The Kirkwood Grape Stomp Festival 2021 – Yall, this was a TIME! The faded hand painted sign advertising the festival dates has caught my eye for years, but sadly I never made it back to Summersville after Labor Day weekend. I’ve been Kirkwood’s biggest fan forever. My wedding in 2013 served exclusively Kirkwood wines. Local wine plus live music has to be a recipe for one hell of a time right? Yes, my sweet summer child, it is!
When I imagined the grape stomping I pictured an I Love Lucy style free for all, but its more organized than that. While I didn’t get to try my hand (or foot) at grape stomping this year, it is officially on my West Virginia bucket list. The kids were itching to get in those barrels as bad I was. Sign them up for next year too, please! Let them burn off some energy.
The Wine
The limit does not exist when it comes to flavors at Kirkwood. I’m going full Bubba Gump here when I say they have strawberry wine, blackberry wine, raspberry wine, apple wine, peach wine, pear wine, currant wine, blueberry wine; and that’s just off the top of my head. There’s even ramp, yes RAMP, and ginseng wine if you’re feeling especially Appalachian.
The Food
Aside from the wine, there were plenty of vendors to choose from. BBQ, ice cream, funnel cakes, cheese fries; all the street food you want, excuse me NEED, when that light buzz hits. I wish I could have noshed on more than I did, but as we all know, I am pretty busy chasing an ice cream bent and stage bound toddler.
The Music
Speaking of Mama’s little rowdy friend… That stage drew him in! I can’t blame him either. The music was BANGIN! I won’t lie, I am particular AF about live music. A lot of the time I would really just rather hear the juke box or DJ playing. My expectations were exceeded and then some at this year’s grape stomp.
The music started to hit my soul when West Virginia local Wyatt Turner took the stage. If you haven’t heard his song “You Remind me of West Virginia” where have you been? Buy it on Itunes! Trust me. Following Wyatt was my favorite act of the evening, The Mikele Buck Band. Holy F#&!, yall. They we’re AMAZING. They outdid the headliner in my opinion, no offense Bucky Covington. The energy, the vocals, the violin – *redneck chef kiss*. As soon as they make their way back to West Virginia I am taking the Big Mountain Daddy to see them.
The Mikele Buck Band, yall <— Look them up, follow them on social, buy their music. I’ve never been more serious in my life.
The Atmosphere
What really made The Kirkwood Grape Stomp the best was of course it’s West Virginian people. I can never fully articulate the love, comfort, and warmth the people of these mountains hold. From other moms watching your baby just as much as they are watching their own playing in the bubble machine to a kind soul offering to buy your son ice cream because he was eyeballing theirs. Here a smile from a stranger can lead to a new friendship, even if you didn’t catch their name and it’s only for a few hours.
Check out Kirkwood Winery at: https://www.kirkwood-wine.com/
Check out Wyatt Turner at: https://www.facebook.com/wyattturnermusic
Check out The Mikele Buck Band at: http://www.themikelebuckband.com/
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