After the busy holiday season, I am always tired on New Year's Eve.  As we have a 13, 10 and 7 year old, we usually do something low key with some of our neighbors.  I enjoy it because I get to sit and relax as everything is ready to go by the time I get home.  This year I brought home something special - a 1967 Louis Martini Reserve Cabernet (the year of my birth).  Unfortunately, we did not think to open the wine early (I guess I had other things on my mind).  When opened, the cork was in perfect condition, and I had high hopes for the wine.  Unfortunately, I found it tasted "old."  It was not "bad" as in vinegar - it just seemed dead to me (I hope that I have held up better).  Fortunately we had several backup options and had some great wine that evening.

Interestingly, I re-corked the bottle and left it on our counter.  Several days later, I came home and my father was drinking it (in fact, he had finished it).  While he said that it was past it's peak, he enjoyed it.  I smelled the now empty bottle and found the nose much more appealing than it had been 4 days earlier.  I wonder how it would have tasted a couple hours after I opened it - I guess I will never know.  Unless...

I have some this coming Saturday between 12:00 and 4:00 PM.  If you want to try some, we will have a bottle open, and several other old vintages (along with some of our newer favorites).  If it is tasting out well, we will have a few bottles for sale.  If not, I guess I might try again as we enter 2010.