Better Late Than Never
Ok, so I probably would have written right after the Super Bowl had my prediction turned out correct. Shelley nearly predicted the exact score at one point late in the game and then Ben Roethlisberger did his thing by taking the Steelers all the way down field, throwing the winning touchdown pass that destroyed Arizona’s dream of winning it all. But we were close!
So, now nearly two weeks later, I am writing about a 2006 Shiraz that we had last night with meatloaf. First of all, let me tell you, Shelley knows what she’s doing in the kitchen. This was likely the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. And this Shiraz from Burley Fox went quite well with it.
Our Cork Catcher and riddling rack.
I don’t know much about Burley Fox other than they’re located in South Eastern Australia.
It was a young Shiraz and it lacked complexity and character. I was thinking we would get a much stronger wine but it worked well with the meatloaf. When we were finished we did what we do with all our corks after we finish a bottle of wine and pitched it in our cork catcher.
Yes, you read correctly, cork catcher. About a year and a half ago we went to a little wine bar in Sandpoint, Idaho, to enjoy a little wine and a little food. It was a lovely place down a long stairway. As we entered there was this large framed glass with a bunch of corks in it.
Shelley loved the concept and asked if I would make one for us. I did and you are looking at the outcome. We had a few corks saved up but since then we just pitch the cork in the top (the top is open) after we finish a bottle of wine. We usually don’t put anything in unless it’s actually a cork MADE of cork. On special bottles or wine drank on special occasions or events we’ll even write on the cork including the date and what the occasion was. It’s been a lot of fun and quite a conversation piece.
Next to the cork catcher is our antique riddling rack. A riddling rack is for sparkling wines. They are to be turned, if I remember correctly, about a quarter turn every other week, which is called riddling. I will get my facts straight in a later post but this is the rack that is used to do this. Now most riddling is done by a machine. Notice this rack is also used for drying out lavender. A rack for many uses!
We unveilded our cork catcher at our Open That Bottle Night last year which is the last Saturday of the month of February. I’ll explain all about Open That Bottlel Night on my next post. Until then, bottoms up and keep enjoying that wine.
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