Oh man, that's a good lookin' suit...kind of like the NCAA huggypimp. Means very little to Grape Madness except that a coach with that kind of style should somehow be included, no matter what the outcome. At least he's not as upset as Bobby Knight, Quin Snyder and Coach K were in the first round. More on this later in the post...Moving on, a quick reminder of where we left off last week with the Whole Foods Bracket…
- #1 Klinker Brick Zin soundly defeated the Quail Creek Shiraz
- #2 Stephen Vincent Crimson Red never lost control in beating out #3 HM Rex Goliath Zin
- #1 York Creek Red crushed the Quail Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
- #2 Castle Rock Monterey Pinot man-handled the Block No. 45 Pinot Noir
As planned after round 1, Jason from Jason’s Wine Blog and I got together, ate some spaghetti and meatballs from Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack, and tasted our half of the Elite Eight. He brought with him his two champs from the Trader Joe’s bracket, both of which were #1 seeds and ready to play – the 2004 Chateau Chevalier Napa Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2006 Rosenblum Paso Robles Zin.
The first match-up of the second weekend was the Chateau Chevalier and the Rosenblum…very interesting match-up. The Rosenblum started off as a JV team from the local high school and reeked of Pina Coladas, literally, as if they crawled under the gym bleachers and finished a bottle of Malibu mix before the game. So much coconut and sweetness on the nose I felt like I was at a pool bar in Cabo. Luckily, the taste wasn’t that of the nose with some rhubarb, plum and cherry, but I was shocked by how painfully tight it was - actually made me wince when I tasted it. And, this is where it got interesting as the wine started on a journey of at least half a dozen transformations. It softened, the pina colada aroma went away, replaced by a very heavy vegetal tone, then finally settled into a ripe plum blend. This wine was like watching a young JV player make the Varsity squad, then go on to become a college player. But not a NCAA Division I player - this one took a side trip to community college on its way to a NCAA Division II school. Maybe an inspirational local news story, but hardly a national champion.
And then there’s the Chateau Chevalier. This wine came to play and came to win. This was all cedar, berries and anise on the nose and then a very well structured wine in the mouth, with dark cherry, berry and chalk. The Chevalier is incredibly well balanced for a $15 wine, with firm tannins and just the right amount of acidity. One of the strongest team players I've seen thus far in Grape Madness with no one trying to hog the ball or go for personal glory. The Chevalier definitely had the edge from the very beginning, you could just tell watching it during warm-up drills - definitely a Big East seed for me.Final score: Chateau Chevalier – 90, Rosenblum - 86, with Chevalier gaining an early lead that they never lost.
Now that that we've revealed the winner in this round, let's get back to the huggypimp...remember when I said it had no relation to Grape Madness? Well, surprise, surprise, go back up to the top of the post and you tell me if you can see any difference in the suit Huggins is sporting and the Chevalier wine label. Eerie? I think so. Or, maybe Huggins secretly owns Chevalier and had his huggypimp suit custom made to match the label...I think I'll leave this one unresearched and make my own decision.
Stay tuned for the other half of Elite Eight Round 1 results coming your way this Saturday...
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