In Texas, Friday nights mean football and tonight was a great chance to see our kids’ high school alma mater play in nearby Seguin.  Six-man football is completely different and probably more exciting than the eleven-man counterpart; where scores usually range in 60-70 points per team.  Tonight’s game was lopsided in a 50-0 shutout of the alumni team.  Though the final score was a disappointment, the chance to see familiar faces was a treat worth the short drive.  What makes the game so much fun to watch is the kids don’t have to be 270 or 300 lb. behemoths to play.  It’s the perfect game for kids of ANY size and typically, most rosters are stacked with smaller, faster players as opposed to the bruisers.  It’s a fast game that rewards speed and is especially kind to runners with a fast break.  If you ever get a chance to take in a six-man game, you’ll be hooked . . . just like us.

In the same form, we chose a quick runner in wine for tonight’s selection.  From the state of Oregon, this 2010 Acrobat Pinot Noir from King Estate Winery in Eugene.  According to their website, “Acrobat Pinot Noir achieves an all too rare goal in this day and age, delivering a high quality, Oregon Pinot Noir with a Suggested Retail Price under $20 (for the record, we paid less than $14 thanks once again to our fine friends at Twin). The grapes come from our organic estate vineyards and other sustainably farmed vineyards throughout Western Oregon.”  What we liked about this wine is the crisp flavor and the nose was absolutely delightful; we found cherry, cranberry and green pepper but as the wine opened up a strong aroma of toasted oak came through loud and clear.  Okay, so that’s the good news about this wine; unfortunately that’s where it ended.  Even with a perfectly suited meal of grilled pork chops and roasted yellow potatoes with diced red pepper and onion, the wine just didn’t come through.  Part of it is a bias against Pinot Noirs and part of it is that this particular wine just didn’t measure up.  Jean did offer herself up and did the ole chocolate test and is happy to report that those household standby’s, Reese’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups, did compliment the wine fairly well.

In all fairness, if you enjoy Pinot Noir wines, especially from Oregon which has some of the BEST Pinot Noir wines in the country, then you should probably at least try this wine; however, if you prefer the zinfandel, cabs, shiraz, syrah or other red varietals, then take a pass on it.  We’ll talk about beefier wines in the days, weeks and months ahead.  Even like watching six-man football, there is a winner and a loser and in wine consumption there are winners and there are losers – but it’s important to give it ye ole college try.  Have a great start to your weekend; keep your glasses full and enjoy some good wine tonight.  Until tomorrow, Cheers and Hawks – here’s to a better outcome next week.

Remember to enjoy responsibly and recycle whenever possible.