The grapes are picked beginning in the morning and taken to the quinta where they are put into giant stone tubs, roughly three feet deep. These granite pools are about 10 x 15 feet placed side by side so there could be three, four or five under one roof. At the end of the day, the workers, having picked all day, meet at around 7 p.m. to begin the corte, the cutting of the grapes. They wash their feet, put on shorts and jump barefooted into the grapes. Linking arms, they march, stomping grapes, from one end of the pool to the other.
Knees raise, feet fall back into the mush and more grapes are crushed.
It is cold at first, as expected, but the crushing starts fermentation and the mixture begins to warm. Cold spots are worrisome and take a bit more mixing. The marching goes on for some two hours and then the musicians arrive. The workers are old and young, some have done it for scores of years, and for some it is their first time. Guests are invited to join in.