Yesterday was another beautiful fall day in Brattleboro. It was windy and there was a definite chill in the air, but the sky was blue almost all day, the last of the leaves are rustling and falling, and everything smells fresh and clean after the rain on Friday and Saturday.

We started the day at the Winter Farmers Market, held in the River Garden, which is an enclosed space between two buildings that is managed by Building a Better Brattleboro. We bought some frou-frou lettuce and fresh tomatoes, and ate brunch from the vendors there. I had dim sum from Cai, and Lee had a delicious piece of quiche. We shared a delicious but expensive bottle of currant-ginger juice, while a guy played the banjo and guitar… both very well… and sang. It’s crowded, and since it’s a crowd of strangers for the most part, it feels a little close. Still, when it gets to be really cold in a month or two, it will be nice to be able to walk to the F.M. and get whatever fresh veggies are available along with a just-right dose of back-to-the-land do-gooderism.

We met with our contractor and looked at floor plan ideas with him and his son the architect-in-training… he had some good ideas but we had some other ones, and so we sent him back to the drawing board for some refinements. We traded him our giant gas leaf blower for his petite electric one, and we both thought we got the better end of the deal, so that was nice.

We unpacked some more, rearranged, cleaned some, and then went to Windham Wines for a tasting. They used to have a wine bar open all the time, but now it’s only a private event type of place. The tasting was put on by an importer called Domain Select Wine Estates, and they featured a bunch of Italian wines all made from unusual varietals… I hadn’t heard of any of these grapes before tonight! We didn’t make extensive notes, but here’s what we tasted and what we liked more and less:

* 2009 Velenosi, Passerina Brut, $18: light sparkly wine, which we both really liked a lot. recommended to go with creamy cheeses, and creamy is a good way to describe the wine itself.

* 2010 Villa Angela, Pecorino, Marche, $17: tasted like white wine, not distinctive enough for us to spend that much.

* 2010 COS, Frappato, Sicilia, $30: a very interesting, very light red. I tasted an interesting mineral flavor. Recommended as a wine that could handle all of Thanksgiving dinner, and that seemed like a smart suggestion. However, $30 is a lot for us to spend, so I don’t know how much of this we’d actually buy.

* 2010 Velenosi, Lacrima di Morro D’Alba, Marche, $17:Lee wrote “amazing nose” on this one, and I agree… smelled wonderful to me. Tasted good too, but for me this was more about the nose than the taste. This is one we would buy and enjoy.

* 2009 J. Hofstatter, Lagrein, Alto Adige, $20: Damned with faint praise… all we wrote was “OK.”

* 2009 Vinosia, Aglianico, $15: We latched onto the word “inky” from the long drawn out description… liked this one quite a lot, and in this bunch it seemed like a good bargain.

* Velenosi, Visciole, $23 (500 ml): Wonderful dessert wine made from partly fermented cherries mixed with the Lacrima described earlier. Wow… a not-too-sweet dessert wine. Definitely on the list.

Nice wines, and we met some nice folks, all in a nice atmosphere. This, again, is why we’re here.

The adventure is off to a rollicking good start. Having gone from a town of lots to a town of a few, the feeling of so much going on is especially rewarding.

We’ve had more energy to explore our surroundings thanks to the generosity of our next-door neighbor, who offered us a room while we get settled and unpacked. That has been a godsend.

On our first night in town, we were treated (Thank you Tom!!!) to a fantastic dinner at Peter Havens restaurant. Two times out of two I’ve met wonderful people at the bar there.

The next night was Brattleboro’s monthly Gallery Walk. We walked around a bit, had dinner at Luna Azul (where we will definitely return), and saw a contortionist at Metropolis, although from our seats we only saw the occasional pointed toe or sinuous elbow.

Yesterday we saw a wonderfully arcane mid-afternoon organ concert at First Baptist Church.

Today, the laundromat and Home Depot, more unpacking and then real life intrudes as I get back to work in the AM.