7 Stellar Wines to Drink on Tremendous Bowl Sunday
With Super Bowl LVIII a little over a week away, it’s time to stock up on the excellent wines you deserve if your team wins, or to paraphrase Napoleon after losing a battle, “wines you need in defeat.” But toasting to America’s greatest sporting extravaganza shouldn’t wait until the confetti rains down on the victors, we believe wines go great for the entirety of the drawn-out Sunday spectacle.
In the spirit of the occasion, we’re including a wine made by a former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl winner Drew Bledsoe—as well as a bottle by the man calling the game, CBS announcer Jim Nantz. We thought would be fun to keep the star athlete theme going to stock our cellar for the game. So we’ve curated wines from basketball players, a NASCAR star, and a pro golfer to round our selections. So set up the outdoor turkey fryer for Buffalo wings, throw a few logs in the pizza oven, fire up the grill, and chill some of your favorite wines for the big day. Here are seven sure fire winners.
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Jeeper NV Grand Assemblage Brut Champagne France
Tony Parker won four NBA championships, between 2003 and 2014 as part of the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. He’s kept plenty busy after playing, too. Parker has bought a vineyard and Chateau in the Rhône Valley, invested in Champagne Jeeper, and started a school in Lyon eponymously named the Tony Parker Adéquat Academy. His Jeeper NV Grand Assemblage Brut Champagne is straw colored in the glass with aromas of toasted hazelnut, Granny Smith apple, and lemon blossom. It is vibrant with persistent perlage and copious mousse with flavors of Bartlett pear, orange peel, and almond paste.
Buy Now: $64
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Doubleback 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley Columbia Valley Washington
Doubleback was founded in 2008, a year after Bledsoe ended his fruitful football career and “doubled back” to his hometown of Walla Walla to open a winery with his wife Maura. Josh McDaniels (not the coach the Raiders fired this season) was hired as the inaugural winemaker and today he functions as the CEO and director of winemaking. For this wine Bledsoe and McDaniels used grapes from their vineyards located in Walla Walla Valley. A blend of 89 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 percent Merlot, 3 percent Malbec, and 2 percent Petit Verdot, it is inky purple in the glass with aromas of red raspberry, cassis, vanilla, and toasted hazelnuts. Flavors of red plum, cherry, vanilla, and tobacco leaf wrapped in a silky tannic sheath transport you to a finish that goes on and on through all four quarters and the half time show.
Buy Now: $165
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The Calling 2017 Patriarch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Sonoma County California
The voice of CBS Sports, Jim Nantz, partnered with Peter Deutsch of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits to create delicious California wines consistent with their mutual “calling” to fine wines. The Calling line includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Rosé, and Pinot Noir and while it was hard to choose which variety to feature in this article, we pulled a 2017 Patriarch Pinot Noir from our cellar and found that it is drinking just perfectly right now. Cherry red in the glass, it has aromas of red plum, cranberry, and tangerine peel that lead to flavors of black cherry, Oolong tea, and red raspberry. There is a strong backbone of minerality, smooth tannins, and a pleasant splash of bright acidity in the finish.
Buy Now: $70
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Yao Family Wines 2017 Yao Ming Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley California
Basketball player Yao Ming and his team source grapes from individual blocks in Napa Valley vineyards that are well-known for growing excellent fruit. The vineyards are in the north, center, and south of the valley with varying climates and soils thus producing different flavor characteristics that contribute to the wine’s complexity. Aromas of black currant, blackberry, and red plum pave the way for flavors of cassis, vanilla toast, and brown baking spice. Elegant, yet restrained in the mid palate, this Cab has fine grained tannins and a long, long finish.
Buy Now: $258
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Domaine Curry 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley California
NBA champion Stephen Curry’s wife Ayesha and his younger sister Sydel partnered with John Schwartz, owner of Coup de Foudre and Amuse Bouche, to create their intriguing Domaine Curry wines, which offers two varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. We recently enjoyed the 2019 Cab and its aromas of cassis, black plum, and red currant that led to flavors of pencil lead, black raspberry, and brown baking spices. While it was drinking very nicely right now, it’s your choice whether to drink now or lay down for a few years. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.
Buy Now: $120
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Kerr Cellars 2017 Reserve Red Napa Valley California
In an almost fairy tale moment, LPGA star Cristie Kerr fell in love with wine and wine culture while competing in a Napa Valley tournament in the early 2000s. As a golfer, she obviously pays a lot of attention to detail and luckily, she carries those skills over to winemaking. Kerr and her winemaker Helen Keplinger concentrate on well-made, small-quantity wines and their 2017 is a brilliant example of this. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, it has heady aromas of red plum, black raspberry, and graphite that lead to flavors of mulberry, cassis, and black plum.
Buy Now: $175
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Somnium 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley California
Many people know Somnium winery owner Danica Patrick best for finishing fourth place in her first Indianapolis 500 and taking the checkered flag in the 2008 Indy Japan 300. She purchased her Howell Mountain property in 2009 and in 2020 she brought in winemaker Julian Fayard and together they make exciting wines. Their 2019 Cab is inky purple with aromas of cassis, graphite, vanilla, freshly ground black pepper, and tobacco leaf that entice you into the glass for flavors of blackberry, black plum, and pomegranate. Drink now through 2034.
See Also
Buy Now: $84
Authors
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Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen
Source: Robb Report
