Forgotten hope is a nasty-looking thing. Dusty and stained, it has over the years lived under innumerable kitchen sinks and in the bottoms of pantries. For the past decade or so, it has resided among the rogue toothpicks and cocktail straws beneath the sink of my wet bar.
Hope has not aged well.
At least the bottle hasn't. I can't speak to the contents. The cork went unpopped 31 years ago.
The faded label reads: "Who Dat? Playoffs 1987." Beneath that are the words "California Champagne." Anyone who remembers the New Orleans Saints' 1987 campaign will know exactly why this particular bottle of hope went unguzzled on Jan.