You’d have to be living in a cave or in some other country where they have a somewhat different interpretation of “football” to not know that today is Super Bowl Sunday.
This is the closest thing to a national holiday without actually being a national holiday, and it’s rumored to have the dubious distinction of being the one day of the year that the average American football fanatic consumes three times their body mass index in beer (I could be making some of this up).
But like all the political talk about “change” these days, it’s high time to change up our Super Sunday sipping routine. It’s time to ditch the brewskies and quaff some vino while we watch the Giants take on the Patriots.
What? You don’t think that there’s a wine that goes with chips and guacamole? To that, I must respond, “Those without ‘zin’ can cast the first chip.”
Let’s take a peek at a couple of wines suitable for the Super Bowl.
Liberty School 2005 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon, $15
This California cab is fitting on many fronts to be a viable brewski replacement for this year’s game. There are sure to be plenty of “Brady bombs” being thrown around, and this wine is all of a “fruit bomb” (and then some) with gobs of ripe blackberries and blueberries and hints of vanilla. There is a distinct, vibrant grenache characteristic to this wine that’s really appealing and gives it a spicy edge. There’s no reason this wine couldn’t be a delicious companion to a grilled sausage, slice of Boston pizza or spicy chicken wings.
The Giant Wine Company 2006 “The Ghost of 413” Columbia Valley Syrah, $15
The dynamic duo of Mark McNeilly and Chris Gorman have done it again with this Washington syrah. Much like Eli Manning connecting with Plaxico Burress, this is a touchdown of a wine.
It has explosive fruit on the nose, with bright zesty black cherry, blueberry, tobacco and plum aromas and flavors. The cherry-plum nuance gets to a jammy point, but doesn’t go over the edge. There’s peppery spice combined with some tar and smoke that approaches a rough edge but tapers off into a velvet softness that satisfies.
OK, I guess I have to get off my bully pulpit and face reality. The Super Bowl and copious beer consumption are really brew from the same tap, and there isn’t anything my little “somewhere over the barrel” fantasy is going to do about it.
Well, I do believe there’s one thing that makes a lot of sense though, and that’s cracking a cold one and assuming a reclined position to watch the game.
Jeff Wicklund can be reached at 425-737-2600, 360-756-0422 or wick@purplesmilewines.com.
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