Challenging Trek Ends With Dinner and Drinks
Our group had traveled past the point of no return and despite the distance that lay ahead of us, we all knew the pain would pay dividends in the end.
Three things kept me motivated as I pushed forward to reach our summit: the chance to see the spectacle of El Capitan and the valley floor of Yosemite for the first time, the smell of rib-eye steak cooking on the grill and imagining how good that wine was going to taste with our meal. Another motivation was catching up with Dipper and Adjuster, the monikers given to the two guys who had left our hiking party in the dust.
After taking my first crack at dragging the 90 pound sled for about a mile, the youngest member of our group, Jeremy, jumped behind the rope for his turn. I really admired his pluck, because as we found out later, the old-fashioned snow shoes that Jeremy had borrowed resembled prehistoric tennis rackets and were creating quarter-sized blisters on his heels. Each step on the slippery slopes must have been excruciating.
In all, it had been a challenging haul up the pass. I had put so much torque into some of my steps, so much that I lost rivets off my snowshoes. Since they were the Dipper’s shoes, I was not too concerned.
We finally reached Dewey Point around 4pm, to find Dipper and Adjuster soaking in the sun and a victory beverage. We quickly forgave them when they opened victory beverages for the rest of us.
We set up camp a few hundred yards away and started getting ready for dinner. I dropped my pack carefully for the first time, anxious to see if the precious wine cargo had made it safely. Luckily, every bottle arrived unscathed.
To start the meal, our chef, Steve, had brought some nice cheese and Chris had brought some fresh strawberries. I broke out two white wines that I found at the Gilroy Grocery Outlet.
The first was a 2005 Burford and Brown “Lady Grace” verdelho. The verdelho grape is planted throughout Portugal, popular in making one of the four styles of Madiera wine. I choose this wine because the varietal is unique and the grapes had come from Lodi, a burgeoning grape-growing region in California.
The first sip of the “Lady Grace” verdelho was nice, with a bit of grapefruit and lemon. Sadly, the wine then fell a bit flat, leaving no finish on my palate. It was drinkable, but did not really invite another sip. The cost of this bottle was only $2.99, so I could not complain too much.
The next white wine was from France, a second label white Bordeaux wine from Baron Philippe De Rothschild, a 2004 Graves. As with many Bordeaux wines, this particular wine was a blend of semillon, muscadelle and sauvignon blanc. It was nicely balanced with subtle fruit and good acidity. At a mere $8, I thought this was a good find at the Grocery Outlet.
As the steaks were grilling, and the potatoes and bread were getting warmed, our group opened up the two red wines I had brought.
A 1999 Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon from Stonehedge was poured first. Despite efforts to let the wine breathe and open up, it was obvious that the wine was gone, meaning it had lost all fruitiness, acidity and structure. It was not vinegar, but darn close.
A second label red Bordeaux from the Haut-Medoc region in France, a 1999 Lamarque was our last hope at enjoying some wine with the steaks. After all the hiking and anticipation, I am sad to report this wine also had deteriorated past the point of drinkable. The overall investment in the four bottles of wine was less than $25, so from a financial viewpoint, no big deal. However, I really wanted some wine with dinner and I felt a bit foolish for going through all that effort for nothing.
As I sulked in disappointment, some fellow campers went to their tents and emerged with some plastic water bottles, some filled with a red liquid and some filled with a golden liquid. “Do not worry, we brought some wine too,” they said in unison. The seasoned hikers had poured wine into the plastic bottles to avoid carrying the glass up the mountain. We ended up having some tasty wine with dinner after all!
I did redeem myself with a nice port that I had brought, serving it after dinner to settle our meals and enjoy with the cigars we started smoking. We settled in with the chill of the night that was now upon us.
Overall, my experimentation with purchasing wine from a discount market proved to be fun and successful, but also a gamble. I suspect the wines that had spoiled had probably been done in long before they hit the shelves at the Grocery Outlet. Knowing with confidence that a grocery store or wine store is making every effort to stock and sell wine that has been cared for meticulously, from start to finish, may be the safer bet.
Cheers!
