Wine Sediments

My husband and I had hauled around this magnum bottle of 1988 Gaillac red wine for 15 years. It was a going-away gift when we left the Tarn department, where Gaillac is located, and it had taken rides in moving trucks from Albi to Tours in 1992, then from Tours to Rodez in 1995.

I would occasionally take a peek at it in our closet-cum-wine cellar. As time went by, its label started looking long in the tooth, and we were fairly certain that years of movement and inappropriate temperature changes had probably pushed it well past its prime.

Thank heavens for “Open That Bottle Night,” which just happened to coincide this year with a dinner party we were having for three other couples. I asked my husband what he thought about opening the oldest and biggest bottle in our modest wine stock. Although we both agreed it was a shame not to wait one more year for its 20th anniversary, we decided to go for it.

No one was disappointed. The wine, from the Cave de Técou, had developed a rich bouquet and a mellow, slightly leathery taste. Although it may have been a bit flatter than it would have been five years ago, it got raves from our guests and went perfectly with our beef goulash dinner.

“Open That Bottle Night,” by the way, takes place in various homes on the last Saturday of February. It’s a pretty gloomy time of year, so this special wine event cheered us all up. The only problem is that we don’t have another bottle lined up for next year!