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Words of wisdom

This evening, I was grilling tri tips and Peruvian purple potatoes grown in Eltopia, Wash. This called for a robust red wine, so I went to the cellar and picked out a Fidelitas Wines 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley.

In the old days - say, a year ago - my wife would have questioned my sanity about opening an expensive bottle of wine for a dinner that was not much more than standard fare. I remember bringing out Reininger Syrah or Kettle Valley Cab and eliciting a gasp from Melissa: "Is this meal Reininger/Kettle Valley worthy?!?"

Tonight, I was pulling the cork on the Fidelitas and casually said, "I hope you don't mind that we're drinking a $40 bottle of wine."

She replied drolly, "Well, it isn't getting any cheaper sitting in the cellar."

Motherhood, I think, has softened her tannins.

By aperdue at Sep 7 2008 - 7:52pm | collecting | red wine | aperdue's blog | 1162 reads

My husband told me a story

My husband told me a story he read online about a man who was looking trough his wife's stuff. He stopped to smell all her good perfumes and sighs that she didn't use them more often. He looked into her closet and admired her dresses and felt sorry for not taking her out more and see her in those dresses. Finally he stopped and picked a pair of shoes. He then went and gave them to a man. He was the one conducting the funerals for his dead wife. It's sad but we must learn from it. Carpe diem the Latins said, seize the day! And so should we too. I was postponing buying new stuff around the house thinking I could save some money for other things but I always felt small in a house that's not as I like it. My husband showed me yesterday these kitchen sinks pictures and said it's time to start living as we need to. I already bought new curtains and the house looks righter. Why save up a bottle of wine for some great occasion when it's a celebration just being alive and well with your family.

By johannabartley at Wed, 10/15/2008 - 6:44am | login or register to post comments

It must be in the water...

...here in the NW because my wife has also been doing the same thing. It will be interesting to see what happnes as the weather turns cooler to see if it remains the same.

P.S.

Tri tip always deservers a good bottle of wine.

By mrstarbuck at Tue, 09/09/2008 - 3:07pm | login or register to post comments

cooler weather....

As a summer and sunshine kind of guy, I really can't stand winter. However, there is one thing that I like about winter, and it relates to your question!

Last year, when the weather turned cooler, the snow was falling, and we spent more time indoors, I noticed that we did tend to open more of our cellar babies. My wife was more than happy to pop those corks! For us, it is becoming almost 'entertainment', and we planned opening a cellar baby around a meal, a DVD, or just a fire and a good book. And I agree - a tri tip is always a good excuse to crack something nice! Then again, who needs an excuse? We opened a JLC Spofford Station syrah last week just because I wanted to drink it. I received no complaints...

Cheers!
Tim

By timinspokane at Tue, 09/09/2008 - 4:49pm | login or register to post comments

Agree

Sometime opening those cellar babies is the special occasion. Don't let those cellar babies grow too long in the tooth.

By dvolmut at Wed, 09/10/2008 - 1:16pm | login or register to post comments

Amen!

Absolutely..... sometimes opening a great bottle IS the reason for the celebration! Many times we have centered an evening around a special bottle of wine. For proof, you should see our kitchen.... we have a huge island kitchen with no soffits above the cabinets circling the kitchen. On top of all of those cabinets? Empty wine bottles! They are from all over the place. But, for a bottle to be up there, they have to have a "story". They are either from our travels, special occasions, anniversaries and birthdays, and now, there are 3 of them from our wedding reception. Each empty bottle reminds us of good times, little and big victories, friends and family, or something else that brings a smile to our face. There are probably 70 or 80 bottles up there... the only problem is, we are just about out of space! I guess we need a bigger kitchen.

Cheers!
Tim

By timinspokane at Wed, 09/10/2008 - 3:05pm | login or register to post comments

I know the feeling....

I know exactly what you are talking about. We used to treat our cellar babies like they were the Holy Grail, and we were almost nervous to touch them unless it was a special occasion, like a night without any of our 6 combined kids at home! These days? My wife has no problem telling me to "go get something good" after a few hard days at work and a few days of our "daily drinkers." I must admit, I don't mind at all... what guy would mind when their wife is "in the mood" for something good!

Cheers!
Tim

By timinspokane at Sun, 09/07/2008 - 8:30pm | login or register to post comments

Done that. Regretted it...

“Cellar Babies” I like that… We used to do the same. Always feeling we needed a special occasion to open a really nice bottle. Unfortunately, what we felt were special occasions that warranted opening those really nice bottles were/are few and far between. That resulted in letting a few bottles of Leonetti get well past their prime. Talk about being disappointed! Now we’re a little more apt to convince ourselves that a special occasion is whatever we decide it is. Lesson learned: Open ‘em and enjoy ‘em.

By Wagz at Mon, 09/08/2008 - 3:28pm | login or register to post comments

Why save it?

My wife is pretty much the same way, she wants "something spectacular" every night. We only save certain wine for certain friends, such as "Steve likes zinfandel" "Brian likes pinot noir," etc.
Otherwise, anything goes. Syncline syrah on Tuesday night with frozen pizza? You bet!

By alanjpatrick at Mon, 09/08/2008 - 10:12am | login or register to post comments

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