Not long ago I had a customer ask me a question which made me sit back and think for quite some time before I was able to answer her. The question seemed simple to answer at first glance, but after thinking about it I really had a hard time coming up with a definitive answer. Now, after taking time to answer her and realizing that there was some soul searching going on, I'll share the answer with all of you. First, of course, the question: What is the most memorable glass of wine you have ever had?

I have been drinking wine for more than 40 years and have had some of the nicest wines in the world. I have also drunk wine with very famous wine people, including Robert Mondavi, Ernest Gallo and a host of very fine international wine folks. I have shared wine with close friends, loving family and in very intense commercial wine competitions. The one time which sticks in my mind might seem funny to you, but it is memorable to me, so I'll share this event.

By all accounts I am not a very good fly fisherman. Some say that it is because I just do not go out enough to gather the skills needed to do a really good job of it. I think this might be true but I also think there is an intuitive nature in really fine fly fishermen and women that cannot be learned but comes from somewhere deeper than either wanting to be good at it or intellectualizing the sport (I'm not so sure it is a "sport") to death. I have come to the realization that really fine flyfishers are born to the craft, that there is an innate oneness to what one is doing on the water. This oneness is achingly apparent when one sees movement and harmony move in a seamless manner. Movement becomes the issue, not result, so there becomes a sense of freedom on the water in not trying to get something done. I might be full of Silly Putty here, but this is what I believe.

So there I was with a friend who was this kind of fly fisherman. He had caught and released a few nice trout. I had hooked (with surprising ease) one elm, two oaks, a birch and my waders just trying to place my fly on the water! Knowing this would be a light afternoon, we had each packed a snack for after fishing, mine being cheeses, nuts, lovely breads and crackers and an apple with a glorious bottle of French Burgundy to round things off. We would share the Burgundy and sit around and talk of things important and not important such as good friends do on lazy afternoons.

I was leaning over on the river when the unthinkable happened, my Burgundy, wrapped in a cool red neoprene jacket, flipped from my pack and dropped into the water. I stood there dumbfounded as the current bounced the bottle on the bottom of the river, downstream and out of my line of sight. Crap! I still had the rest of my stuff, but this little beauty was the one the really got away! Naturally, I had really talked this wine up to my friend. We were both looking forward to hanging out under a tree and sipping wine, eating good food and relaxing. Talk about a bummer.

Half an hour or so later I found my friend coming up stream to meet me and I could hardly look him in the eye. I started to tell him my tale of misery when he grinned, pulled off his backpack, reached in and said, "Looking for this?"

He lifted my bottle high into the air with the neoprene still on it and laughed. It had, he said, literally bumped into his waders down stream.

This glass of wine has to rate very close to the top on my list of unforgettable taste treats.

See you next week!