Chapter One
The bottle of Castello di Giambelli Cabernet Sauvignon, '02, auctioned for one
hundred and twenty-five thousand, five hundred dollars, American. A great deal
of money, Sophia thought, for wine mixed with sentiment. The wine in that fine
old bottle had been produced from grapes harvested in the year Cezare Giambelli
had established the Castello di Giambelli winery on a hilly patch of land north
of Venice.
At that time the castello had been either a con or supreme optimism,
depending on your point of view. Cezare's modest house and little stone winery
had been far from castlelike. But his vines had been regal, and he had built an
empire from them.
After nearly a century, even a superior Cabernet Sauvignon was likely more
palatable sprinkled on a salad rather than drunk, but it wasn't her job to argue
with the man with the money. Her grandmother had been right, as always. They
would pay, ... read full excerpt from The Villa ebook