Quit Holding Those Bottles
(Update: contest for 2008 Open That Bottle Night)
We’ve all done it. Held on to bottles too long, waiting for the right time to drink, and then sadly found they’d passed their prime….
That’s why Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher started Open That Bottle Night: to give you a reason to open a special bottle. Thereby, instead of letting birthdays and anniversaries pass without corks being removed, the occasion becomes the opening of the bottle. It can include a special someone and an intricate meal, but the focus, the star, is the wine. And the memories you’ll make.
This year the date is February 24 (always the last Saturday of February), which is when I was planning on attending the San Francisco Chronicle tasting at Fort Mason. I’ll have to keep my wits about me that day.
With less than a month until the big night, go ahead and be thinking about the wine you might want to choose. Maybe it was bought on vacation, given to you as a wedding present, or willed to you by a favorite aunt. Whatever the case, it’s time to open and enjoy.
And to my TV friend, this will give you an excuse to stop sitting on your bottles!
funny side note: If you’re in need of a fancy corkscrew, this site will give you a free foil cutter by mentioning Open That Bottle Night.
Open That Bottle Night, Dorothy Gaiter, John Brecher
….Farley Walker
January 31st, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I recommend celebrating pagan holidays. 5000 years ago, these four were really important. Back when we were all wearing deer hides and building megalithic stonehenges, holidays were based on where the sun was in the sky:
Winter Solstice — December 21
Spring Equinox — March 21
Summer Solstice — June 21
Fall Equinox — September 21
These were all important events marking the cycle of the seasons. Back then, (5000 years ago,) growing crops was pretty much what everybody did. And what better way to celebrate the harvest of your grape crop than by drinking wine? Now, dancing nekkid under the moon is up to you… you may just want to mark the event with a nice Pinot Noir or something.
January 31st, 2007 at 11:03 pm
ok ok ok… i’ll start admiring my wine in my tummy instead of admiring it in the bottle… also, i’m waiting for you to come visit so i can share some with you…
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:26 pm
I dunno if I want to be hauling delicate old bottles clear across the state, but if you and your crowd were staying in the city that night after the tasting, I might be tempted to try… let me know.
February 4th, 2007 at 11:26 am
[...] February 24th has been set as Open That Bottle Night by the good folks at Wine Outlook. [...]
February 5th, 2007 at 4:11 am
There are a lot of Saints Days too. Heck, there are hundreds of saints. Every day is Saint-Somebody’s day. Then there are all the holidays in India to celebrate. They have holidays like Pongal and Gudi Padwa. Heck, there is *always* an excuse to open a bottle of wine! Need inspiration?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holidays_in_India
Then if you want to get creative, you could start celebrating Chinese holidays, like the Dragon Boat festival, or Maritime Day.
February 5th, 2007 at 5:54 am
[...] February 24th has been set as Open That Bottle Night by the good folks at Wine Outlook. [...]
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:13 pm
hehe.. before i opened the rest of the entry, i was trying to figure out why Flag Day was so important to you.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:22 am
[...] in Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) , which I first became aware of on Farley Walker’s Wine Outlook but was created by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, who write the wine column for the Wall Street [...]