April 4, 2008 Wine and cheese are ageless companions, like aspirin and aches, or June and moon, or good people and noble ventures. M. F. K. Fisher April madness is upon us in the form of our first bottling run of the year. Next week we’ll be putting our Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay into bottle and the elaborate choreography of arranging the delivery of glass, corks, labels and capsules has Sharon in full whirl. The mobile bottling line can produce 2,500 cases per day, which means everything should be done by Tuesday night, a good warm-up exercise for the huge summer bottling run. Traffic here in Napa has been a bit lighter than normal, and many wineries are looking forward to the visitors warmer weather provides. We think the fabulous snow up in the Sierras has lured some of our customers away. The May calendar is filling up with bookings for our blending seminars, so perhaps things are just a bit later this year. Probably just as well…the handles are still missing from some of the new cabinets and the speakers in the winery seem to have lost their volume. There’s always something to fix with new construction. Business travels have been very productive recently. Anthony saw new customers in Tennessee and I was in Maine and Massachusetts for a trade show and market visits. If you’re in Chattanooga, Anthony recommends 212 Market, and in Knoxville, try Bistro on the Tracks. I had a great dinner at Fore Street in Portland, and in Boston you can’t go wrong with Upstairs on the Square, Sibling Rivalry, Rialto or Ricardo’s, which is in Lowell. It’s such a treat to find great eats when you’re on the road. Now that April is finally here, we hope your spring has arrived and the promise of another summer is just around the corner. All our vines have popped, with leaves the size of a thumb print bringing welcome color back to the vineyard. Another growing season has begun. Cheers, from all of us at Bell Wine Cellars!