I met years ago through the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs in Saint Augustine, Florida. We bonded immediately over our mutual love of wine and travel, and our friendship has only grown stronger.
When I arrive, the grapes have just been delivered, and a forklift is maneuvering the harvest bins into place, raising them to the perfect height to dump onto the sorting table. The table’s moving belt is flanked by two or three people on each side, raking the grapes onto the belt while quickly inspecting them for mold, leaves, bugs, or anything else that doesn’t belong.
At the end of the sorting table, the whole cluster bunches are dropped into a tank, where another volunteer is waiting to foot-stomp the grapes, crushing the bunches and breaking the skins to release the juice. Everything moves so quickly that I don’t even notice this part—until it’s my turn.
I’ve visited Samsara’s Goleta location before as part of their wine club, but this is my first time actually working harvest. Since it’s early morning, I enter through the production area—before the tasting room opens. Though the sun is up, there’s still a chill in the air. As a Florida girl, anything under seventy-five degrees feels too cold! I thought I was prepared with my pink Nikes, tattered jeans, light scarf, jean jacket, and straw hat, but everyone else seems better equipped for both the cold and the inevitable grape juice stains.
I start on the sorting table. Climbing onto the platform is easy enough, and today we’re sorting my favorite grape—Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills. Watching the belt move gives me a slight case of vertigo, and I almost get my scarf caught in the machinery. But after a quick adjustment, I catch on, and we sort through two large bins. As soon as the sorting table stops, a harvest team member magically appears in the bin at the end, rolling it away to finish stomping the grapes.
I’d heard we were going to foot stomp today, but I had no idea what that actually meant. In my mind, I pictured a small half-barrel and a bit of fun, rolling up my jeans to crush grapes with my feet. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Serious winemakers, like those in the old world, swear by the art of foot stomping, and Samsara holds the same philosophy—it’s all about maintaining quality that machines can’t replicate.
Excited to check this off my bucket list, I volunteer to go next. But first, my outfit needs an overhaul. The scarf is a stain risk, so it has to go. My jeans won’t roll up past my knees, so I trade them for communal purple stretch pants. And while my hat is in danger, I refuse to part with it.
Once I’ve changed, I sterilize my feet before climbing into a massive stainless steel tank—no easy feat, since it’s as tall as me and offers nothing to hold onto. Fortunately, Neal, the assistant winemaker, takes pity on me. He brings a ladder, places an upside-down landing bucket inside the tank, and provides a wooden plank for balance. Once inside, they move me and the tank under the sorting table, just a few feet below the conveyor belt.
That’s when it hits me: the grapes will keep falling on me while I stomp. “I don’t like this idea,” I say to Matt, but I eventually give in.
Did I mention how cold it is? The grapes tumble into the tank, and I hope the physical activity will warm me up—wrong again. The grapes are still fifty degrees, and the whole clusters are rough on my feet. I admit, I complained about the cold and the discomfort, but I kept stomping. Eventually, I couldn’t feel my feet anymore, so I focused on the task. When the sorting table stops, I move to the side to finish stomping while the crew cleans up. Fun fact: I stomped the 2024 Bentrock Pinot. When it earns a 98-point rating in two years, remember—I had a hand (or foot) in that!
Climbing out of the tank proves just as challenging as getting in, but the warm water on my frozen feet is one of the best moments of the day. Once I’m free, I have time to visit with Joan, Dave, and my friend Andrea, who’s also volunteering. After another round on the sorting table, it’s time for a well-earned break.
Matt, our head winemaker, loves Mexican food and treats us to some authentic tamales. Joan opens a bottle of their Radian Vineyard Chardonnay, and we gather outside in the warm sun, surrounded by grapes and a few curious honeybees. Spending time with this crew is a gift. Half the team are volunteers like me, while the other half gets to do this every year. It’s the perfect start to my day, and I hope I’m invited back. It’s an honor to be part of the 2024 Harvest—another memory made “under my wine hat.”
Cheers,
Renee Hanson
www.mywinehat.com
