OTBN (Open That Bottle Night)

I love a good cabernet - any good red, for that matter. But, being a Mom, and an entrepreneur, I rarely have - or take - the opportunity to savor an uninterrupted glass with adult friends. That's why when I received an invitation to attend an "OBTN" - Open That Bottle Night - party this past Saturday night, I was thrilled!

Beginning in the late 90s by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal, Open That Bottle Night has become quite a popular event and every year, more and more bottles are uncorked across America on the last Saturday of February.

"We invented OTBN for a simple reason: All of us, no matter how big or small our wine collections, have that single bottle of wine we simply can never bear to open. Maybe it's from Grandpa's cellar or a trip to Italy or a wedding. We're always going to open it on a special occasion, but no occasion is ever special enough. So it sits. And sits. Then, at some point, we decide we should have opened it years ago and now it's bad anyway, so there's no reason to open it, which gives us an excuse to hang on to it for a few more decades. So OTBN -- which is now always the last Saturday in February -- offers a great opportunity to prepare a special meal, open the bottle and savor the memories."

With more than 30 adults in attendance, we each brought a bottle of wine that we've been "saving for a special occasion" - we were given a blank notecard, and instructed to write a little something about the reason that wine was special. We placed the cards by their bottle, and we all took turns reading the cards, laughing, sampling wine, making new friends and having a lovely night.

If you enjoy a nice glass of wine, think about hosting your own OTBN next February. I'm already looking forward to it!