As many of you are aware, February 24th will mark the 9th Annual Open the Bottle Night. This is the perfect opportunity for you to break open your new special bottle of Portuguese or Spanish wine that you’ve been carrying around with you from house to house, or apartment to apartment for years. Maybe you’re the type of person who’s been waiting for a that perfect occasion that hasn’t arrived yet. Again, this offers you the ideal moment to take that dusty beautiful bottle out of your cellar and revel in each and every aspect of opening it from the weight of the bottle to the sound of the splash as it hits the bottom of your glass. We are all guilty of making excuses as to why this moment just isn’t good enough for a particular bottle of wine. Now is the time! Make that night special because of the bottle, not because the bottle is celebrating a special night.

Open the Bottle Night was created by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, columnists for the wine section in the Wall Street Journal, back in 2000. Their intention is to have people share their experiences of opening a symbolically important bottle on the last Saturday of every February. A handful of the stories submitted are chosen to be included in the subsequent column. Not only are they fantastic writers, as exemplified in their book “Love by the Glass”, but the stories submitted are both humorous and fun.

We haven’t quite decided what our special bottle is going to be yet, but we promise to share our experience with you after the 24th. So go take a peek in your cellar and see if their isn’t an Iberian bottle hiding in the corner waiting to be savored, or invite some friends over and share the experience as a group! Maybe you have a wonderful bottle that would ideal for a romantic evening paired well with a roquefort stuffed steak, sauteed mushrooms and a light mixed green salad, finished with homemade chocolate truffles. Mmmmm…I digress from a romantic dinner Ryan made me many years ago that is still twirling on my palate. But then again, who’s to say that deep dish pizza doesn’t pair well with Cava. We’ll leave the pairings to you and only hope that you will share some of them with us!

Gabriella