The Bottles Opened That Night
I’d have to say, my first Open That Bottle Night was pretty successful. After a tiring day of fighting the crowds at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, without coming near intoxication (which we witnessed in so many others), we still had our taste buds in full order.
Four of us gathered at my apartment: myself, the cellar rat, The Winemaker’s Wife, and another winetasting group friend. Unfortunately, that last friend’s bottle was corked. He’d bought the 2002 Keller Estate Pinot Noir (on the advice of one well-dressed monkey) about a year ago, from a funky wine shop in Pacifica–where they’ll hopefully trade him another bottle.
The other two bottles were
just right. We had a 2000 Brochelle Zinfandel, which the cellar rat/ pretty good winemaker himself loves so much he A) would have as his last wine before dying and
B) purchased the same Paso Robles grapes to make his own Zinfandel. Still nice and jammy, the color was a little hazy and the mouthfeel a little spritzy, but it was quite a damn good glass of wine.
My contribution was given to me some months ago by the official winemaker at Fogarty. He handed me one four-pack and one six-pack box of wine, asking me if I wanted them, even though some might not be any good. Um, yeah, I’ll take my chances. When I got home and rifled through my treasures, I found one bottle of 1984 Thomas Fogarty Cabernet Sauvignon, with grapes from the Napa Valley. Now, our 2002 Napa Cab is one of my favorites, and delicious now, it can go a good many years more. But readers and drinkers, I thought the ‘84 would be long past. That wine was made in the early days at the winery and who knows what it’s been through over the last 20+ years. Surprise on us, it was still good. Light and delicate, the fruit was still there!
Meanwhile, the two boys had caught a couple of rock crabs while the girls were winetasting. My first time to see the poor little guys swimming in boiling water, but my, they tasted good. It was a little funny, though, how both bloggers were taking pictures of everything, asking the winemaker to hold the crab above the pot just a little longer…
*Let me know if your hand at OTBN turned out or not, I’d love to hear the stories.
Open That Bottle Night, Brochelle Zinfandel, Thomas Fogarty Cabernet Sauvignon, rock crabs
….Farley Walker
February 25th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Glad you got to open a bottle (or 3!)
I’m still fairly ill, so I wasn’t able to participate. Sounds like a good time was had by all….except maybe the crabs!
February 25th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Sonds like a great time was had by all.
My family opened a 1984 cab sav when I was in Melbourne. It was the last of a dozen my sister and I had given my father a bit before he died, so obviously we both had to be there to drink it. It was still good too, though the style of newer Aussie cab savs is so very different that my tastebuds were a bit surprised. I drink cab savs so seldom that I hadn’t realised!
February 27th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
This was a great idea, I had a good time. I must point out that I’ve generally had good success on the advice of well dressed monkeys… but the company and the other two bottles more than made up for the TCA in mine. Thanks Farley!
February 28th, 2007 at 7:22 am
I’m always just glad to share great wine experiences with others…
March 5th, 2007 at 10:24 am
[...] Crab & Avocado Salad and New Zealand March 5th, 2007 by Farley The two crabs we shared on Open That Bottle Night had me wanting more… So last week I picked up a small container of lump crabmeat along with other items for my new favorite salad. For the dressing, squeeze 1/8 of a grapefruit into a bowl. Add a splash of white vinegar and a splash of white wine (sparkling if you have it): this time I used the Clos LaChance Rose’. Whisk with salt and pepper–I also chose to add a bit of minced garlic–then stream in olive oil until the dressing is emulsified. Then mix the greens and add sliced avocado, small pieces of grapefruit, and the lump crabmeat, with crumbles of goat cheese on the periphery. I drank the same wine with the salad that was in the dressing, but secretly I was wishing for Sauvignon Blanc. [...]