The trip to Sonoma turned out better than the entire Michaelson family had anticipated. Having landed at the Sonoma County airport a little after 10:00 am. They were picked up by a black SUV from the airport and driven into the town. They joined other tourists on a tour bus that took them around, with the guide providing them with all the interesting facts about the county.
"To put it simply, Sonoma is a beauty." The guided stated to her audience at the start of the tour and went on to explain in detail as they toured all the landmarks of the county.
The landscape was just breathtaking, captivating rolling hills painted with vineyards that stretch out further than the eyes can see. Unique Spanish architecture along the streets that date back to the colonial era, giving the town a vintage tinge.
The Michaelson family stopped at a small cozy café in town for a breather before their next adventure. "I like this town." Callie said in the café. "It's so different from LA. Different in a good way. It has this unique charm I've never experienced in LA." She went on as they sipped away their coffee.
They were picked up by the SUV after and chauffeured to a grape farm in the outskirts of Sonoma.
"Welcome!" The farm manager said to them with a rather too wide smile, extending his hand. He took them around the farm, explaining little facts about grapes. Why they did so well, how they go about planting and caring to the fruits till they are ripe for harvesting.
"Something interesting about grapes is, they are one of the oldest fruits we have today." The manager told them as they walked towards the exit of the farm.
"Wow!" Darius exclaimed. "I did not know that."
"They have been around for more than eight thousand years." He added turning his head to Darius.
One of the many farm workers quickened his steps and caught up with them. "Freshly picked." He said presenting them with a basket full of juicy grapes.
"Thank you." Hiram replied to him as his family picked a grape or two.
They had one more stop after the grape farm before flying back to Los Angeles. A local winery forty minutes away from the farm. There, they welcomed with the winery's hospitality manager who introduced himself as Humphrey. He took them around the winery, explaining the wine making process from when the grapes leave the farm. At the end of the tour, in the wine tasting room they were all handed a wine glass with some wine in them with a small white board.
"First you wanna check out the wine's appearance." He explained raising his glass and examining it against the white background provided by the board. "Here you observe hoe the wine looks, is it clear or cloudy and for sparkling wines you check for the bubbles."
Everyone else followed his lead, raising their glasses against the white board.
"After that we go to the nosing, swirl your glass gently to allow the wine to release its aromas." He told them as he moved the glass around and watched the wine dance. He then stuck his nose in the glass and took small sniffs.
"You should be able to note around three different aromas."
"I can only note one." Callie cried.
"That's fine, it happens." The manager told her with a gentle laugh. "Take a series of short sniffs." He instructed and watched her.
"I got two." Hiram pointed out.
"I note three." Darius spoke lowering the glass from his nose. "You?" He asked turning to his wife.
"Three." She confirmed with a grin.
"That's impressive." The manager complimented. "From the three scents we have the primary, secondary and tertiary aromas."
"What are those exactly?" Callie wanted to know.
"Well, the primary aroma is from the grape that was used, the secondary is from the fermentation of the wine and the last one is from the aging either in the bottle or the oak." Humphrey elaborated. He watched their faces, as if trying to get confirmation on whether to continue or not.
"We then do the tasting. Take a very small sip of the wine, let it stay in your mouth for a while. You wanna assess its flavor, you'll note that there's the very first flavor that you taste which is the attack flavor. The wine then develops and you get to taste the deeper flavor." Humphrey took a small sip and so did the Michaelson family.
They were then handed small buckets where they spit the wine, following what Humphrey was doing.
"In case you are tasting several wines then it is ideal to spit out but if its just one then go ahead and swallow."
They repeated the procedure for six different wines before calling it a day. Humphrey gifted them different bottles, some as old as 30 years.
There was a nice restaurant at the winery where they had their late lunch, each of them giving their views on how Sonoma had been. Going over all the activities they had taken park in. All agreeing that the wine tasting was their favorite. Thereafter, they were driven back to the airport for their flight back to Los Angeles.
-*-
The week that followed was insane for Hiram, he had exams on the first two days of the week and projects to work on. Once or twice, he stayed up till very late just to finalize on one school project or the other. He would leave the house earlier than usual to meet up with his classmates to discuss, skip lunch just to get some extra work done. He knew what he was doing, he tried to complete as much as he could as quickly as possible. By Thursday noon, he was done, only thing left was one final class meeting and that was it for the week.
That Thursday, he was meeting Artemis and Rob for lunch that afternoon at their favorite restaurant. As he walked to the entrance, his phone buzzed. Trisha. He stared at the caller ID for a while before answering the call. Why was she calling him? What could she possibly want.
"Hey Trisha,"
"Hiram, hey, how are you?" Came her voice from the other side.
"I'm good Trisha, what's up?" He asked getting into the restaurant. He scanned the room and spotted Rob's hand at the far end beckoning to him.
"Nothing much, I just wanted to know what you are doing later today."
This caught him completely by surprise and he took a moment before giving his reply.
"I'm going suit shopping later. I have a red carpet tomorrow and I need a new suit." He replied.
"I thought we could grab a coffee or something but it's fine next time." She sounded disappointed.
"You can tag along if you don't mind." He offered to her surprise.
"Umm, that would be lovely." She admitted, smiling on the other side of the phone.
They agreed on when and when he would pick her before he joined his friends at the table.
"Sorry for keeping you guys, I had an errand to finish in school." He told them.
"It's fine, we just go here five minutes ago." Rob told him and he ran his eyes up and down the menu as if he didn't know what he was going to have.
Their food came and they ate, one of them dropping in a comment in between bites.
After eating, he handed each of them an envelope.
"What's this?" Artemis asked opening the envelop.
"I requested LA Today to sent me extra invites and I want you guys to come, with your significant others."
"Whatever do you mean by that Hiram?" Artemis teased.
"Shut up Art." He returned with a laugh.
He smiled to himself as he watched both their faces light up after reading the invites.
"When are you going to get the tux?" Rob asked, returning his invite to the envelope.
"About that," he drawled trying not to break the eye contact. "Trisha will be joining us."
"What!" Artemis exclaimed, exchanging looks with Rob.
"I know, I know." Hiram admitted. "She called me as I was walking in and asked if I was free to hang out."
"And you don't find that suspicious?" Rob wanted to know.
"I did, but what was I supposed to say?"
"She's up to something. Be careful around her Hiram." Artemis cautioned
"I will, definitely. Anyway, I have an errand to run for dad before going shopping, probably in the next hour. I'll call you."
Rob offered to pay before they left. He and Artemis shared her car, with him behind the wheel.
Later on, they met at Macy's, a popular shop known for quality designer clothing. The air was tense, with Rob and Artemis having mixed feelings about Trisha being around. Hiram's sister, Callie, had joined them a while after their arrival. Unlike Artemis and Rob, Callie was welcoming to Trisha. She was fond of her, and had been really good friends when she and Hiram were dating but reduced their interactions when they broke up.
After scouting for close to an hour, Hiram settled on a navy-blue suit by Ralph Lauren.