Sometimes Life Gets in the Way

The title of this post is appropriate, not just for this blog posting, but for the fact that it's been so long since we've posted.

Sometimes Life Gets in the Way... But the moral of the story is to be SURE to drink that wine that's been sitting around while life happens around you.

It's sort of embarrassing that we haven't posted in 2 years. I guess surgeries, work and life changes come at you in unpredictable ways. In that vein, I share what happened when visiting a friend and making pulls out of his wine cellar.

First, I should back up and share that this friend is totally into wine, has a stellar wine cellar, and has lived in his house for 20+ years. There's some old stuff down there. Sometimes we go picking down there together, and sometimes he sends me down while he cooks. Nice to have friends like this, right?

I strike out on my first two picks -- they are being saved for family members. I joke that I'm picking something older for my third pick; it's from the mid 1980s.

The Oasis Vineyards cabernet sauvignon is smelling bad. He won't taste it; I do. It's awful, and down the drain it goes.

I traipse back downstairs -- fourth time now -- and pull a Grand Cru, which I warned I'd do if my last trip was unsuccessful. The 1985 Chateau Talbot from France is also smelling funky. We both sniff and sip. Big NOPE. Down the drain it goes.

I pull a vintage from another house -- 1986 this time. Dammit! Also bad.

He suggests pulling a '90 or '91 Spottswoode. We're having steak. We need a cab and the pickings in the cellar are getting slim.

The 1990 Spottswoode is easy to find. I think I racked this myself a few months back from a stack of cases sitting in the corner. We are fighting bad corks again -- he likes to swear at cork -- and we have another wine destined for the drain. Ugh, how can this be?

Finally, the lucky number seven pick. Another vintage 1990 Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon. I haven't heard of Heitz Cellars, but his eyes light up and he's hopeful once again.

The seal is removed, the cork pulled, a pour, a sniff... yes! This is our (now quite special) Monday night steak wine. You can still find this bottle in the mid-$200 range. We certainly didn't expect to be drinking this on a random Monday night but since it's Thanksgiving week, and we struck out 6 times, why not? The Heitz Martha's Vineyard cabernet (named for a woman and not the island off Cape Cod) is a highly regarded California wine -- famous for a hint of mint on the palate. We got notes of mint and basil, as well as blueberry. It was fantastic and I recommend drinking this wine soon. It seems to be at its peak.

Moral of the story is... you may not have time to blog, but there IS time for wine, and by all means... DRINK IT!