The forklift speeds a huge plastic tote to the crusher, twirls it like a toy and dumps the finest Merlot grapes into the gleaming stainless steel maw of the crushing machine. The whirring gears ...

The first time most of us saw foot treading — the winemaking practice of crushing wine grapes with your feet — was on the hit TV show “I Love Lucy,” in the famous 1956 episode, “Lucy’s Italian Movie.” ...

To destem or not to destem? Crushing wine world question. Look for “whole cluster fermentation” on the label. This is technique where entire grape bunches—including stems—go into the fermenter. Grapes ...