Beautiful Bella

Sadly, the trip to Sonoma seems as though it was months ago, though only two weeks. The days I had intended to "get this house in order" evaporated when my phone rang only hours after we landed back in Minnesota. It was my new boss, Greg, and we had won some business I had helped pitch the day before we left. The next day Michael and I had to begin learning a whole new vocabulary and hundreds of acronyms that relate to cardiac rhythm management. Before I go into tachycardia, I think I should spend at least 10 more minutes thinking about sun, vines, grapes, picnics, and delicious red wines.

Some of my favorite wine came from Bella, a small winery in Dry Creek. The tasting room was under the hill, in the cool of the man-made cave. The winemaker poured us lush reds, starting small and moving to the great big zins. They capped off the 5-wine tasting with a berry sweet claret. We bought a case and shipped it home, 4 bottles for Michael and 8 for me. I'm looking forward to pulling the cork on the cabernet or zinfandel and tasting the hills and vines and sun of that quiet valley.