Happy Anniversary

So, Boo and I get asked all the time how we decide which anniversary to celebrate. True enough, we have had two ceremonies - the first being on July 4, 1998, and the second being August 2, 2008. The reason was that, back in 1998, same-sex marriages weren't legal in Canada and we had what was called in its day, a "commitment ceremony." For all intents and purposes, it was our Big, Old Gay Wedding.

Since last year was going to be our 10 year anniversary, we decided to have a big party during Pride celebrations. That party turned into a backyard wedding ceremony. I laugh and say that Boo was determined to make a legal spouse out of me yet.

Regardless, the answer to the question posed is that we celebrate both. Who needs a reason to celebrate? It does, however, give us an excuse to open a couple of those special bottles every year.

147. 2006 Two Hands Bella's Garden Shiraz (Barossa - Australia)

Google Two Hands and you generally come up with a whole bunch of sites extolling the excellence that is their wines. You name 'em, Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson, Stephen Tanzer, James Halliday, they all wax exuberantly. I didn't really know all that at the time I bought this wine.

I'd always noticed Two Hands because of the intriguing packaging and names of their wines. I'd also noticed the price of their wines and that likely explains why we've never tried it before. They do have a number of levels but even their entry level is considered a "premium" by most from a pricing standpoint (although you can drop a whole lot more coin for a whole lot less wine IMHO).

I cottoned onto the Bella's Garden because we wanted to give a bottle of wine to friends that had assisted us in the wedding preparations and had agreed to participate in and stand up for us during the ceremony. I wanted it to be a special bottle and when I saw Two Hands again, it just seemed to be the perfect choice. Hands joining. Garden wedding. And so on.

The Garden Series is Two Hands' range of wines that profiles six of the premium Shiraz growing regions of Australia. Bella's Garden is the Barossa Valley effort.

The winery website says that this is one of those bottles that we should be aging. They suggest that it shows a "drink best" date from 2010 to 1017. We might have been a year early but I was dying to see if we'd made a decent choice as a gift. Suffice it to say that, if this wine hasn't peaked yet, I want to be around when it does!

Good thing that all the folks we gave a bottle to are wine lovers. Hopefully, they'll invite us around when they decide to open their bottle.