Not sure if anyone follows baseball anymore.  We’re pretty much die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fans.  We have some fond memories from our time in St. Louis of attending Cardinals games, playoff games and seeing the World Series come to town.  This time of year brings out the best in people – not only some of the best baseball is played by teams that are peaking at the right time.  Last year, the Cardinals erased an eight game deficit and on the final day of the season when the Atlanta Braves lost and the Cardinals won, a script was set in motion that baseball fans couldn’t believe as it unfolded.  The first series was against the hard-charging, good pitching, clutch-hitting Philadelphia Phillies.  Consensus opinion was that Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard and  company would take care of the ‘less than adequate’ Cardinals.  Funny thing about October baseball – all bets are off in a best of 7 series.  We don’t have to give you the play by play but as you know, the Cardinals finished off the Brewers only to meet the superior, Texas Rangers in the World Series.  Clearly, the Rangers had the perfect pitching staff and all of the timely hitter in their line-up.  Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler–they were all ready to dominate a lesser Cardinal ballclub.  Funny thing about October baseball–all bets are off in a best of 7 series. . .who would have dreamed that not once but twice when the Cardinals were down to their last strike – that a different player, David Freese, would step up in a big way.  It’s one of the things we love about baseball . . . you never know who is going to step up to the plate and be the ‘clutch player’ in a series.

On a separate note, did you know that this month we celebrate the 25th anniversary of a film classic . .  . that’s right!  Twenty-five years ago a film was released to ‘less than stellar reviews and box office numbers’, but little did anyone know that in the age of video tapes, this movie would begin to take on legendary status.  It’s Inconceivable to imagine!  Surely, you remember Robert, the Dread Pirate . . . ?  Or how about Prince Humperdink?  Do you remember Princess Buttercup?  To this very day, daughter #2 will stop in her tracks to watch The Princess Bride which had already been out for almost six years when she joined our family!  As someone wrote this week on yahoo.com, it’s kind of like “It’s A Wonderful Life” – not exactly successful at the box office, but after the fact it becomes almost cult-status.  We still have two copies of The Princess Bride – one on VHS (not doing too well) and one on DVD (much better).

And finally, tonight we started watching the Presidential debates . . . which led us to tonight’s wine (I know you thought we’d never get there!) Tonight we opened a 2005 Liar’s Dice Zinfandel from Murphy-Goode and if the 91 points by Connosieur’s Guide doesn’t grab your attention, when you open this bottle of wine, be prepared to be indulged.  First, the cork had a beautiful, deep, dark red color to it.  The nose was amazing with lots of spice and black raspberries, oh and a hint of vanilla.  The taste – my, my, my what a taste – it was an explosion of fruit and the finish went on for days.  (Not really, but it sounds so much better that way!)  It seemed appropriate in the middle of the debates to be enjoying a wine called, “Liar’s Dice” – not making any claims one way or the other, but you have to admit – November 6th can’t get here soon enough!

So, whether you enjoy October baseball, old classic movies  or staying abreast of current events, please try Murphy Goode’s Liar’s Dice Zinfandel – it’ll take the gambling out of wine selection!

Until tomorrow, please enjoy this and all wines responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.