My favorite players the week were…

Offense

Kyler Murray Cardinals quarterback

Murray has had some special games this year & it looks like things might be coming together for him.   Against the Jets, he completed 22 of 24 passes (91.7%) for 266 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.  He also scored twice on the ground.

Brock Purdy 49ers quarterback

Purdy completed 25 of 36 passes for 353 yards.  He was under constant pressure & was sacked 3 times, but he escaped & extended plays to make completions several times. 

Joe Burrow Bengals quarterback

The quarterback wins statistic might not be the best way to judge a quarterback.  In week 10 Jared Goff threw 5 interceptions but got the win.  Burrows followed up his 5-touchdown game against the Raiders with 4 touchdowns on 428 yards against the Ravens, but they still lost.

Defense

Deatrich Wise Patriots defensive end

I felt like I needed to choose someone from the Patriots defense after they tallied 9 sacks against the Bears.  Anfernee Jennings & Wise each had 2 sacks.  I went for Wise because he had a pass defense as well.

Nnamdi Madubuike Ravens defensive tackle

Madubuike had 3 sacks of Joe Burrow, forced a fumble, & had 10 total quarterback pressures.  That’s a dominant performance.

Special teams

Jake Bates Lions kicker

Bates hit a 58-yard field goal to tie the game against the Texans, & then a 52 yarder for the win. He also connected on both of his extra point attempts.

Leo Chenal Chiefs linebacker

Chenal blocked a field goal to clinch the Chiefs’ 16-14 win over the Broncos. 

My favorite wine of the week is…

Dominio del Bienamado Lucas Pastor, D.O. Toro, 2022

100% Tinta de Toro AKA Tempranillo 14% ABV

I tried 3 wines from Dominio del Bienamado at a recent event promoting wines from the Castilla y León region of Spain.  Castilla y León might not be familiar to everyone, but it is the largest wine producing region in Spain.  The sub regions are important & often better known.  They include Rueda, famous for Verdejo, Ribera del Duero, & Toro among others.  All 3 of the Dominio del Bienamado wines I tried were excellent.  Their Caray Billon Verdejo was my favorite white wine of the event.

Tempranillo goes by many names in Spain & neighboring Portugal.  It can be frustrating to keep track of them & you often wonder why they can’t just pick one name & stick with it.  However I feel like Tinta de Toro, the name in the Toro region is sufficiently different from Tempranillo in Ribera del Duero & Rioja to justify its unique name.  Tempranillo generally has chalky tannins that are felt in the cheeks & not nearly as much in the gums.  In Toro, you get less of that tannin in the cheeks, but a lot in the gums.  It isn’t always obvious, but after trying dozens of examples of both, it really starts to stand out.

The vines at Dominio del Bienamado are old & trained as bush vines that must be hand worked & hand harvested.  Due to the age, yields are low at about 1.1 tons per acre.  These low yields from old vines give wine with intense flavors.  The wine is then aged for 23 months in American & French oak.  The resulting wine shows red fruit up front with a long black fruit finish. The fruit has a bit of dried, almost candied note to it.  I picked up raspberry, persimmon, blackberry, & spice notes. The wine has excellent structured tannins.  While the oak & tannins are a bit much when the bottle is first opened, they show much better as the wine opens up.  That’s a great indicator that this wine will improve over the next 5 years as the oak & tannins integrate with the fruit.

The price hasn’t been decided for the wine yet, but if it is $40 or under, it’s worth a try.