This Saturday night is Open That Bottle Night, a great holiday created by wine journalists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher. John used to work for Bloomberg News, a distinction I will share with him in… a week. It’s a day to blow the dust off that bottle you’ve been saving for some nebulous far-off Special Occasion and just drink the darn thing already.

I got in my special bottle a little early. Constant Reader and high school bestie AM made her first in-person visit to Wiz Manor last weekend! I put some bottles in the new fridgey I bought last week. And when we decided it was red wine time, I knew what I wanted to open: Shaw Vineyard 2009 Keuka Hill Reserve.

I bought this on my last fall trip to the Finger Lakes in 2017 (le sigh). Shaw ages their wines in barrels for a craaaaazy long time. They cellar-age for five years or more before bottling. By comparison, the highest quality of Italian Chianti Classico, Gran Selezione, needs at least 2½ years of aging and 3 months in the bottle before it can be released. I bought this 2009 bottle in 2017! And if I remember correctly, it had only been recently released.

The label doesn’t give us the makeup of the blend, but the website calls it a “meritage Bordeaux-style blend (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc).” The color is still great, not showing much age at all. The fruit is slightly muted, but more towards the blackberry end. Texture is still very nice. It went great with a repeat viewing of Wine Country (this time actually watching together in the same room!)

It was a great wine to share with an almost lifelong friend. Hope you get to share your That Bottle with someone neat too.