There we were, gripping our cabernet sauvignon from the Maipo Valley of Chile as the Spanish conquistadors approached the country along the desert route of Atacama from Peru. No one seemed alarmed. The following week, as the Goths and then the Huns took control of Spain, we calmly swirled and took in the aromas of a wine made from the Airen grape in that country's La Mancha region, feeling quite safe from the carnage. The week after? As we contemplated the 2001 Chateau Les Ormes de Pez from St. Estephe in our glass, Eleanor of Aquitaine thwarted two separate kidnapping attempts as she fled home to Bordeaux after her annulment to the King of France, and ran straight into the arms of the man who was about to become King of England, as protection from the bandits.

SACRAMENTO -- The San Antonio Winery is a most unlikely business in a most unlikely spot.

Each Wednesday the Napa Valley Register's Business Focus features "10 Questions" for a local entrepreneur. Readers are welcome to suggest business people to be profiled.

Sweet dreams with dry wine

Go Fish predicts

LEXINGTON, Mass. -- It's over budget, Paul Pedini says of his Big Dig house, but at least "it doesn't leak."

CHICAGO -- Being a struggling artist isn't what it used to be. In fact, it might be worse.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- From his 16th floor office at WKTU-FM, program director Jeff Zuchowski has a breathtaking view across the Hudson River of Manhattan. Just the setting for programming the only country music station in New York, with favorites such as "Beer for My Horses" and "Life Ain't Always Beautiful."

SAN ANTONIO -- Valero Energy Corp. more than doubled its second quarter profit, benefiting from sky-high pump prices and its expertise at turning lower quality crude oil into gasoline and diesel.

NEW YORK -- Once again, the student loan industry is facing a backlog of applications from borrowers who want to consolidate their debt and lock in low rates.

DENVER -- Vail Resorts said Tuesday it will buy enough wind-generated electricity to replace all the power used by its five ski areas and more than 135 other stores, lodges and offices.

NEW YORK -- The California Public Employees' Retirement System said it has committed $400 million to Breeden Partners, the activist hedge fund of former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard Breeden.