The ITALIAN DISPATCH By Eric J Lyman

The ITALIAN DISPATCH By Eric J Lyman

✍️ Confession of a Grape Thief

Lessons from my unremarkable experiment in winemaking

Eric J Lyman's avatar
Eric J Lyman
Jan 13, 2026
∙ Paid

The first time I tried to make my own wine I stole the grapes late at night, without a flashlight. The liquid I produced -- it wasn’t quite vino -- ended up being so alive with mold that it scorched the grass where I poured it out.

There were around 20 vines growing in the garden of the building where I lived at the time. When I asked, a neighbor who’d b…

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