Sicily - ferry ride and grape harvest

Thought Id look at mobile phone and see what photos I had on there, and was pleased to find a few shots of the ferry ride back from Stromboli and Paula's(Francesco's mums grape harvest)

Ride back was great and allowed time for reflection.

Well about a dozen of us worked through the rows, throwing into crates white and red grapes, these were then squeezed, with a hand operated machine and then we had a great lunch, with last years wine! Nothing is added to the vines or the grapes, so truly organic.

The grapes are then left in the large containers for a few days, and then transfer into oak turning presses. The juice is squeezed out of the grapes, which then travels down a tube into a stainless steal container (stored under the floor) to carry on its process of fermentation. It felt a great privilege to be involved in the process, which was clearly a family event.

Not a bad place to dry your kit out, with Mt Etna in the back ground!