last chance winery

My son recently uncorked his first batch of homemade wine under the label (not printed yet) of Last Chance Winery.  It is a dark Merlot and pretty good for a first try. He learned the process from an experienced older Italian man who has been making wine for decades. We drank some of it (a lot of it) one evening in his backyard and I was pleased to inform him the next day that there were no ill effects. He's on the right track. Quite different from what I remember as a child.

the gangsta's wine
Our next door neighbor in the Bronx was a wealthy Sicilian who built a huge Italian villa for he and his wife on several acres of land. He imported Italian marble for the floors and the sweeping grand staircase outside, installed an ornate three-tiered fountain and a greenhouse where he grew oranges and lemons. I seem to remember a couple of naked cherub statues in the vegetable garden. My family owned a small pretty lot adjacent to his property and my father built our sturdy brick house on it. The neighbor made wine of course. Sicilian/Italian/New York = Wine! He had a chilly wine cellar you walked down into. It was made from blocks of stone, had a brick floor, and contained aged wooden barrels. I don't think Nunzio actually stomped on the grapes or did any of the labor himself (he might have damaged the big diamond pinky ring he wore), but he made a big show of wine tasting and giving some to us. It was terrible. My parents, who were not wine experts by any stretch of the imagination (cheap red Toscano wine at dinnertime) usually replaced the corks with cheesecloth, placed the bottles in the attic and waited for the contents to turn into good vinegar.

random images on Connecticut walks

ufo finito!

What I'm doing so far this season - finishing socks. No desire to knit anything else lately. It's not the heat because it's not very hot here yet. I just have an uncharacteristic urge to finish what I've started. What a concept!