On Wednesday night I went out with a group of friends to
celebrate our friend Emily’s Birthday. Being a fan of Pinot Grigio, I bought
Emily a bottle of 2015 Italo Cescon. A nice little bottle of wine that won’t
knock you off your feet, but is tasty and easy to drink. After unwrapping the
bottle she says “Oh thank you Dugan! I’m gonna have to save this for a special
occasion.” With those words ringing in my head, I had a flash back to a conversation I had with
one of my regular beer customers Dave. He had come in on a Friday or Saturday
like he does every other week or so and was looking to put together a mixed 6
pack, as is his norm. I can’t remember exactly how, but we got onto the
conversation of specialty bottles we both have that we’re waiting for a “special
occasion” to open. After a few minutes, Dave just says “You know man, you’ll
always be waiting for that special occasion, sometimes you just need to drink
the stuff.” Recovering from my flashback, I look at Emily and I say, “You can,
but really just drink it when you want to, because the special occasion can
just be you.”
We all have them, bottles we are holding onto for a special
night. A fond memory of a place we want to share with a special group of
people, a hard to get, limited edition, only made once every 10 years when the
moon is the perfect hue kind of bottle. Something we are so excited to get, but
then forget about it months later because it’s in your cellar, or in my case;
one of the boxes in my closet, and you have other stuff in there or your fridge
you drink regularly. While these bottles can be special, we seem to never find
the right time for them. Bottles that are expected to be opened on your
birthday or another celebratory event can be held onto because at most events
like that guest are bringing bottles of their own or at least a host gift. And
usually, if someone brings a bottle to your house, you should open it so that
thoughtful person can get some too. Or sometimes we remember too late; yesterday
you meant to put that 2004 Schoenborn Pfaffenberger Riesling Spatlese in the
fridge for tonight’s dinner party but since you haven’t seen the bottle since
you bought it, it skipped your mind while you were setting up. Soon what
started out as a few special bottles becomes your whole cellar and you are left
to say “Well I guess we have to start drinking these.”
But why allow it to get to that point? A question I have
started to ask myself more. While I do have some bottles that are being
held onto for bottle share events or something of the like, there are also
things I have in my “cellar” that I’m holding onto for no particular reason
besides the fact that they are “too special” to just drink on a Tuesday night.
But are they really? Libations are meant to be drunk, no Winemaker, no Master
Distiller or Head Brewer makes their product and goes “I hope someone buys this
and then doesn’t open it for years!” More along the lines of “I hope someone
buys this and loves the shit out of it!” because that is what they were made
for! You don’t buy a real expensive television and not watch it, you don’t buy
a new perfectly made for your body suit and keep it in the closet. No one goes
to the butcher, buys a beautiful prime rib then just leaves it in the fridge
for months on end. So why do it with what you drink? Because we’re waiting for
that day we feel right deeming “special”. But really, isn’t everyday special?
Not trying to sound like one of the inspirational posters
you see at the DMV or Doctor’s Office, but you can make any day a special day.
It’s a Monday and your work day didn’t seem like it went on for 12 hours,
Wednesday at the grocery store you were able to get in and out in 20 minutes,
and you got there at 5:30 (the worst time to go to the grocery store). It’s a
Thursday and you and some friends are going out for dinner, or hey, you woke up
to see another day. With the right view on things, any day can be a special day.
Yesterday I had a Cantillon Classic Gueuze because I looked in my closet and
saw I had 3 different Cantillons in there. That’s just silly! I was excited to
get those beers because I wanted to try them, not to covet them like they carry
the answers to the universe. And even though yesterday was just a typical
Thursday, it became special because of that bottle being opened.
So I encourage all 5 of you that will read this; start
drinking your special bottles! Don’t let a day tell you when it’s the right
time, make it the right time. You don’t want to open something down the road
and go “Well shit, I should have popped this open 2 years ago.” And you don’t
want to have to start buying more storage space because your collection of
specialty bottles is getting bigger than what you can handle. Liquor, Wine and
Beer are meant to be drunk. And while some bottles should be recognized for their
uniqueness, none should be left unopened because of it. Go ahead and take a
look at your collection of special bottles and pick one out to drink in the next
week. Because that bottle was bought by you because it was special to you for
some reason or another. So really, you are the special occasion.
