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Wine & Football … A Winning Team!

Wine & Football … A Winning Team!

What goes great with football???? Well wine OF COURSE!!!!!!!!!!!! Some wines even more than others.

The NFL Pro Bowl has been in Orlando the past few years, which is a lot of fun for us who live in the area. They have lots of fun activities for the public, like the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown, the Precision Passing and the Best Hands competition, Dodge Ball and the highlight of it all …  the Pro Bowl game itself!!!!

Three years ago during Pro Bowl week I was fortunate to attend a wine tasting hosted by none other than future NFL Hall of Famer CHARLES WOODSON, who was sharing some of his wines for people who love wine AND football.

So … the appropriate wine to open THIS year to enjoy while viewing the game was a bottle of 2012 TwentyFour by Charles Woodson!

Three years ago this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon had flavors of chocolate covered cherry, ripe dark fruit and tomato. There was a pretty good amount of oak with some velvety tannin. It was definitely enjoyable then.

Fast-forward three years, and the wine tastes great.  The color is deep ruby with some rim variation. There is lots of ripe red fruit, along with some blueberry, licorice, and tobacco. The tannins are so velvety and smooth. This is drinking wonderfully now, but I’m going to keep my other bottle for another five years. I’m hoping to find some more to enjoy along the way!

Woodson isn’t the only athlete to expand into the wine world. Drew Bledsoe has Doubleback, making some outstanding wines out of Washington State. Other athletes to venture into the wine world are John Elway, NHL’s Wayne Gretzky, golfers Greg Norman and Ernie Els, and NBA’s Dwayne Wade who partnered with Pahlmeyer to create Wade Cellars. Man do I want to try his wine!

So the next time you tune into your favorite sport, crack open a bottle of wine to support your favorite player! It’ll make the game twice as fun!

Looking For A Great Napa Cab? Check Out Piña!

Looking for a Great Napa Cab? Check out Piña!

I have a new favorite winery in Napa. It’s not a fancy place, but that’s okay with me! The wine’s not cheap, but it’s definitely worth the price! They don’t make a gazillion different wines with a bunch of different varietals, but in my mind that makes sense!

Piña is located right on Silverado Trail, but if you’re not looking for it you’ll drive right by. The tasting room is the barrel room, which I love! To me there’s nothing more special than tasting wines amongst the barrels holding future vintages of the wine I’m drinking. Sure, the lavish tasting rooms are lovely too! There’s just something I adore, though, about the rustic authenticity of hanging out in the gut of the winery!

I’ve visited Piña a couple of times now and have had great tastings each time. Claire has helped us out both times, and although his initial impression is somewhat reserved, he opens up quickly and loves to tell us all about their wines. He even seems to enjoy our company and laughs at our jokes!

Tonight I’m drinking their 2012 Wolff Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. On the nose I smell roses: a dozen roses!!! This medium-bodied 100% Cabernet Sauvignon has smooth, silky tannins, with black cherry, black currant, some lovely earthiness and is not over the top with new world hugeness. The alcohol is 14.7% but you’d never know it. It’s not hot at all and is very well balanced. I look forward to trying more of this vintage after a few more years in the bottle!

This isn’t their only Cab Sauv! They have five different vineyard bottlings (all fabulous!), as well as a Reserve (which unfortunately I have yet to try) and a Second Wine called CAHOOTS. They also have a Chardonnay that my husband loves!

So the next time you’re in Napa and looking for a new (for you) winery to visit, be sure to stop at Piña. The experience is a fun one, and if you’re into Cabernet Sauvignon, their wines won’t disappoint!

To find them, check out their website here:

http://www.pinanapavalley.com

MVP Wine from Charles Woodson!

I make no secret of my love of wine AND football! My friends, family and colleagues know that I’m pretty much obsessed with both! So when I discovered that one of my favorite players of all time, who also happens to have a wine, was going to be in Orlando ON MY BIRTHDAY … well guess what happened! I went!

Charles Woodson is a defensive back that played for Michigan, the Oakland Raiders and my beloved Green Bay Packers. His football stats are amazing. He won a National Championship with the Michigan Wolverines as well as the 1997 Heisman. He was the 4th overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, where he won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He won the 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the year and Super Bowl XLV with the Green Bay Packers. These are just a few of this Hall of Fame lock’s gazillion awards and accomplishments during his football-playing career.

He now uses his knowledge, good looks and eloquence on ESPN’s NFL Countdown show!

But where am I really going with this???? HIS WINE!!!!!!! And boy oh boy has Woodson scored again! Charles has had a lot of picks in his career, but this may be his best pick yet!

The 2012 TwentyFour by Charles Woodson has bright cherry and vanilla on the nose. The palate has chocolate covered cherry, ripe dark fruit, tomato, some nice earthiness and a touch of oak! This well-balanced wine has velvety tannins and ends with chocolate on the long finish.

I was truly impressed with this lovely wine. It’s not overdone like some Napa Cabs. It is approachable now, but can lie down for another ten plus years.

Charles’ wines should definitely be included on your wine “fantasy team”!!!  The wine is fabulous, and the NFL great behind it is a really nice guy. What a nice bonus!

 

Check out Charles Woodson Wines here: http://www.charleswoodsonwines.com

Looking for a “Green” Winery With Wonderful Wines??? Check Out Frog’s Leap!

My husband and I recently returned from another adventure in Napa and Sonoma. Our goal was to visit wineries we’d never hit before, and for the most part that’s what we did. There’s one winery, however, that we couldn’t drive by without stopping, and that’s Frog’s Leap.

“Why?” you ask! Well, there are a few reasons.

Firstly, it’s just so darned beautiful there.

Secondly, the tasting is very special. When the weather is nice, tastings are held outside when possible. The tasting includes yummy local cheeses, crackers, and some jams made from fruit grown on the property.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the wines are WONDERFUL!!!

As we arrived for our tasting, we drove alongside beautiful vineyards of dormant vines surrounded by the beautiful mustard know in the region at this time of the year. The historic Red Barn, which was originally built as the Adamson Winery back in 1884, welcomes the winery visitors on the drive in. Today, this “ghost winery” not only inspires their wine tasting guests, but also Frog’s Leap’s winemakers John Williams and Paula Moschetti.

John Williams (a former diary farmer from upstate New York, NOT the music composer famous for film scores with the same name!) moved to Northern California in 1975 to study Enology and Viticulture at UC Davis. After working at Glenora Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes region of New York, and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Spring Mountain Vineyard in Napa, he started Frog’s Leap Winery in 1981. It is located along Mill Creek in a spot known as the Frog Farm. Frogs were raised here around the turn of the century, providing the very appropriate name!

Here are some of the wines we tasted on the lovely wrap-around porch of The Vineyard House overlooking the vineyards:

2014 Napa Valley Chardonnay – A lovely Chardonnay with great acidity, the green apple and Meyer lemon flavors are balanced beautifully with the floral aromas and the toasty element from eight months of sur lie aging.

2013 Napa Valley Zinfandel – One of my favorite wines of the tasting, this Zinfandel is what a Zinfandel is SUPPOSED TO BE! It has a beautiful transparent color, not one of those deep purple colors that shouldn’t represent Zin at all! A field blend of 77% Zinfandel, 22% Petite Sirah and 1% Carignan, the aromas and flavors include brambly fruit, licorice, some Southern Rhone type garrigue and has a nice long finish.

2013 Rutherford Merlot – One of my favorite Merlots of the New World, Frog’s Leap always knows how to do this varietal right. With ripe plum and cherry flavors, this wine has soft tannins and isn’t too big! It’s what a Merlot should be; elegant and nicely balanced. (82% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc)

2013 Rutherford Estate Cabernet Sauvignon – This lovely Cab has black cherry, blackberry and cassis, along with the dusty earth of the Rutherford soil. This needs some time, but it’s going to be wonderful! (89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Merlot)

The thing that probably impresses me the most about Frog’s Leap Winery is that they truly care about our planet. Frog’s Leap produces some wonderful wines, while keeping the planet healthy through the production of solar and geothermal power. In 2005 they built their Vineyard House according to the goals of the U.S. Green Building Council. They even insulated it using old blue jeans. Talk about recycling!!!

Health of the vineyard is achieved though organic farming and the use of biodynamic methods. Along the rows of vines are borders of specially selected plants, which attract butterflies and beneficial insects.

So if you want tasty wine, made true to the varietals and green conscious to boot, pick up some wines from Frog’s Leap Winery. Or if you’re heading to Napa, pay them a visit.

Here’s a link to their very fun site:  http://www.frogsleap.com/

Walk the County Line, And Taste Some Fine Wine!

Pride Mountain has been one of my favorite Napa wineries for years now. Well actually, they’re not JUST a Napa winery! The Napa/Sonoma county line is on their property, and most of their wines are made with fruit from both AVAs.

Tonight my husband and I cracked open a bottle of their 2010 Merlot, comprised o 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. After about an hour and a half of decanting, the aromatics are lovely! Dark fruits including black cherry, blueberry and ripe plum burst from the glass. Accompanying the fruit are some cedar, tobacco and chocolate.

The palate reflects the fruit on the nose, with chocolate covered cherry, velvety tannins and some nice acidity that balances the wine beautifully. This wine is great with the cheddar cheese on which we’re nibbling. It would also be delicious with a full meal, or simply sipping on at the end of a hectic workday!

Be sure to schedule an appointment to visit this special winery the next time you’re in Napa or Sonoma. You’ll have the opportunity to go deep into the caves and experience some fabulous barrel tastings. Visiting Pride Mountain isn’t the typical “tour”. This is an extraordinary tasting. On one of our visits we were shown the actual county line that separates Sonoma from Napa, right where the crush pad is located.

Pride Mountain Vineyards is located on Spring Mountain. Their eighty-three vineyard acres on the Mayacamas Mountains are about 2000 feet above the floor of Napa Valley, providing many of their vines with a desirable southern exposure. The location also provides spectacular views for your viewing (and sipping!) pleasure.

To learn more, check out their website here:  http://www.pridewines.com

 

 

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