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You've heard of the five Ss of wine tasting: swirl, smell, sip, savor and swallow. To that, add stomp.
That's right. At Four Sisters Winery in Belvidere, barefoot grape stomping-hopping into a barrel and crushing the grapes until the stuff oozes between your toes-is part of the visitor experience. They come away with a feel for the old-fashioned process of winemaking. They may also get the sense that farming ain't what it used to be, that it's just as much about cultivating crowds as crops. Not surprising, since Four Sisters is located on Matarazzo Farms, whose proprietor, Robert "Matty" Matarazzo, is one of the agri-marketing folks who brought you the Jersey Tomato, one of the state's most recognizable trademarks.
On a Friday evening in May some 15 guests gather at Fours Sisters to do a little wine-tasting and grape stomping, a monthly event at the vineyard.
"It feels almost as satisfying as popping those popcorn wraps you find in packaging," concludes stomper Sara Bauer-Zingg, a Blairstown resident who has chosen Four Sisters to celebrate her birthday and her friend Misha's new M.B.A. degree. She is typical of the guests from around the state who come to Matarazzo's spread to enjoy the varied menu of activities.
This is a new way to keep them down on the farm. Matarazzo's a third -generation farmer who began raising fruits and vegetables in Belvidere in 1973. He started the winery in 1980 to earn college money for his four...