Behind The Scenes : When You’re Hip-Deep in Grape Expectations, Wine Goes With Everything

Supporters of the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation stomped around the courtyard outside Prego Ristorante in Irvine on Sunday at “Festa della Vendemmia,” an Italian grape harvest festival.

Every hour, a horse-drawn wagon rumbled past the crowd of 400 and stopped in front of a Jacuzzi-size oak barrel. T-shirted and bandanna-ed men emptied wooden pails filled with deep purple grapes into the vat, and adults and kids scrambled inside to squish a half-ton of smooth-skinned berries between their toes.

Foresighted guests wore wine-resistant clothing, while others just rolled up their cuffs and sleeves, and tossed aside their shoes before attacking the oozing juice.

The only element missing from this well-organized afternoon fund-raiser? A grape-crushing Lucille Ball look-alike.