Joe sat in his den working at the tedious process of trying to translate the Latin writings of his
great-grandfather while Elise sat in the front room reading a historical novel about Leland Stanford’s
winery in the town of Vina in Northern California. The kids were watching TV. The upset stomach medicine
wine really intrigued him. One of these writings, or perhaps one that he had not taken a photo of yet,
must have the recipe for this wine. He then thought about the bottles of Zinfandel Rosarium Divinatio that
he had brought back from the wine tunnel.
Joe entered the term Divinatio into the search area of his web browser. The browser came back with
a list of curious entries preceded by the question “Did you mean Divination?” Joe then clicked on
this term, taking him to web encyclopedia link. This link then took him to a detailed entry discussing
fortune telling.
Joe thought about how the first bottle of wine seemed to allow him to see far away things. The crystals
moving and focusing on him at the Wine Witch provided a clue that he was not crazy about all of this paranormal
stuff. He had a suspicion that this other bottle of Zinfandel might somehow allow him to see into the
future. However, based on what his friend Rodger said, he knew that he had to be very careful.
He reached into his wine closet and pulled out a bottle of Zinfandel Rosarium Divinatio. Once
again, he stripped the wax off of the top and removed the cork with an ah-so. Sniffing the top of the bottle,
he didn’t note any strong odors other than a hint of sweet vinegar. He then poured just enough wine
to smell and taste into a glass. Joe shot some nitrogen and carbon dioxide into the bottle, inserted a
stopper, and put the bottle into his wine refrigerator.
The wine in the glass was dark brown with a ruby edge. Swirling the wine under his nose, he again
picked up the faint vinegar odor with a weak smoke, leather, and wood scent. Tipping the edge of the glass
on his lips, he swirled the wine on his tongue and tasted a flat earthy wine, with faint overtones of oak.
Although not the best tasting wine, he was now intrigued about any special effects that this wine might have.
He then sipped the rest of the wine and set the glass on a shelf to see if any crystals would develop.
Joe then continued his work of Latin translation and noticed no ill effects from the wine.
Dawn found DeMario and Ed eating Huevos Rancheros prepared by Elena. The teenagers had early morning
summer jobs and ate breakfast with them. The younger children were still sleeping.
Ed sipped the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. “This breakfast is fantastic. What kind of
hot sauce is this?”
Elena smiled. “That is my own secret recipe. It has a cactus base.”
DeMario finished his plate. “We have a long day ahead. Ed and I are taking the ‘stang for a
drive into Fresno this morning. I need to break in the new tires.”
Elena gave DeMario a stern look. “Don’t get any more tickets. Don’t race. Stay
out of trouble.”
DeMario responded with a sly look. “I have learned my lesson. I get enough racing with the
sprint cars. However, I do plan to take the ‘stang to the drag strip to see what kind ¼
mile ET’s I can get.”
After breakfast, Ed loaded his backpack with a camera and his notebook computer. He was startled as he
saw DeMario place a Ruger mini-14 and a tactical vest with several clips of ammunition into the trunk. He
had a suspicion what was in the fanny pack that DeMario placed on the driver’s seat.