The grapes on those vines came in very small. As soon as they darkened in color, he began to sample them, savoring flavors unripe but full of promise.He did very little work in the cellar, intent on other projects. In July he emptied the stone cistern his great-grandfather had used to stomp his grapes, moving the things that had been stored in it—tools ands buckets and bags of lime—to Quim’s house, and then scrubbing out the tank and rinsing it with water hauled from the river and warmed and mixed with sulfur. The cistern still was very serviceable, but the petcock that would allow him to drain the juice of trodden grapes was in bad shape and he saw it would have to be replaced. For several Fridays he attended the market in Sitges, looking for a used spigot, but finally he gave in and bought a new one of shiny brass.It was mid-August when Emilio and Juan came to the vineyard in the cooperage’s big wagon and Josep worked with them to unload two large vats made of new oak wood that smelled so good he couldn’t believe they were his.
