If I have told this story before I don’t remember when it would have been, so it probably wasn’t this year. I’m pretty sure it has never been in print, but I do like to share it when people say a particular wine was terrible. I tell it because I was there, and this happened to me.

It was New Year’s Eve somewhere in the early ’90s of the last century. We were at a friend’s house and as in previous years had planned to spend the night and well into the next day. Our main course was lamb; I love lamb. One of the wines I would pour was an exceptional Syrah at about $50, and the other was probably a Cabernet in the same price range. There was a great deal of merriment and consumption, storytelling and laughter and more drinking as we prepared the meal. With the lamb roasting in the oven, I opened the wine to let it breathe.