Right Place, Right Time

Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time. For instance, a few weeks ago I was in my hometown of Toledo, Ohio, and as usual when I'm there, I dine at my favorite restaurants.

At one of these restaurants the owner asked me to follow him into a private room of the restaurant. There, to my surprise, was a wine tasting group having a blind tasting.

Roughly sixteen people were sitting around a large table, each with a bottle they had brought wrapped in foil, as to hide the label. The theme was Bordeaux, and following their initial tasting, I was invited back to taste the wines.

The foils were removed, and there, sitting on the table in front of me, were some of the finest wines in the world. Château Cheval Blanc, Château Margaux, Château Lynch Bages in two vintages, Château Gruaud Larose, Château Clerc Milon, and Château Climens, just to name a few. It was overwhelming.

The tasters had had their fill and offered my brother, my girlfriend, and me what was left in the bottles . We grabbed wine glasses and began a frantic tasting. I set up vertical and horizontal tastings, and some we just tasted in whichever order they were sitting on the table. I tried containing my excitement as much as I could, but I'm sure it was clear to see.

We finished with the Chateau Climens, the one dessert wine of the bunch, and then, well drunk, we expressed our extreme gratitude for the tasting, and left, trying to comprehend our luck and good fortune. Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time.