I met her in Chicago. It was love at first sight and oh, did we travel together! New York for a few years then across the pond to London. We wanted to go on forever, but in England we said goodbye as she sought the comfort of another friend from South America. Time moved on. I moved to Toronto and then Pittsburgh. Stories surfaced of her return to North America, but I figured I'd seen the last of her. Then, just a few weeks ago as I opened the cellar door at our friend's house in Miami, there she was, winking at me from across the shelf. You knew I was talking about the 2003 Fisher, Mountain Estate Chardonnay from Napa, right?
So many different cities, so many twists of fate that brought us back together. As if out of a Tom Robbins novel, our two parallel lives had crisscrossed like a patchwork quilt only to find ourselves back together after more than 10 years. It's not often that I so openly choose a bottle out of another man's cellar, but I was not going to let her slip past my grasp one more time. I couldn't help but remember the day our eyes first met and immediately reached out to friends who had been at the bar that fateful evening. This caused one friend across the country to shout with excitement in a crowded restaurant as he read my message. All of a sudden, my heart sank, as I realized the distinct possibility that things would be different. Had I built this up too much? How could this live up to the hype? So much time had passed and would that same spark still exist?
I was a nervous wreck until dinner and could hardly wait. I wanted everything to be perfect. The temperature, the lighting, and even opened up to take a breadth of air. Right away she was beautiful, but she showed her age as the years had taken its toll. No longer a bright flashy blond, she'd gone darker, almost auburn with copper highlights. The sweet tropical perfume I remembered she'd worn that first night was now much smokier, earthier, almost musky. Still intriguing and inviting, but far less flirtatious than before. The once soft flesh was now wrinkled, almost weathered, but she carried herself with a look of wisdom and sophistication. Ahhh, but she was still racy and quick witted as ever! She still had me on the edge of my seat, coming back for more.
She'd changed... but then so had I. We weren't the same two that met in the bar so many years before. Part of me liked her more, part of me liked her less. To be honest, it didn't matter. I realized over dinner that I wasn't really looking to repeat that one experience from the past, but I wanted to reconnect and see how we'd grown and matured over the years. I'm glad that I'm not the same person or wine taster that I was ten years ago and likewise I'd have been disappointed if the Chardonnay hadn't changed a bit. It wasn't just getting to taste the same wine that I'd had before. It was getting to reconnect with the exact same bottle that had been with me for so long and remembering where our paths crossed. I love to give wine as a gift but often with the caveat that a particular bottle must not be opened for a certain number of years. This isn't just so the wine has time to develop new flavors and mature. This anticipation and wait becomes a culmination of all the events that have led you through the story, the journey, to eventually sit down and enjoy this wine. Go on, try it. give someone a bottle of wine and see what happens. It can be for a birthday or celebration, or maybe it's just Tuesday and you want to send your friend home with an extra bottle you have laying around in your collection. Who knows. Maybe you'll be fortunate enough to enjoy the wine together one day later. Or maybe your friend will fondly remember the day that you gave them that bottle, and also reflect on the other great memories that you've shared together. Either way that bottle will be able to tell one hell of a story, and after all, isn't that one of the reasons we love wine so much in the first place?
Tasting Note
2003 Fisher Mountain Estate Chardonnay, Napa Valley - Tawney color with an orange/brick red hue. Almost port-like on the nose with raisins, prunes, orange peel and honey. Candied spice like ginger and beeswax. Great acidity that still raced though the wine and a smokiness that reminded me of the caramelized top of a creme brulee.
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