Favorite Wines
I was at a party on Saturday night where friends were asked to bring a new wine for everyone to try and that got the guests to talking about some of their favorite wines. What is it about a great bottle of wine that recalls memories of a great evening, dinner, celebration or event with friends? Is it that it’s made from grapes, comes from nature, is a long arduous process that takes months or years to produce the magic? Is it the connection to food, how it enhances and brings out interesting flavors? Or is that at anytime, unexpectedly, you may come across a gem, reasonably priced that is just yours?
Here are a couple of my favorite bottles of wine, one old and one new. I would be curious to here yours and any stories of where you had them and how they were discovered.
Amarone Classico – 1997
This was my first great bottle and still most favorite. We had the opportunity to share this bottle with our United Way committee when I worked at Xerox. It was 10 years ago that we enjoyed a couple of these bottles, when they cost $35 a bottle in a restaurant and now would be closer to $250.
Teroldego Rosso Veronese, 2004, Marion, Veneto. I had this one recenlty at Teroni Restaurant in Toronto. $120 in Restaurant.
I was visiting the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia about 3 years ago. We were touring a couple of wineries and after a tasting the 2005 Burrowing Owl Pinot Noir purchased a bottle. We consumed it on the trip and loved it even more than during the tasting. I ordered a case online to be delivered to Ontario and at the time the bottles were $25 each.
I still have 5 bottles left and I have consumed about 3 of the case. The rest were gifts for dear friends. They are all blown away after tasting and have vowed to visit the Okanagan.
For me it is the story that is associated with the wine that increases my satisfaction of the experience of purchasing and consuming the wine. That fact that it only cost $25…priceless.
2005 Burrowing Owl Pinot Noir
http://www.bovwine.ca/