Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, former Wall Street Journal wine columnists, started Open that Bottle Night in 2000 as a way to celebrate wine. The last Saturday night in February is the “official” or maybe “unofficial” celebration day. The idea behind Open that Bottle Night is to pop open the bottle you’ve been saving for a special occasion or one that holds special meaning. It can be a red or white wine, high-dollar or inexpensive, a new wine or an old favorite. Wine lovers gather to share stories, wines and memories.

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This is a blog post I’ve been wanting to get up for a while, but somehow in the chaos it kept slipping my mind. The Wine Bloggers Conference 2010is in Walla Walla, Washington from June 25-27. Last year, I discovered the wine bloggers conference about the same time it was going on so needless to say I didn’t attend. I’m hoping to head out to Walla Walla this year, but our timing might not work out with some other summer plans.

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And so it begins – the moving process. We packed most of our wine and transported it to Texas yesterday. It’s one item the movers will not pack and ship so we packed up our supply and headed south to Austin.

Our wine cooler looks a little shocking right now. We left a few bottles for the days we’ll be back before bidding adieu to Illinois. So for the next month, things may be a little crazy with relocating, traveling back and forth a few times and a trip out of the country. I’ll try my best, but forgive the sporadic postings. 

I’ve mentioned it before, my all-time favorite pairing is Indian food with a dry Riesling. It’s gorgeous! On it’s own, I’m not much of a Riesling drinker. In fact, I hardly ever have it alone, but matched with the spices and flavors of Indian food….it’s a winning pair in my book or maybe I shall say blog.

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I mentioned last week that Jonathan and I received an engraved wine bottle for Christmas. I wanted to share a picture and some information about the engraving. The engraving was done freehand by Ken Brown, without the assistance of templates or aids. Ken uses an ultra-high-speed dental drill with a carbide tip to complete the engravings. He is a self-taught calligrapher and is best known for his elegant script lettering with instruments. He is thought to be the most published calligrapher in history with millions of impressions of his work in print.

Ken also teaches engraving seminars annually and makes special appearances to engrave wine bottles. His website provides a listing of all these services. Engraved wine bottles make great holiday or birthday gifts. They are also a wonderful way to mark a special occasion such as an anniversary or company event.