What We Brought Home

 We bought a bunch of liquor at the Kvint company store.  Everything here cost a total of approximately $100.  The top six bottles are calvados, which is always hard to find.  We opened one bottle; it's pretty good, especially for being aged only six years.  The other types ar cognac, vermouth, and vodka.  The two wine bottles are the merlot we were given as part of the tour.  Two of the cognacs were gifts, too.  Most of this is going back to the States with us as gifts.

This And That

A bit more building and a bit more outlining. 

Filling In The Gap

I have started to fill in the area under the curve.  There are a lot of close-to-color changes, so it's a bit of a challenge, but it's coming along.  Looks like I'm finally getting a goodly portion of background filled in, too.  Still quite a ways to go to finish, but the end is in sight.

Tasting And Buffet

Kvint does offer these tours and tastings to the public, not just to diplomats.  We also had to pay for ours.  But ... this was included: a large cold buffet and tasting of eight different cognacs, ranging from six to forty years old.  Oh, and they gave us gifts, too, for coming!  One bottle of their merlot and a bottle of their six year old cognac each.

Two Of Three

windows stitched in the column.  The third just has a few stitches to go.  There's also been significant progress lately on the curb and the sky. 

Boring Tree

Lots of green and nothing else on this tree, so it's just stitch after stitch of sameness.  On the other hand, it'll be done soon!

Aging The Cognac

Lots and lots of cognac aging in oak barrels.  The rooms we saw went as far back as ten years.  On some of the barrel faces you can see seepage, where the extra water is leaching out.  Barrels are different colors because of the age of the barrels.  Lighter barrels are younger.  The barrels can be reused three or four times before being retired.