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'Bachelor' spotlights Valley businesses

Around 7.7 million Americans tuned in for Monday's premiere of "The Bachelor," in which 29-year-old Sonoma native Ben Flajnik is hoping to find love as the star of the reality show.

"I'm ready to find that person, I'm ready to find love," he said on the show.

During the first episode, Flajnik met the 25 women who will spend the season vying for his attention and, ultimately, love. Each woman had her own gimmick for making a first impression, from attempting a clever turn of phrase to riding up on a horse to ignoring him completely.

"That has to be some sort of first," he said of Anna, the student who walked right past him during their first meeting.

The show was fraught with all the anxiety of a first date, more specifically a first date with 25 women. While Flajnik spent time with small groups of the ladies, the other contestants got to know each other, with mixed results. There were extreme bouts of cattiness, along with two women who seemed to find love at first sight - with each other.

"If you're the only thing I get out of this, then I've lived and I've lived great ... You're in my life forever, I know this," Monica purred to Blakely as they cuddled on the couch. When it came down to the rose ceremony, where Flajnik had to decide which 17 females to keep in the competition, both Monica and Blakely got a rose.

In next week's episode, on Monday, Jan. 9,

Flajnik brings the women to Sonoma, where he hosts a date at the Girl and the Fig on the Plaza and takes another to the Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. To celebrate that event, which actually happened in October, the Big Three Diner will host a "Bachelor" viewing party on Monday, complete with Evolve wines. Monday's show also features the luxurious Vineyard Knoll Estate near Glen Ellen, a property managed by the vacation rental company, BeautifulPlaces. 

Flajnik grew up in Sonoma and now resides in San Francisco, although he makes frequent trips to the Valley for his business, Envolve Winery (previously Evolve Winery).

"The Bachelor" airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.