Date: February 27, 2009 @ 10:16 AM

Open That Bottle Night

When a winery says “Open that bottle”, we may start to sound suspect but the words come from Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal. Ten years ago, they started “Open That Bottle Night” as a way to get people to open a special bottle of wine that they were saving for a special occasion.

I love their idea. It gets to the heart of what counts in wine; sharing it, drinking it, and enjoying it.  To do those things…you have to open it.

Open That Bottle Night is slated for February 28^th. Do it. Choose something and know that tons of other people across the country are doing the same thing. What are you going to choose? Why are you going to choose that bottle instead of some other one? Maybe it is the wine you had when you got engaged. Maybe it is the wine you bought together on vacation. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It is best if it has reasons for being special.

There isn’t a right or a wrong but rather it is a push to remind each of us to enjoy our wine rather than horde it for some perfect occasion that never seems to be “perfect” enough.

Gil Nickel, who founded Far Niente, taught me that “any time worth having a good bottle of wine is a chance to consider opening the best bottle of wine that you have.” It was a great lesson. I enjoy my cellar more than ever and we haven’t run out of special wines yet. That is the spirit of “Open That Bottle Night.”  I hope you participate with a huge smile.

I am not sure what wine we are going to open but it may be a Far Niente 1987 Cabernet, because that was the year our first child arrived and it stuns us that he is already 21.