Talk about lucky. When we found out that Merlot Boy would be joining us, I e-mailed some friends to see if anyone had some extra Games tickets that we might be able to score so that Merlot Boy wouldn't have to watch all of his sports in front of the TV. Tyrant not only had a spare ticket but he had three extras to one of the curling rounds. He offered them up to MB, Daveyboi and myself and we jumped at the chance - even if it meant that we had to get up and be on the road for a 9 am Saturday start at the venue.
Much to Merlot Boy's unabashed glee, our seats were directly behind one end of the sheet that the Norwegians were playing on. The Canadian team wasn't playing in this round, but the seats couldn't have been better in Merlot Boy's mind.
Needless to say, we weren't able to bring along a bottle of wine to the sporting events with us - although, personally, I can't imagine why not. Once the skating was over, it just meant that Merlot Boy and I had to hightail it downtown to meet up with Daveyboi. Little did we know that we'd have to show up on his door empty handed. Apparently the street revellers on Friday night were a tad rambunctious and, as a precautionary measure, the police, provincial and city officials thought it best to close all the bottle shops at 7.00 pm. On a Saturday night! What in the name of Ernest & Julio Gallo?!
Luckily, Daveyboi had a bottle on hand for our enjoyment. There's no doubt that I needed a glass given the day's events.

371. 2005 Peter Lehmann The Futures Shiraz (Barossa Valley - Australia)
And a nice bottle it was. Peter Lehmann and I go back a fair ways. In fact, The Futures goes back a good ways with Lehmann wines as well. The winery's first wine ever sold was "The Futures Shiraz." Back in 1980, Peter Lehmann was concerned about having enough funds in play to even ensure that the winery could have a future itself. He sold The Futures Shiraz to friends and family on a "pay now and we'll deliver in two years arrangement." It's been a cornerstone of the winery ever since.
Peter Lehmann is a mainstay with the Australian Wine Appreciation Society and, as such, he's found his way to our table on more than a couple of occasions as well. Often referred to as a baby brother to the iconic "Eight Songs" and "Stonewell" wines, the winery sees The Futures as classic Barossa Shiraz - full of dark fruit, tannin and character - to be delivered at a "less-than-iconic-wine" price. At $33, it's not an everyday wine, but it does beat $133.
Following my theme of choosing wines for yesterday's gold medal winners, we should have moved on from Australia already, but, having no opportunity to buy a bottle to celebrate Friday's winners, we had to rely on Daveyboi to save the day. To get a little trite, I suppose beggars can't be choosers - and what's a little "rule" breaking, particularly when the bottle being offered was as choice as tonight's selection.
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