We had our last OTBN outside for the first time this year. The weather finally cooperated so it was nice to enjoy the outdoors along with some really good wine. Both the faithful readers of this blog are familiar with OTBN, but lots of people’s reaction is, “what the heck is that?” when I mention the term.
I know I’ve discussed it here before, but maybe I’ve never explained what it really is.
OTBN means Open That Bottle Night. The idea came from the “Tastings” column of the Wall Street Journal. The article observed that whether it’s the only bottle in the house or one bottle among thousands, just about all wine lovers have that very special bottle of wine that they always mean to open, but never do. So the authors invented OTBN — something they call a world-wide celebration of friends, family and memories during which all of us finally drink that wine that is otherwise simply too special to open. The Wall Street Journal decided that OTBN should be celebrated on the last Saturday of February every year.
We did celebrate our first OTBN in February, but decided it was such a great idea that we now celebrate it the last Saturday night of every month — 12 OTBNs every year!
The Wall Street Journal journalists pointed out that along with opening that bottle and enjoying the contents, come memories of great vacations, long-lost loved ones and bittersweet moments. They point out that wine is more than the liquid in the bottle — it’s about history, geography, relationships and all of the things that are really important in life.
Our rules for OTBN are simple…. it’s just the two of us, we have a snack or maybe a full meal, that special bottle of wine, no TV or music, we light candles and we talk — and — listen. It’s our special time together and our time to really communicate with each other. We almost always observe the ritual on the last Saturday of the month, but a few times we’ve had to move it — I don’t think we’ve ever missed it. The subjects have pretty much run the gamut over the years — sometimes we talk for hours, sometimes it’s fairly short. Sometimes we don’t even talk that much at all, but it’s our time together. Just being with someone you love is special in and of itself — and if you throw in a good bottle of wine, it just doesn’t get much better than that.
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