February is for Lovers (of Wine)

Everyone thinks February is all about Valentine’s Day and Love. I’m not going to tell you to forget about your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or significant other. What I am going to tell you is that every month is wine lovers month. My Dad’s birthday is in February and we celebrated at Varano’s. My Dad’s favorite place to eat is at Varano’s and every year he says the same thing to me, ” I want to drink a bottle of really good wine this year”. Being the good son that I am, we celebrated his birthday with a bottle of 1995 Sassicaia. Sassicaia is one of my favorite wines, I’ve been drinking it for over twenty years, unfortunately the price is a lot more expensive now than when I first started drinking it. I still have a number of bottles I purchased years ago before the price skyrocketed, and I love to share my special bottles with family and friends.

Wine is very special and is meant to be shared with someone you love, or someone who has a passion for wine. There is no better way to spend an evening than having a nice meal with a great bottle of wine. Once you have broken bread with someone, sharing a nice meal and bottle of wine, your relationship changes. You instantly transform from an aquaintance to a friend. It’s amazing how you can spend an entire evening sitting at a dinner table conversing with friends and family over a good meal and an endless bottle of wine. Treat yourself this February and call an old friend and invite them for dinner and pull out that special bottle of wine you’ve been saving and enjoy it. Sometimes we spend so much time waiting for that perfect moment and when we finally open our special bottle of wine it’s already peaked.

Last night I opened a bottle of 1986 cabernet, I’ve been saving it for twenty years, sadly, the wine was tired and past peak. It was still drinking ok, the finish was short and left a little to be desired. Wine is one of life’s pleasures, meant to be enjoyed. If you haven’t taken the time this month to have a nice dinner and bottle of wine, take advantage of the month of love and expand your horizons, with the love of wine.

Dick Varano