Dammit Janet, Open That Bottle!

[Jenise]

A long time ago, Wall St. Journal wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher started an annual tradition that caught on in wine circles all over the world: "Open That Bottle Night" provides the occasion on which one can throw all the usual objections to the wind and just get around to opening one of those special bottles people like us who collect too much wine kind of need. Always designated for the last Saturday in February, Open That Bottle night is coming up next weekend on the 25th.

This year I not only plan to participate, I really need to participate. I've got way too much old wine and a lot of it's about to rot. So I'm either going to open an 88 Latour or a '98 Pingus. Or hell, maybe both.

So why not join me? Choose a bottle, then come back and talk about it. Who's in?

I'm in but haven't decided yet on the wine--possibly a 2009 Alysian Wines Pinot Noir Rochioli Vineyard Edgewater, the last of three bottles or one of the bottles in my wine cooler such as a German Riesling Auslese or a Alsatian Riesling.

[Jenise]

I'm in but haven't decided yet on the wine--possibly a 2009 Alysian Wines Pinot Noir Rochioli Vineyard Edgewater, the last of three bottles or one of the bottles in my wine cooler such as a German Riesling Auslese or a Alsatian Riesling.

Alysian--isn't that the new winery by Gary Farrell, created after he sold his eponymously named winery to Jess Jackson?

I`m in. 1988 Fontanafredda Barolo. Never drink the stuff but one bottle lingers here at the ranch!!!

[David M. Bueker]

I am sure I can find something suitable.

[Robin Garr]

We'll play, most likely with one of a dusty collection of Puzelat Loire reds that might be getting long in the tooth.

I'm in. I think I have 3 different bottles that may turn out to be candied dates. We'll see.

Re: Dammit Janet, Open That Bottle!
by Jenise » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:06 pm
JC (NC) wrote:
I'm in but haven't decided yet on the wine--possibly a 2009 Alysian Wines Pinot Noir Rochioli Vineyard Edgewater, the last of three bottles or one of the bottles in my wine cooler such as a German Riesling Auslese or a Alsatian Riesling.

From Jenise:
"Alysian--isn't that the new winery by Gary Farrell, created after he sold his eponymously named winery to Jess Jackson?"

Yes and no, Jenise. It WAS the new winery for Gary Farrell and I loved some of the wines but he has quit making wines and is now trading in antiques cars I believe. That makes the remaining Alysian wines in my collection special because I can't restock on them.

I think I'm in. Don't yet know what plans are for Sat night so far, but I"ll post whatever I open.
Neil

I'm in,.have invited an old friend of mine to join us, a longtime co-conspirator re wine buying and drinking, will probably pull either a CnDP or Hermitage

Guess one should have a back up! I am wary about my Barolo .

I opened two bottles like that last year and in both cases had waited to long. Richebourg 1971 from Gros was an empty shell. Haut-Brion 1966 was badly ullaged, still interesting but not a patch on a pristine bottle in the early 00s.

I'll put on my thinking cap for this weekend. I still have a bottle of Haut-Brion 1975 but don't expect much of it as the previous bottle was already oxidised about 10 years ago.

Why are you wary about that 1988 Barolo, Bob? It should be fine if well stored. I have a 1990 Barolo Monfortino from Giacomo Conterno and reckon that it still ideally needs a few more years.

The Barolo was not that well stored Tim, only in a wooden case in the basement where temp can fluctuate somewhat. It is with a couple of old Chilean reds from Los Vascos .

The Barolo was not that well stored Tim, only in a wooden case in the basement where temp can fluctuate somewhat. It is with a couple of old Chilean reds from Los Vascos .

As you know, Bob, it depends on the extent and rapidity of the fluctuations. I kept some bottles from the mid-70s through to early 2014 in our cellar in Belgium which had seasonal temperature fluctuations from about 10°C in the coldest winter to 21°C in summer 2003 and from 12°C to 19°C in more normal years. Reds like Pichon-Lalande '66 and Ducru B '70 which had that treatment can still be great bottles even after the move but the dry whites and Champagnes tended to age a bit too quickly.

[Robin Garr]

So, I pushed this out in today's 30 Second Wine Advisor. I also invited folks to come join in ...

Open that bottle!

Tomorrow is "Open That Bottle Night!" Who's in?

Or, you may well ask, what is it?

A wine-geek tradition since 2000, Open That Bottle Night has become an annual observance since Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, the couple who wrote the Wall Street Journal's "Tastings" column from 1998 through 2010, came up with the idea 17 years ago.

The concept is simple, and it is too good to let die just because the column has ended: Set an annual day - the last Saturday of February - for an informal "world-wide celebration of friends, family and memories during which all of us finally drink that wine that is otherwise simply too special to open."

So, tomorrow, February 25, 2017, let's keep the tradition alive. Whether it's the only bottle in the house or one bottle among thousands in your fancy wine cellar, if you have one, pick out a special wine that you have long meant to open but haven't yet gotten around to. Open that wine! And enjoy it for what it is, not what it might someday be or might once have been.

I'm looking at a couple of dusty old bottles here, and am torn between celebrating the day with a family favorite, a 2011 "le Tesniere" Touraine Pineau d'Aunis from Puzelat-Bonhomme, or a lonely bottle brought back from a long-ago trip to Canada and put away, a 2001 Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard "Equuleus" Bordeaux blend from Chateau des Charmes in Ontario's Niagara Peninsula.



Which would you choose? What will you pick out for your Open That Bottle Night? Do it just for your own enjoyment, or share your tasting report with friends on social media, or, if you like, our online Wine Lovers Discussion Group.

I'd open the Ch. de Charmes Bordeaux blend. I may open a 2003 Leoville Poyfrere or a 2005 Anderson's Conn Valley Res. Cabernet. I'm saving my big 2000 Bordeaux for a more special occasion as I do not have very many and they would be more appreciated by sharing with other Bordeaux lovers.

Looks like some real gems about to be opened so look forward to all those reporting in here.
Am enjoying some Campbells Mushroom Soup after Donalds plug at todays conference in Maryland!!

I'm looking at a couple of dusty old bottles here, and am torn between celebrating the day with a family favorite, a 2011 "le Tesniere" Touraine Pineau d'Aunis from Puzelat-Bonhomme, or a lonely bottle brought back from a long-ago trip to Canada and put away, a 2001 Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard "Equuleus" Bordeaux blend from Chateau des Charmes in Ontario's Niagara Peninsula.

I just had a 2014 la Tesniere and loved it, and I've had other bottles as old as four years past the vintage. My off-hand guess would be that your bottle should still be great, and doesn't HAVE to be opened now, though I'd probably drink up within a year or two.

[Robin Garr]

I just had a 2014 la Tesniere and loved it, and I've had other bottles as old as four years past the vintage. My off-hand guess would be that your bottle should still be great, and doesn't HAVE to be opened now, though I'd probably drink up within a year or two.

Yeah, I wasn't in any real doubt. Mary loves it (sad they don't seem to make it any more), and we bought maybe six bottles of each vintage through the last (2013?) I've got a 2011 and 2012 left, and based on performance of their siblings, I'm not worried about losing either one over the next year or two. The Equueleus might actually be a better candidate for Open That Bottle.

[David M. Bueker]

I tried, but had two consecutive bad bottles.

2003 La Vielle Cure from Fronsac. My last bottle and that is good . Dark purple with nose and palate of black cherry and a touch of eucalyptus. Nothing very special here and probably near peak as tannins were mostly resolved. As the wine breathes thru the meal, the black cherry morphs into plum. It looks like I need to spend a LOT more on a Bordeaux to get a complex red wine like a mid-range Napa Cab. with 13 yrs. on it. That is O.K. too I meant to open the 2003 Leoville Poyferre but could not find it. Maybe I drank it! My memorable Bordeaux in recent memory were the 2000 Pichon Baron, the 2000 Clos St. Martin at MoCool and the 1999 Pavie, all very much more expensive than the Vielle Cure. Just saying.

Good one Jim, seems to work OK eh. My Barolo appears to be on track too, have half a bottle left from last night. Will go down well whilst on coyote watch here as there are quite a few in the area.

What a roller coaster night..started with a glass of Rosato, a rose made from Cab Sauv, by Channing's Daughters out on the East End of Long Island, a delightful wine, while we waited for a bottle of 1998 Clos Des Papes to open up..which it never did..flawed bottle, revisited over several hours and all I got was a burnt rubber smell, no aromatics and no flavors..Opened the backup bottle, 1989 Chave Hermitage, poured some into a glass and was appalled, it was badly corked..so, 0 for 2..Went down to the cellar and pulled a bottle of 2008 Rafanelli Dry Creek Zin..It was marvelous..Thanks, Dave..

I was choosing between a couple of Bordeaux, and a Ridge Lytton Springs Zin '04, and a Foppiano Petit Sirah '04. As I was having spaghetti with meat sauce, I flipped the coin between the other two (not that spaghetti would demean the Bordeaux) and came up Ridge.
The Ridge barely met my expectation and fell a bit short of my hope. In the late 90's and 00's, Sonoma County reds tended to fall into an odd-even year pattern, where the odd years were easy-drinking, fresh, ripe, berry flavored wines and the even years tended to be harder, more closed and tannic.
This one was no exception, and unfortunately, this bottle failed to develop anything useful to offset the loss of the early Zin fruit. It tasted like a lightweight Petit Sirah. (Ok, it's 18% Petit Sirah and 3% Carignane).
Nothing particularly wrong, it just didn't develop in the way a really good DCV zin should.
The spaghetti was fine; after all, I made the sauce.
For those who aren't Zinaholics, it's traditional in Northern California Zins for them to contain an admixture of Petit Sirah, Carignane, and sometimes odds and ends of other varieties. Ridge Lytton is right in the middle of that lineup.