February 2010 Archives
Open That Bottle Night 2010
We are enjoying a 2007 Maryhill Columbia Valley Chardonnay while sitting on folding chairs and using a step stool as a table!
Open That Bottle Night 2010 came and went without much fanfare, last night, just as last year did. This year, however, we were back at home in North Idaho instead of Ogden, Utah.
As you may, or may not, know, Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN, is the night you force yourself to open that “once in a lifetime” bottle of wine because if you didn’t, it may never get opened. We save that special bottle for that special time and for some reason that special time never seems to be quite special enough. So the bottle sits. And sits. And sits.
“How ’bout THIS anniversary, honey?”
“Ummmm, no. Not quite important enough.”
And sits. And sits.
“How ’bout the birth of our 14th child, baby?”
“Ummmmmm, nope. Close, but STILL not quite important enough to open THAT bottle!”
And sits. Until, it has sat too long. Way too long!
That is why John Brecher and Dorothy (Dottie) Gaitor coined this once a year event, in their Wall Street Journal’s ”Tastings” column, that falls on the last Saturday of each February so that we could at least open a very special bottle before it had a chance to get over the hill, so to speak. And this was the eleventh year of the event and it has gone viral globally! It was all a-twitter on Twitter last night with the question, “What are YOU opening for OTBN tonight?”
Two years ago we had a little soiree at our place with a small group of friends and opened some very special wines. One of them was a 1981 Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon. It wasn’t very good. It was either over the hill or just not kept correctly over the years as it was just bad.
But the experience was good. That was the year we unvailed our cork catcher as I had just finished it a couple of days prior. Last year we were on our own in Utah where we opened a Sancerre.
So, what did WE open for that OTBN last night? Good question.
This year we started out the evening with a 2007 Maryhill Chardonnay. AND, it marked the first night of the year we enjoyed a glass of wine outside while throwing the ball to the dogs. Last year we had snow in the back yard until April but this year it’s almost gone. The sun was out so it made for a beautiful setting but once the sun set it got chilly really fast. We even fed the fish in our pond for the first time this year on this eventful evening. I drug out a couple of folding chairs because all of the patio chairs are inside for the winter, and we used a step stool as a table (see photo).
Maryhill has continually impressed me with their quality juice. A couple of weeks ago we had a Maryhill Sangiovese and it was very good. We’re not really Sangiovese fans but this one was something we enjoyed. We always enjoy their vitners blend. But last night we opened a 2007 Columbia Valley Chardonnay, from Maryhill Winery. It had a light toasty finish that continued to linger. Very nice. It wasn’t at all over oaked.
Then, with dinner, we had a choice to make between a Cotes du Ventoux or a 2005 dArry’s Original Shiraz/Grenache from d’Arenberg in Australia and we chose the latter.
Shelley has a fondness for McLaren Vale Shiraz so we chose this one because of that. We had T-Bone steaks (we usually have rib eye steaks) and they were scrumptious. The only problem was that I THOUGHT it was a 100% Shiraz we were drinking (because I inadvertently FORGOT to look at the entire label!) but instead was a 50/50 Shirza/Grenache. My bad.
Well, it started out rather tight but opened up in due time to a VERY berry nose and a chewy, jammy taste! It paired very well with the steaks and by the end of the night my stomache was full and my heart was happy.
If you happened to enjoy your OWN Open That Bottle Night will you please comment here so that I know what YOU had to drink? Thank you for reading and, as always, bottoms up!
A Night To Remember
The definition of “A perfect night” will differ from person to person. How many times do you try to line everything up so that you have a perfect night? You get the kids taken care of, make sure you’re well rested, not having an argument with your significant other, and so on. You put so much energy into an evening like this, yet, it rarely seems to work out as planned due to unforseen circumstances.
And then, when you LEAST expect it, one just happens to fall into your lap. And that is exactly what happened to us.
We have started up AGAIN our Netflix account so that we have a movie waiting for us should we find ourselves in the mood to watch a movie. This time it was the movie Bottle Shock
The movie follows the story of how the competition came to be and how the results knocked the wine industry, um, well, sideways. In blind tastings it was a wine from California, Chateau Montelena, that won.
Now, if you EVER watch a movie that has people drinking wine and you enjoy wine it pretty much makes you really want to have a glass of your favorite, yes? Now make it a movie ABOUT wine and, well, the desire can be overwhelming. Fortunately for us, we had that taken care of.
Shelley made a wonderful pot roast. She has a new recipe she’s been using that makes the roast, in her words, fork tender. Delicious! We opened a bottle of 2002 Ravenswood Zinfandel, from Sonoma, Californnia, and it paired wonderfully with the roast. It also paired perfectly with the movie!
Rich notes on the nose of raspberry and cherries made it difficult to concentrate on the movie. It also took me a long time before I finally touched the glass to my lips to give it a taste. When I did, it tasted as good as it smelled, full body, not too many tannins, though they were certainly there. With every bite of the roast I added a small sip of this Zinfandel as a chaser. Wonderful!
Some wines are easier to drink than others and this was one of those wines. This particular wine was bottled in May of 2004 and 2,400 cases were produced. I don’t know how many bottles of this vintage are left out there but if you have a chance to get one I’d recommend it.
I know it would have been better had we opened a wine from Napa instead of Sonoma (and a Chardonnay at that), seeing as how the movie was all about the wine of Napa Valley, but with the roast it seemed apropos to pop the Zin and let ‘er rip, and neither of us regretted that decision.
And so now, here is my prediction for this years Super Bowl. I know you all have been waiting for it!!
First of all, I really don’t care who wins. I would prefer a really good game, one that went down to the wire. I don’t think many people are giving New Orleans much of a chance because of who is playing quarterback on the other side of the ball. Yes, Peyton Manning is a very good quarterback. I didn’t realize he had the arm strength until I saw him throw the ball on a ROPE to one of his recievers in the AFC Championship game. He is also very smart, like another coach on the field.
However…..
…..I think I am going to pick the upset (again). I think New Orleans will surprise people by bucking the Colts in a close one, 34-31. I think Drew Brees will rally his Saints at the end and score with not much time left on the clock. The city of New Orleans could, would and should really benefit the Saints winning the Super Bowl. The Colts and Manning had their time a couple of years ago. Let’s see the Saints go marching in!
Until next time, bottoms up and thank you SO much for reading!
