In our story and our wine choice, prepare to have your biases challenged and your heart opened.

Lydia is a bookshop owner in Acapulco, MX; when a new customer, Javier, begins frequenting her shop, Lydia charms him with her love of books and becomes the ‘queen of his soul’ (not his heart…that is reserved for his wife). When Lydia’s husband writes an exposé revealing Javier to be the new cartel jefe known as ‘The Owl,’ she assures Sebastian that they will be safe. She is so wrong. This begins a journey to El Norte fraught with peril and sacrifice aboard La Bestia, a train heading north and then coyote-run through the desert on foot. It is heartbreaking and triumphant, but most of all unshrinking.

We are sipping 2017 L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah from the Guadalupe Valley. This winery includes an immigrant story as the original Cetto forefather left Italy for Mexico to make wine in Tijuana. This bold, acidic, tannic wine has notes of plum, blackberry, fig and earthiness, and it will pairs well with braised meat, ribs, or a hearty casserole.