Darling Hostess,
We were gifted with several excellent bottles of wine when we were engaged. That was four years ago and we have not opened any of the bottles. Cringe! I am always waiting for the best time but anniversaries, holidays, and birthdays have passed. It never seems special enough. Do you have a rule of thumb for opening your best bottles?
Kisses,
Katie
(Full disclosure: Katie is one of my oldest friends, if she were not, she absolutely should not be kissing virtual-perfect strangers, although I could not even feign surprise if this kind of thing were uncovered. Also, I gave her a few of those bottles, two of which should have been opened already.)
She has the wrong hostess for the task in me: I don't know about you, but I open bottles when I am having dinner, thirsty, out of shampoo, or when I am close to the shore and not in any rush to send a message. I try not to open bottles of champagne unless I am in the company of very trusted souls (don't ask, I mean it, don't). Two bottles or more of any one wine sits aside for dinner parties. This concludes what I know, except to say: Open the bottles already, are you waiting for an apocalypse?
Do you have an uncorking rule of thumb you can share with my girl?
5 comments:
My rule is to drink them and enjoy them! Life is too short to wait for that "perfect" occasion to uncork good wine, and it is certainly too short to drink anything less than amazing. My only other rule is that you MUST drink it from your most gorgeous crystal, as that should be enjoyed everyday as well.
I agree with the drink them and enjoy life! Opening a bottle that is reserved for a special occasion on an occasion makes it that much more special.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that some bottles can be kept and aged in the RIGHT CONDITIONS and some cannot. It's foolish of you to hold onto that bottle and then keep it past its peak b/c you did not want to open it.
It's silly to waste them because the perfect occasion never came along!
I say buy some lingerie, set a romantic table, and make a special night for your two and open one of those bottles right now!
I had two very expensive bottles that I was saving for a special occasion. Well, I finally decided to open one of them two years later, and found the cork to be very wet (not a good thing). I managed to salvage the bottle by decanting it for over an hour. The other bottle I opened after finding the first, and it was pure vinegar. Never again have I let my good wines sit for more than a month. If there is no special event, I create a "date night" with my husband on a Friday night, in which we order take out and drink a really nice bottle of wine.
The only etiquette part here would be if you want to make sure to drink the wine with the people who gave it to you. Which is a nice touch, to be sure.
I'm with you. Life's short. Drink the good wine.
Post a Comment