It would seem impossible.
Absolutely impossible. There
could be no way.
How would one choose a bottle of wine to symbolize the
culmination of thirteen years? More actually.
To treat myself to a special glass after an even more
special occasion—the youngest child’s graduation from high school—was my goal. This was the first of many special life
milestones for him, yet a very important one.
Made more so by the fact he was one of the class’s co-valedictorians, a
goal he set for himself when he first started high school. So very special for our son.
Yet, my husband and I wanted something for us to toast each
other, as well. After all the work of
the reception, the day, the week…maybe even the years. My philosophy of parenting has always been “it’s
about the kids, not about the parents.”
However, my spouse and I wanted just a moment to share between the two
of us. No children involved, just an extraordinary
glass of wine.
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| The Occasion |
Now, extraordinary for me doesn’t necessarily mean
expensive. It doesn’t necessarily mean
from an exotic location. It doesn’t mean
high critic scores. And it doesn’t mean a big-named producer. This wine was more about the occasion. It had
to be a wine my husband and I would both enjoy.
Respect. Know the story behind
the bottle. Maybe even be a producer I was dying to try. (If the wine just happened to meet the above standards
of scores and location, so be it.)
So, when I walked into a Rapid City, South Dakota liquor
store—Canyon Lake Liquors—imagine how thrilled I was to find a bottle of Red
Cap Vineyards 2006 Cabernet. It fit my
criteria exactly. The perfect balance
between my husband’s bold palate and my slightly more reserved sense of
taste. A well respected, yet small
producer. A great story behind the production
of the wine. A label that featured a young boy on a tree
swing—perfect for the parents of a boy who was no longer that young.
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| The Vineyard |
I had been following certain wine lovers on social media for
some time; this was how I originally got turned on to Red Cap Vineyards. The more research I did the more I wanted to
find a bottle. However, located in the
remote area of Howell Mountain in Napa Valley with no tasting room and most of
its limited 280 cases a year sold through select distributors in just a few
states, I was pretty sure I would never get my hands on a bottle until I went
to California this summer. After the
initial shock of spotting the boy on a swing from the Red Cap label, I snatched
the bottle from the shelf as if someone might grab it away from me, marched to
the register, and purchased it as fast as I could! I was so excited about my acquisition, I
really didn’t pay much attention to the selection until I got home.
After I was safely away from any crowd that might steal my
rare wine find, I looked more closely at the bottle. Again, another surprise awaited me: this was a 2006—the first vintage Tom and
Desiree Altemus and winemaker Rudy Zuidema made from their vines planted on
Howell Mountain. In addition to the year
being special for the vintage, it also was great timing to open the wine since
it had some time to age in the bottle.
 |
| The Bottle |
At the end of the day on Sunday, after decorating for the
party, getting dressed up, waiting for commencement, sitting nervously through
my son’s speech (he did great, by the way), hugging other graduates, eating tasty
food, saying thanks to well-wishers, cleaning up the aftermath, and watching my
grad open gifts, my husband and I were finally ready to relax.
Heels came off. The
bottle was opened. The wine was poured,
swirled, sniffed, and sipped. And
delicious. Absolutely delicious.
In the glass, the deep, inky, chokecherry-red made beautiful tears as
it ran down the sides of the glass. On
the nose, the smells of fig, spice, earth, and ginger came through. On the palate, the baked plum led to tannins
that smoothed to velvet over the tongue.
The finish was all fruit and lasted forever.
I enjoyed the glass so much, that I actually became a bit of
a wine hoarder, only allowing us to have a smaller glass that night. I wanted a glass the next night, too! Yes, it was so nice, I wanted that bottle to
drink from twice. So we poured the next night as well. Being opened for twenty-four hours changed
the wine, but only slightly. I think the
tannins were more approachable on the first sip; they were smoother the instant
they hit the palate. The fruit and spice
were still complex in the mouth, and the finish still seemed to last an
eternity.
 |
| The Wine |
Though it may seem impossible, a special occasion really
does deserve a special wine. One that
maybe took a little bit of a search and a lot bit of luck. This bottle does not have to be the “perfect”
bottle, it just has to be the perfect one for that specific occasion.
It has to be one that matches the gravity of the
celebration, one that represents the people and places and memories of the milestone. Just like our Red Cap Vineyards 2006 Cabernet,
the bottle will become a part of the memory itself. A reason to smile because it evokes memories
on its own. I truly feel honored to have
scored such a unique find for my husband and I to toast each other on our youngest’s
high school graduation. A wine that is
as special as he is. A wine that will
forever make me think of my son on his first of many “adult”
accomplishments.
