This is the latest I have worked on one of these & so it’s a short one this week.  I have been traveling this week & am in San Diego for the Wine & Food Festival.

My favorite players the week were…

Offense

Saquon Barkley Eagles running back

Barkley had 159 rushing yards & another 40 through the air to hit 199 yards of offense,  He had a touchdown both rushing & receiving.  He also had a backward jump over a defender that is going to live forever on NFL films.  He dd have a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, but I’m still including him here.

Joe Burrow Bengals quarterback

Burrows threw for 5 touchdowns against the Raiders.  He connected on 27 of 39 passes.  According to NFL Next Gen stats, on his 5 touchdown passes he scrambled in the backfield for 66.6 yards with 2 of them involving him running around for more than 20 yards before throwing for a touchdown.

Lamar Jackson Ravens quarterback

Last week I went with Derrick Henry over Jackson.  This week Henry ran for over 100 yards again, but I can’t ignore Jackson’s performance.  He connected on 16 of 19 passes for 280 yards & 3 touchdowns.  This gave him a perfect 158.3 passer rating (clearly an off number, but that’s perfect in the system).  It was his 4th time to achieve a perfect passer rating, giving him the highest number ever with a minimum pf 15 attempts.  Of his three passes that weren’t completed, one was a throw away & one was dropped, so there was really only one pass that was off target.

Defense

Trey Hendrickson Bengals defensive end

Hendrickson continued his outstanding season Sunday. He had 4 sacks, a pass breakup, & a forced fumble.  On 31 pass rushing snaps he had 4 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, & 2 quarterback hurries.  That’s a 40% pass rush win rate.  It seems like I always pick players after games with the Raiders, & I picked 2 this week.  It’s hard to argue against this performance though.

Kamren Kinchens Rams safety

This was a statement game for the 3rd round rookie.  He hadn’t registered any interceptions in the NFL prior to the game against the Seahawks but managed 2 in the 4^th quarter.  He returned the first one 103 yards for a huge momentum changing touchdown.  It set the record for longest interception return in franchise history. His second interception ended another Seahawks red zone possession.  He also forced a fumble.

Zack Baun Eagles linebacker

Baun had 10 tackles, 2 passes defended, including an interception, & 2 quarterback hits.

Special teams

Tyler Bass Bills kicker

Prior to this game, Bass had connected on 12 of 15 kicks, which is good if not great, however, he was only 4 of 7 from 40-49 yards & hadn’t tried a kick over 50 yards all year, which doesn’t indicate a ton of confidence in him.  That may have changed in week 9.  He was 3 of 3 with 2 kicks over 40 yards & the game winning franchise record 61-yard field goal with 5 seconds left to win the game.  Bass did miss another extra point, but that long game winning kick should buy him some time with the team.

My favorite wine of the week is…

Champagne Barnaut Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs, Bouzy, Champagne, France NV $75

100% Pinot Noir 12.5% ABV

I’m a huge vintage Champagne fan.  Some of my favorite wines in the world are vintage Champagnes.  However, I tried this wine in a flight that included 3 vintage Champagnes including big names like Louis Roederer’s Cristal& this was my clear favorite.

The wine is based primarily on the 2019 vintage using 100% Grand Cru designated grapes, but what puts it over the top for me is the inclusion of older wine that gives it great complexity.  The winemaker saves 50% of each vintage’s wine for what they call a perpetual reserve.  It works a bit like a Sherry program where wine from new vintages is added to the total when older wine is drawn out.  One difference is that in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s they transitioned from holding the wine in oak to holding it in stainless steel. Additionally, it is topped off & doesn’t oxidize. The original wine that started the perpetual reserve was in 1874.  There might be a drop or two of that wine in the current wine, but the vast majority is from the last 10-20 years.  That’s still plenty of time for the wine to achieve greater complexity.  The wine also spends at least 24 months on lees after secondary fermentation in bottle.

The wine shows intense brioche & red fruit.  Pinot Noir based Champagne generally is less autolytic than Chardonnay based Champagne, but this definitely has a rich bread dough aroma.  The wine goes through malolactic conversion which blunts the acidity somewhat & makes it creamier, but the acid really shows on the long finish.  There is a pleasant, aged note to the wine that gives deeper red fruit flavors than expected & makes for an intense & complex wine on the palate.  This is a Champagne that improves as it opens up & warms up a bit.

At $75, it’s a steal in the Champagne category!  The holidays are coming up & this wine delivers bang for the buck.