My favorite players the week were…

Offense

Derrick Henry Ravens running back

The NFL named Lamar Jackson the AFC offensive player of the week for his 5 touchdown pass performance in the game, but I’m going with Henry.  Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes for 281 yards, which is a 12.8-yard average.  Henry rushed only 15 times for 169 yards which equates to an eye popping 11.3 yards per carry.  He also caught a pass for 13 yards.  Henry is still on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s single season rushing record. 

Russel Wilson Steelers quarterback

Wilson made his coach look good after a week of every commentator on TV seemingly questioning Mike Tomlin for benching Justin Fields.  After a shaky start Wilson showed the extra dimension he brings to the team.  He threw for 2 touchdown passes & ran for another.  More importantly, he showed that the Steelers could be a quick strike offense & brought the deep ball back into their game plan.  Dan Orlovsky had an interesting examination of the air time of Wilson’s passes versus Fields.  The ball has a bit more arc & is often a second or 2 longer in the air allowing the recie4ver to adjust.  I thought that might be a bad thing since it allows the defender to adjust as well, but the film he played really showed the difference.

Ricky Pearsall 49’ers wide reciever

The 49’ers are so banged up at wide receiver that somehow, one of their healthiest wide receivers is a guy who was shot in the chest 50 days before the game against the Chiefs. Pearsall made his rookie debut for the 49’ers.  It wasn’t what he expected after being drafted in the first round.  First, he was injured in training camp & lost time learning the offense.  Then he was shot in the chest in a robbery attempt.  The bullet was a through & through shot that didn’t hit any vital organs.  Less than 2 months after the shooting, Pearsall caught 3 passes for 21 yards.  He will have opportunities to improve on those numbers, but this was a special game for him. 

Defense

Beanie Bishop Jr Steelers cornerback

Bishop has made some rookie mistakes as he adjusts to the NFL, but he looked great against Aaron Rodgers.  He had 2 interceptions.  The first was an excellent cornerback play & it looked like he read Rodgers.  On the second, the ball bounced off the receiver & he won the tip drill.  He managed to return that one all the way down to the 1-yard line.

Cody Barton Broncos linebacker

Last Thursday the Broncos beat the Saints 33-10 in a game that didn’t even seem that close.  Barton had 8 tackles, 1 sack, a forced fumble, & a pass break up in the game.  His highlight play was when he recovered a second fumble by Spencer Rattler & returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.

Cobie Durant Los Angeles Rams cornerback

The Rams needed a win to keep any hope of making the playoffs alive.  The defense hasn’t been good this year, but they jumped all over the Raiders.  Durant was a huge part of the effort.  He had 2 passes defense including an interception.  He also forced a fumble & had a tackle for loss.  The Rams are getting some players healthy again & showing signs of life.

Special teams

Charlie Jones Bengals wide receiver/returner

Jones actually made the “dynamic kickoff” look dynamic instead of the snore fest it has been for much of the season.  He returned the opening kickoff 100 yards to start the game with a touchdown.  He also returned 4 punts for 39 yards, a solid 9.8 yard average.  I really thought we would be seeing some creative pull blocking & scheming by return teams this year, but it has been mostly kicks into the endzone or good returns brought back on a penalty.  It was nice to see an exciting return!

Brandon McManus Packers kicker

Brayden Narveson was cut after missing 5 field goals in 6 games & Brandon McManus was the kicker.  He made all 3 extra points he tried & his one field goal attempt.  That field goal attempt was a 45-yard kick for the win on the final play of the game.  That’s a good first week in the new job!

My favorite wine of the week is…

Pepe Raventós 2012 Mas del Serral Catalonia Spain

97% Xerel-lo, 3% Bastard Negre $175 12.5% ABV 6.2 g/l Total acidity (TA), 2.99 PH 1.7 g/l Residual sugar (RS)

I tasted a ton of great wines over the week including dozens of Champagnes, but this was an easy choice.  This is a singular wine.

 The Raventós family have been innovators in sparkling wine production in Spain for generations.  Their wine making roots go back to 1497 & Josep Raventós i Fatjó created the first traditional method sparkling wine in Spain in 1872.  Josep Raventós i Blanc, created and promoted the Cava DO.

In 2012, the family left the Cava DO because they felt like the DO was encouraging volume over quality.  Several other producers have since left to found groups like Classic Penedès and Corpinnat aimed at higher quality & stricter rules for membership.

The winery is committed to biodynamic and minimal intervention winemaking.  This wine starts in a 4.7-acre, horse-plowed vineyard, the Clos del Serral, at the center of the estate.  The vines are 80-years old! The wine is 97% Xarel-lo, but there are some Bastard Negre a rare red grape co-planted as well, so they make up the remaining 3%.  The grapes are hand-sorted after harvest & then whole-bunch pressed and fermented in steel and concrete.  The wine sits in tank to meld the flavors for 9 months (you have to get it out of tank before the next harvest of course!).  Then the wine is given a liqueur de tirage & on June 20^th of 2013 it was bottled to start secondary fermentation in the bottle to create the bubbles. This is where the wine truly separates itself from Cava.  Basic Cava requires 9 months of aging in bottle on lees.  Reserva must age for 18 months, which is really the minimum to get any interesting autolytic flavors.  The highest aging requirement in Cava is 36 months.  Mas del Serral spends 100 months on lees!  That’s 8 1⁄3 years.

The result is an exceptional wine.  It’s definitely the best Spanish sparkling wine I have ever tasted.  The wine shows caramel, cream, &  brown sugar notes that come in layers.  It has an almost sweet flavor even though it is a no dosage wine with a tiny amount of RS.  The acid is bracing, but not out of balance due in part to the weight of the wine from its time on lees.  Other flavors I noticed were lemon, lemon curd, a hint of grass, brioche & biscuit. The wine also shows saline notes that help make it a tremendous wine to pair with food. 

This is a wine to experience.  I would love to have a bottle on a deck looking at the ocean & I would love to have a bottle paired with a meal.  I think it would be a different, but delicious experience both ways.  If you try it, let me know whether you tried it by itself or with food & what you thought of it.

My favorite players the week were…OffenseDerrick Henry Ravens running back Again!  The NFL named
Lamar Jackson the AFC offensive player of the week for his 5 touchdown pass performance
in the game, but I’m going with Henry. 
Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes for 281 yards, which is a 12.8-yard
average.  Henry rushed only 15 times for
169 yards which equates to an eye popping 11.3 yards per carry.  He also caught a pass for 13 yards.  Henry is still on pace to break Eric
Dickerson’s single season rushing record. 
Russel Wilson Steelers quarterbackWilson made his coach look good after a week of every commentator
on TV seemingly questioning Mike Tomlin for benching Justin Fields.  After a shaky start Wilson showed the extra
dimension he brings to the team.  He
threw for 2 touchdown passes & ran for another.  More importantly, he showed that the Steelers
could be a quick strike offense & brought the deep ball back into their
game plan.  Dan Orlovsky had an
interesting examination of the air time of Wilson’s passes versus Fields.  The ball has a bit more arc & is often a
second or 2 longer in the air allowing the recie4ver to adjust.  I thought that might be a bad thing since it
allows the defender to adjust as well, but the film he played really showed the
difference.Ricky PearsallThe 49’ers are so banged up at wide receiver that somehow,
one of their healthiest wide receivers is a guy who was shot in the chest 50
days before the game against the Chiefs. Pearsall made his rookie debut for the
49’ers.  It wasn’t what he expected after
being drafted in the first round.  First,
he was injured in training camp & lost time learning the offense.  Then he was shot in the chest in a robbery
attempt.  The bullet was a through &
through shot that didn’t hit any vital organs. 
Less than 2 months after the shooting, Pearsall caught 3 passes for 21
yards.  He will have opportunities to
improve on those numbers, but this was a special game for him.  DefenseBeanie Bishop Jr Steelers cornerbackBishop has made some rookie mistakes as he adjusts to the
NFL, but he looked great against Aaron Rodgers. 
He had 2 interceptions.  The first
was an excellent cornerback play & it looked like he read Rodgers.  On the second, the ball bounced off the receiver
& he won the tip drill.  He managed
to return that one all the way down to the 1-yard line.Cody Barton Broncos linebackerLast Thursday the Broncos beat the Saints 33-10 in a game
that didn’t even seem that close.  Barton
had 8 tackles, 1 sack, a forced fumble, & a pass break up in the game.  His highlight play was when he recovered a
second fumble by Spencer Rattler & returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.Cobie Durant Los Angeles Rams cornerbackThe Rams needed a win to keep any hope of making the playoffs
alive.  The defense hasn’t been good this
year, but they jumped all over the Raiders. 
Durant was a huge part of the effort. 
He had 2 passes defense including an interception.  He also forced a fumble & had a tackle
for loss.  The Rams are getting some
players healthy again & showing signs of life. Special teamsCharlie Jones Bengals wide receiver/returnerJones actually made the “dynamic kickoff” look dynamic
instead of the snore fest it has been for much of the season.  He returned the opening kickoff 100 yards to
start the game with a touchdown.  He also
returned 4 punts for 39 yards, a solid 9.8 yard average.  I really thought we would be seeing some
creative pull blocking & scheming by return teams this year, but it has
been mostly kicks into the endzone or good returns brought back on a
penalty.  It was nice to see an exciting
return!Brandon McManusBrayden Narveson was cut after missing 5 field goals in 6
games & Brandon McManus was the kicker. 
He made all 3 extra points he tried & his one field goal
attempt.  That field goal attempt was a 45-yard
kick for the win on the final play of the game. 
That’s a good first week in the new job! My favorite wine of the week is…Pepe Raventós 2012 Mas del Serral Catalonia Spain 97% Xerel-lo, 3% Bastard Negre $175 12.5% ABV 6.2 g/l Total
acidity (TA), 2.99 PH 1.7 g/l Residual sugar (RS)I tasted a ton of great wines over the week including dozens
of Champagnes, but this was an easy choice. 
This is a singular wine.  The Raventós family
have been innovators in sparkling wine production in Spain for generations.  Their wine making roots go back to 1497 &
Josep Raventós i Fatjó created the first traditional method sparkling wine in
Spain in 1872.  Josep Raventós i Blanc,
created and promoted the Cava DO.In 2012, the family left the Cava DO because they felt like
the DO was encouraging volume over quality. 
Several other producers have since left to found groups like Classic
Penedès and Corpinnat aimed at higher quality & stricter rules for
membership.The winery is committed to biodynamic and minimal
intervention winemaking.  This wine starts
in a 4.7-acre, horse-plowed vineyard, the Clos del Serral, at the center of the
estate.  The vines are 80-years old! The
wine is 97% Xarel-lo, but there are some Bastard Negre a rare red grape co-planted
as well, so they make up the remaining 3%. 
The grapes are hand-sorted after harvest & then whole-bunch pressed
and fermented in steel and concrete.  The
wine sits in tank to meld the flavors for 9 months (you have to get it out of
tank before the next harvest of course!). 
Then the wine is given a liqueur de tirage & on June 20^th
of 2013 it was bottled to start secondary fermentation in the bottle to create
the bubbles. This is where the wine truly separates itself from Cava.  Basic Cava requires 9 months of aging in
bottle on lees.  Reserva must age for 18
months, which is really the minimum to get any interesting autolytic
flavors.  The highest aging requirement
in Cava is 36 months.  Mas del Serral
spends 100 months on lees!  That’s 8 1⁄3 years.The result is an exceptional wine.  It’s definitely the best Spanish sparkling
wine I have ever tasted.  The wine shows
caramel, cream, &  brown sugar notes
that come in layers.  It has an almost
sweet flavor even though it is a no dosage wine with a tiny amount of RS.  The acid is bracing, but not out of balance
due in part to the weight of the wine from its time on lees.  Other flavors I noticed were lemon, lemon
curd, a hint of grass, brioche & biscuit. The wine also shows saline notes
that help make it a tremendous wine to pair with food.  This is a wine to experience.  I would love to have a bottle on a deck
looking at the ocean & I would love to have a bottle paired with a
meal.  I think it would be a different,
but delicious experience both ways.  If
you try it, let me know whether you tried it by itself or with food & what
you thought of it.