Bottle cellar commissioned

Just a photo to show that the new bottle cellar is being put to good use. These bottles are what remains of 2004 harvest. I’ll be bottling the 2005s in April… only another 8 full cages to fit in.

Note the steps to the right of the photo… last time my father was here he built ‘furniture’ (basically a series of ramps) to enable full cages to be moved in and out of the cellar. The system is quite breathtaking in its complexity, but it does seem to work. Certainly better than carrying in bottles a dozen at a time (especially since that lintel is about 4’8" and made of very hard stone!)