Oh Boy! Sunday Night with Litre.

Good evening!

Fantasy Draft Season is upon us and the real thing starts on Thursday with a delicious matchup between the Bills and RAMMIT.

I’ll be in Las Vegas this week for 3 days to attend a wedding that was supposed to happen in 2022. In fact I have 2 weddings that we have to travel to. This being the first, the second being in Winnipeg. Way more glamoroUs.

The wedding is Wednesday night so my Thursday evening will be in a sports bar or sports book depending on my mood. Mrs. Cola has joined a fantasy football league this year after years of declining. Her draft is tonight at one of the ladies house and they put on a big spread and make an evening of it. I do hope she drafts a Bill or a Ram so she can be in to it.

As for stories I think by now you realize I am an idiot who gets myself in to interesting situations. There is your recap of that!

Year long Wine Recap Cheat sheet!

This off season I started doing this due to the content monster needing to be fed and the fact that I started at an Italian restaurant that serves only Italian wine. It sort of morphed in to a Sunday Gravy for wine in order to help anyone out in a wine store, at a dinner, or in a restaurant. I hope it narrowed down some information for you and that it did indeed help. Here is the recap;

The designations of Italy;

DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita): Phenomenal. You can know exactly where the grapes are grown, and for how long. Only 77 of these.

DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) : 329 of these, we know where they are grown but less rules than the above.

IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) – Could be table wine or the most unreal wine you have ever had. No rules on what varietals are used.

Super Tuscans are wines that are IGT but use non Italian varietals. Can be unreal, or could be table wine.

Italian whites that are the most known are Pinot Grigio, and Proseccos. Try a Friuli or Soave or Vermentino if you want something different.

Amarone takes a lot of work, is super intense, and costs a lot.

Sicily has grapes we have never heard of and make an acidic red that pairs well with tomatoes, pasta.

We also learned of the 10 major grape varietals in Italy.

We went over to South Australia and learned about the sub regions of that state. Barossa, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, and Riverland were briefly covered.

We then covered one of my favoUrite blend in GSM, Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre which is less dry and more fruit forward than the same blends from Rhone.

We then covered the grape Semillon which I hate but Aussies adore.

Next we covered the Coonawarra region a bit more in depth.

New Zealand is known for their Sauvignon Blancs. These different from the same grape in Loire due to how they make it. NZ varieties tend to be more fruit forward, with gooseberry, lime, grapefruit whereas Loire Sauvignon Blancs are more earthy and flinty. Marlborough is the most popular region for whites, and Martinborough makes great Pinot Noirs.

We then went over the NZ wine regions as a whole.

We then bounced over the Pacific ocean to Argentina and more specifically Mendoza. They are where the best Malbecs in the world come from and I know there are DFOers who are team Malbec.

Due to BFC’s trip we headed over to Spain and covered their wine labels and the system that they use for ageing wines. We dug a little deeper in to Ribera del Duero.

I kind of hit the wall there and we barely covered British Columbia, then the regions of France and last week we hit up Chile.

I hope to do this again next NFL offseason where we can cover food pairings, and other regions around the world. I am always open to suggestions and questions should any one have any. Feel free to use any platform if you have questions.

Red wine SZN is here. Take care and see you in Nov for my World Cup ramblings.