"Only the Germans are stubborn enough to build a cellar like this."
Apparently they dug out the cellar, laid the hand-hewn limestone walls, refilled the cellar with dirt, laid the stones across the sloped mound to form the ceiling, then re-dug all the dirt.
Barrels are dated with the year they were first put into use, as well as an R or W for the wine that's inside. Barrels are used twice for wine, once for port, then sold for scrap, mostly to landscapers.
A glass siphon, called a thief for obvious reasons, is used to steal some tawny port out of the barrel for sampling.
After our tour, we visited the Plein Air Art Event. It's put on at Mount Pleasant and this was its 10th year. Artists come to Augusta and paint landscapes, people, buildings, and other scenery around the town, then display their work for sale and awards. I did find one series I liked a lot - three white canvases each painted with poppies - but I have nowhere to put that right now, and really no business investing in art.
Lunch at the Appellation Cafe was a pepper bacon Boursin burger, followed by great conversation and entertainment watching people try to figure out the trick to a game of washers.
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