What a Great Surprise!
Some things you can never predict. Have you ever had one of those nights when the stars all aligne perfectly and you never expected it? That’s what happened tonight.
As you may or may not know we are living in North Idaho and it’s beautiful. Today got up to a balmy 45 degrees and the sun was out and it glistened on the snow. Just beautiful. Then the Huskies beat USC and kept an arms length to those pesky Bruins of UCLA and the “other” UC school there at Berkley.
Then the magic started shaping up. OK, so it was 45 and sunny today but when it’s clear like this the temperature drops fast at night. So there I was, walking outside with two steaks on a plate and it’s 17 degrees. And there I am barbequeing. Chilly yes, but I’m looking forward to a great dinner with a Cabernet Sauvignon.
We opened a 2005 Cab from Arbor Crest Wine Cellars in Spokane, Washington. We’ve visited this winery one summer a couple of years ago when we went to listen to some jazz and drink some wine. At the time I was not very enamored with the wine but the property that the winery sits on is unbelievable. A Florentine house built in 1n 1924 sits on a bluff overlooking a river valley below. Arbor Crest Wine Cellars purchased the National Historic Landmark in 1985.
The wine was young but very good, indeed. I think Cabernet Sauvignon is my very favorite red wine if I had to pick one. I love the full body and berry nose. I think if this wine were to be layed down for a bit it would be really very good.
So, now for our surprise. Remember, the last post I made I told you I was going to explain about Open That Bottle Night. Here it is, in a nutshell. Dorothy (Dottie) Gaitor and John Brecher write the Tastings column for the Wall Street Journal. I recommend everyone read their column any time you have the chance. It used to run on Fridays but now it is every Saturday. They write in the most down to earth way that shouldn’t intimidate anyone wanting to know more about wine.
We stumbled across these two after reading their book, “Love by the Glass” which you can find, and should buy, at Amazon.com. It is probably the best romantic wine book written. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of it. After we read the book we began to read their column every week. February 28th will mark their 10th year of Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN. The idea was born from many letters and e-mails they recieved asking when they should open “that special bottle of wine”?
You know that wine, yes? Everybody has one. It’s that special, SPECIAL bottle of wine that the occasion or event never quite seems to match. So there the bottle sits. And sits. And after it’s done sitting it sits a little longer. Until…it goes bad.
Open That Bottle Night is for just that sort of bottle. We sort of jumped the gun by one week. Shelley pulled out a bottle of Sterling Vineyards Light Zinfandel Port NV from the pantry. It’s been kicking around there for awhile and it had not been stored very well. It even had a slight wine stain running straight through the middle of the label. So she opened it up and to her and my surprise it was fabulous! She had bought this in March of 1982 and it was made in 1978 even though it is a non vintage wine.
I talked with Mike at the winery and he says they don’t even call this Port anymore because to be called Port means it has to be from Portugal and Sterling Vineyards is from Napa, California. When they make this particular wine now they call it Light Zinfandel Port Styled Dessert Wine.
So we encourage you to take that bottle of wine that you’ve been waiting for “the” special occasion and drink it next Saturday. Make THAT day the special occasion.
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