This starts about a year ago, when my wife was able to buy into the company she's worked for over the last 12 years or so. The guy who was her boss became her business partner. He's a major league food and wine aficionado, having made it his business to dine at as many three star places in Europe and the states as is humanly possible while putting together a pretty decent wine cellar. Just about the time my wife bought in he suffered catastrophic liver failure (probably due to a genetic issue). He nearly died but managed to pull through and is now doing reasonably well. As one might imagine, alcohol of any form is no longer an option for him.
Fast forward to last night, when he and my wife met at a local restaurant for their annual board meeting (said board consisting of the two of them). That seemed to go well and I thought little of it. Then tonight, as we sat down to a meal of pasta with a tomato-tuna-caper sauce, she said, "Oh! Bill brought a wine last night. It's in my car." Our daughter obligingly went to the car and came back with a bottle in brown paper bag. I lifted it out and there was the 2000 Dalle Valle cabernet. I was a bit stunned as this as the only Dalle Valle wines I've ever had were at a Heidi Barrett blowout tasting many years ago. They were staggeringly good but both the prices and the patience it takes to get those wines are well out of my league. We poured the remainder of the bottle into our glasses and it was indeed an amazing wine. Very dark purple with little visible sign of age. Very forward nose with lots of dark fruit and spice. Complex flavors of more dark fruit, some cedar and tobacco, a touch of vanilla, a hint of garrigue, and impeccable balance. The only sign of it having been either old or open for 24 hours was a slight drying on the palate at the finish. It went amazingly well with the strong flavors from the pasta dish.
Now if I can just convince them to set up monthly board meetings....