Big Weekend

This past weekend was a once in a lifetime occasion for my wife. For the one and only time in her life Easter and her birthday were the same day. (Disclaimer: If Jessi lives another 220 years then I will definitely post a correction). It doesn't take a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for me to get in celebration mode, so this occasion definitely brought out my celebratory spirit.

We had a great weekend marking Jessi's first birthday with Lachlan in the picture. On Saturday we got together with my siblings and nieces to enjoy a great manicotti lunch my brother-in-law Gary had put together. We had a great time eating and catching up. The alarm went off at 6:05 Sunday morning. We had been invited to Sunrise Easter service. The service was simple, yet moving. It was a special time sharing Easter and Jessi's birthday with Lachlan. We then shared an amazing breakfast with those who attended the service. After Lachlan got in a much needed nap, we were off to Jessi's parents house. We had a wonderful time together sharing great food, wine, and conversation.

This occasion called for another first; I went to my wine refrigerator and pulled a memorable bottle of wine for the occasion, Saltram of Barossa's Mamre Brook 2002 Shiraz. When Jessi and I moved back from Australia back in May of 2005, we brought back a few bottles of wine, while leaving a few more in the safe keeping of friends. This was a wine we had thoroughly enjoyed on several occasions while living in Australia. It was fun to reminisce about the times we had drank this wine, and also to think back to the time we toured the winery while on holiday with good friends. I will never forget the night we were vacationing with Jessi's sister Laurel and our friend Kelly at her grandmother's house on the beach a few hours south of Sydney. We had an all-star line up of wine and a decent amount of one of the greatest beers found in the world; Coopers Sparkling Ale. We ended up staying up all night drinking good wine and beer, while playing a cut throat game of monopoly. (Laurel won the game). We then ended up walking down to the beach and watching one of the more breathtaking sunrises I have had the pleasure of experiencing.

It was a great experience to try a wine that we have had cellaring for over 3 years. The wine had gone through a significant change over these years. The intense lively fruit we remember in 2004 had toned down significantly. The fruit was still there, but it had taken a back seat. There was a very enjoyable toasty oak flavor, and a great smack of spice on the nose. We found the wine more simple than we remembered it. It was extremely smooth, but with less life than we had hoped for. We really enjoyed this semi-aged wine, but both agreed that we preferred the younger version. I loved being able to try this wine 3 years later, and would recommend doing this with several wines in order to experience what age does to a wine and if you prefer younger or older wines. Ideally it would be great to have half a dozen bottles of the same wine to try every few years to see how it has changed over time. Of course you need a wine of solid quality and has the structure and tannins to age well over time.

After returning home from Jessi's parents later that evening I popped open a nice bottle I had found a couple months ago that I bought specifically for Jessi's birthday. I had heard a raving review about Cougar Crest's 2003 Estate Reserve Shiraz, and when I finally tracked down a bottle I had to have it. This wine was big. It was almost too big for us to fully enjoy. This was a wine that I felt like 3-5 years of cellaring would have been done wonders for. It felt like there wasn't enough room in my mouth for both the huge fruit and big tannins. We did enjoy this wine, but would have to give it a pass in the future at 42 dollars a bottle.

What an amazing weekend to share so many firsts with my beautiful wife, Lachlan, and family. I am really excited to pull out more of my aging bottles from the "cellar" to experience these wines several years later in the future. Remember, life is too short to drink bad wine!