It's the annual Open That Bottle Night - Saturday February 23, 2019 - reach into your cellar and pop an old cork!

Which wine should the Wine Barbarian - Bill Tieleman - open tonight!  The Caymus Special Selection 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon or the Woodward Canyon 2006 Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon?  Tough, tough choice! 

Wine drinking friends - it's the annual Open That Bottle Night - Saturday February 23, 2019 

That means it's time to reach deep into your cellar and pop an old cork from a bottle that has been waiting far too patiently for the right occasion!

This is a brilliant concept - invented by Wall Street Journal wine columnists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher back in 2000 - to each year open one bottle of wine that has been suffering in silence in your cellar that has been neglected while you wait for the perfect occasion to uncork it. The link above has some good tips for choosing and how to open that bottle. 

Tonight I have two choices: A fantastic Caymus Vineyards 2007 Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley California - rated 96 points by the Wine Spectator but also advised to open from 2011 to 2019.

Or an awesome Woodward Canyon 2006 Artist Series #15 Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State - rated 91 points by the Wine Spectator but best from 2009 to 2016.  My bad!  

True confession: I have far too many bottles in my cellar that I have likely kept for too long, so Open That Bottle Night is so welcome - and I may extend it over many weeks or even months!

And whether you have just one or a handful of bottles in your own cellar or thousands, the unfortunate reality is that we often think that opening that special old bottle needs an incredible meal or the right combinations of friends or a particular anniversary, birthday, celebration etc. before we can open it.

And then it goes bad.

Been there, done that, poured it down the drain while I cried bitter tears - but not as bitter as the spoiled, corked or overdue wine!

So I hope you will join me tonight in liberating a libation from purgatory in your wine cellar!  

No matter whether you are ordering in pizza or preparing a simple repast or actually making a gourmet meal - whatever it is, your excellent old bottle of wine will match it perfectly!  

In fact, that's how I got my Wine Barbarian nickname.  A friend was stunned that I was drinking a lovely bottle of Chateau Montrose 3rd growth Bordeaux with pizza - "you, you are a barbarian!" he exclaimed.  

"Yes," I replied, "but I am a wine barbarian!"  

So open that bottle now and enjoy!

And if you are in Vancouver, I hope to see you and hear about what you opened up at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, coming up from February 23 to March 3.  See my recent post on the very few tickets remaining and act fast to get one! 

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