Photos by Sandra Michaud
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Peter Dahl-Bredine, Michele Parlee and Brandon Perrault
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Little Benjamin Krotz romps by a Butterfly Bush
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Sean Ormand buys a craft beer from Carrie Gurule
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Lining up for wine tasting
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Acosta Farms offers Mexican food
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Lyla Adrianne of the Duckstop takes orders
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
People line up at the Duckstop
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Carolyn and Jerry Cogan get tasting tickets and anniversary glasses from Paul and Esperanza Gurule
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
David Gurule displays the bottle of 10-year-old “Born in Space” wine gifted to the Gurules from the Perrault family.
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Kicking back with a glass of Chardonnay
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
David and Esperanza Gurule enjoy a dance together
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
David Gurule explains the rules for the wine-stomping contest to Brandon Perrault and Monica Garcia
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Energetic stomping reduces the grapes to mush
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Monica Garcia makes the juice fly
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
Paul Gurule calls "Time!"
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
David Gurule measures the amount of juice Monica Garcia got from her grapes.
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
And Brandon Perrault’s turn. Nope, not quite enough.
La Esperanza Winery hosts 10th anniversary celebration 080319
And a high-five as Perrault congratulates Garcia for her win. The prize was three bottles of wine.
Over 100 people attended the 10th year anniversary celebration at La Esperanza Vineyard and Winery Saturday. There was music, dancing, food, and of course, wine tasting.
The event had a $5 cover charge to raise money for the local schools. And a special feature was the grape-stomping contest with prizes for the most grape juice made by stomping wine grapes. About 17 people signed up to test their stomping skills, after a special “trial run” by musicians Brandon Perrault and Monica Garcia from the band, “Illusion.”
Each contestant got five pounds of grapes in a large bucket and was given a minute to stomp them into mush. The result was drained and then measured. After the trial run, the time was reduced to 45 seconds. Monica Garcia said, “A minute doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re stomping that fast, it’s a long time.”
Food was provided by Acosta Farms, and the Duckstop, music by Brandon Perrault and Friends, and Illusion Band. The Perrault family also sent the Gurules a gift, a 10-year-old bottle of “Born in Space” wine, one of the first wines out of La Esperanza Winery, when it began 10 years ago.