This Saturday is: “Open That Bottle Night,” February 28, 2026

The Annual Event to Encourage Opening that Cherished Wine with Friends

Feb 25, 2026

This Saturday is OTBN: Open That Bottle Night

The last Saturday of February is designated OTBN: “Open That Bottle Night” the event created by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher in 1999 for The Wall Street Journal, which encourages drinking cherished wines with friends rather than saving them. Their core message is: “Make a great meal and open your special wine this weekend. That’s still our best advice”. The annual event this Saturday, February 28, 2026, helps people combat the fear of opening special bottles, reminding people to celebrate life’s moments now. The key to the event’s long success, however, is the human connectedness this event brings. “Now more than ever.”

We use wine for celebrations of the cycle of life: births, deaths, anniversaries, holidays, and vacation memories. For me, my wine AH-HA moment was drinking a 1988 Chateau Haut Brion, a first-growth French Bordeaux, at Grayclliff Restaurant, Nassau in company with my now-departed sister-in-law, Carolyn. That memorable bottle led me to the start of my wine studies. This Saturday, I will be drinking a remarkable bottle, the Davies 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, a 94 Point fabulous Napa Vally wine crafted by my friend, consulting winemaker, Celia Welch. And the story behind my wine? I was staying on a month-long vacation in Napa Valley when my friends, Wendy and Brian Hatfield, joined me. I purchased this wine on the Davies Vineyards while touring the estate with them. I met later the next week with Celia Welch for dinner. What wine will you pour this Saturday? Will you send me your choices and photos?

Open That Bottle Night Origins

Wall Street Journal “Tastings” columnists Dorothy J Gaiter and John Brecher (also the WSJ front page Editor at the time) invented Open That Bottle Night, in 1999/2000, the world-wide celebration of friends, family and memories during which all of us finally drink that wine that is otherwise too special to open (we think). Dorothy and John wanted to stop people from keeping their “liquid memories” in their cellars indefinitely. While the event was created in 1999, it officially took off in 2000 and has grown into a global celebration.

Picture John Brecher and Dottie Gaiter, Tricia Conover, Photographer, 2018

I met Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher in February of 2019. I was a fellowship participant at the 2018 Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, Napa Valley, sponsored by the Culinary Institute of America, Meadowood Resort, and the Napa Valley Vintners Association. John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter were keynote speakers for the Symposium. They are now the Senior Editors for Grape Collective. I spoke to Dorothy about the OTBN event and how it annually captured the imaginations of so many of us over the years. They are a wonderful couple. Dorthy is also the editor of Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage.

How You Can Participate

Select a meaningful bottle of wine, invite friends or family, and share the story behind the wine. If the cork is old, use a two-prong opener or have a coffee filter ready to catch the broken cork pieces. Cheers to a memorable evening!

Recommended Wine

2019 Davies Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, $135

94 Points, Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate

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*****

In Case You Missed It in the Wine/Spirits News:

WineBusiness News, Feb. 20, 2026 “U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs on Imported Wine.” Majority of Justices find White House used improper authority to impose duties; Trump had promise fresh tariffs.

Travel Opportunities

Editor’s Note: I will be cruising on AmaWaterways this April 20, 2026, on the Romantic Danube Cruise. Wine Wanderings subscribers: Come and join me and Wölffer Estate Winery’s Roman Roth, Winemaker/Partner on the Danube River. We will be visiting Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Hungary.

Cruise the Danube on AmaWaterways with Wine Wanderings and Wölffer Estate Winery April 20, 2026, Romantic Danube.

“Enticing Douro River Cruise” with Dr. Bob Young. M.D. of Bending Branch Winery April 6-13, 2026