Open That Bottle Night

The other night, a good friend brought an aged bottle of wine for a casual Friday night dinner. I don’t think he was inspired by Wall Street Journal’s Gaiter and Brecher’s “Open That Bottle Night,” but I was certainly thrilled he decided to share it with us. He came with a 1978 Pouilly Fuissé made by the glorious Madame Ferret.

Pouilly Fuissé (made from all Chardonnay) is an area within the Mâconnais in Burgundy, France. All together the surface area of vines planted in the area is approx. 776 hectares (almost 2,000 acres). Other areas in the Mâconnais are more affordable and not the same quality level than their northern counterparts up in Côte d’Or, but Pouilly Fuissé is the exception. 1978 was not a great year, due to poor weather conditions, but some winemakers were able to create a spectacular showing despite what obstacles Mother Nature put upon them. The conditions also drove up prices in ’78, since there was scarcity of good products.

The Ferret property was established in 1760 and Madame Ferret was the trailblazer winemaker who made the 1978 bottling we drank. She was one of the few winemakers that had adopted the practice of aging wine in small barrels and the Domaine is said to be one of the first to bottle its own wines. My friend who brought the wine is an importer and he shared the story of when he first met Madame Ferret on a trip to France to source some wines to bring into the US. When he first met Madame Ferret, she purposely poured a corked bottle of wine for him to test his knowledge and palate—very cheeky! If she was going to be that discriminating on who was going to sell her wine, then she must have a discriminating palate to boot. And DID she! She took great pride in her wine. She passed on in 1993 and her daughter, Colette Ferret, took over the reins until the vineyards were sold to Maison Louis Jadot after her passing.

Understandably, we were excited to taste this wine. Maybe a bit nervous AND excited would be more accurate. With aged wines, you just never know, even with the all the pedigree in this wine. As I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, my guest opened the bottle. An Osso opener (a cork puller which has two parallel prongs that can coax out older corks) was not needed since the cork was still in great condition, and he was able to use a regular corkscrew.

After all the running around, I sat down to a plate of shrimp in a saffron broth served on couscous with golden raisins and a beautifully golden hue in my wine glass. A spine-tingling minerality lept from the glass with just a kiss of butterscotch. On the palate, the complexity of flavors was rousing and the finish was breathtakingly long. It was worth the wait. My friend noted, “This shows how well Chardonnay marries with limestone,” and on the oak usage, “With the kiss of butterscotch, you know there's substance behind the oak.” As for the food pairing, as wine opened up, the shrimp began to taste metallic but the golden raisins in the couscous picked up on the wine and let the minerality drive it home.

All in all, it was a fabulous night. It was a total crap shoot that depends on whether the wine is any good, if the pairing works or not, and the condition of the aged wine. I've been blessed to have shared some special bottles of wine in my lifetime. But for me, the sharing is the best part. I love hearing about how people acquired the bottle and why it's special to them. This night was made special not only by the inspired moment on the palate, but for my friend’s story about Madame Ferret. It meant something to him and it was an honor to have shared it with him. So go ahead, head into your cellar for your own “Open That Bottle Night," to share stories in a great glass of wine.