My favorite players the week were…

Offense

Josh Allen Bills quarterback

This is 3 weeks in a row for Allen on my list.  He has firmly established himself as a leading contender for the MVP this season.  Against the high powered Lions offense, the Bills needed a great performance from Allen & he delivered.  He completed 23 of 34 passes for 362 yards & 2 touchdowns.  He also ran 11 times for 68 yards & another 2 touchdowns in leading the Bills to a 48-42 win.

Baker Mayfield Buccaneers quarterback

Mayfield connected on 81.5% of his passes (22-27) for 288 yards & 4 touchdowns with one interception.  He had a passer rating of 135.3.  Despite the interception, his play led to a curb stomping of the Chargers 40-17.

Mike Evans Buccaneers wide receiver

9 of Mayfield’s passes went to Mike Evans, who managed 159 yards with 2 touchdowns.  Evans already holds the NFL record for most consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons to start a career at 10. His streak has looked in jeopardy this year.  Evans has missed all or parts of 4 games this year including the previous 3 games.  With his 159 yards in week 15, he now has 749 yards for the season with 3 games to go.  If he can average 4 yards per game over his career average, he can get to 1,000 yards again.  That would be impressive.

Defense

Derek Stingley Jr. Texans cornerback

Stingley played another excellent game.  He had primary responsibility for Tyreek Hill in the game & limited him to 2 catches for 36 yards.  He also picked off 2 passes in the 4th quarter with his second pick on a pass intended for Hill sealing the game & allowing the Texans to go into victory formation.  Stingley also had 2 tackles for loss.

Christian Gonzales Patriots cornerback

It’s another lost season for the Patriots, but Gonzales has been a bright spot for the team.  Against the Cardinals, Gonzlez was the primary defender against Marvin Harrison Jr., covering him on 21 of his 29 routes.  With Gonzales in coverage, Harrison was only targeted 5 times & only managed 1 catch for 23 yards.  Gonzales had 3 pass breakups with 2 of them coming in the end zone.  It wasn’t enough to avoid another loss, but it was another excellent performance by the 2^nd year player.

Edgerrin Cooper Packers linebacker

What a game for the rookie linebacker!  He had 5 tackles, with 2 for loss with a sack.  He also broke up 2 passes & made an interception.  He’s proving to be a player who must be accounted for on every snap.

Special teams

KhaDarel Hodge Falcons wide receiver

In a close game against the Raiders, Hodge was clutch.  He blocked one punt & tipped another to give better field position to the anemic Falcons offense.

My favorite wine of the week is…

Calistoga Ranch Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 $160

14.5% ABV

I’m in Napa Valley almost every Sunday for a wine study group.  Everyone in the group is in the Master of Wine program.  We meet at Louis Martini Winery on highway 29 in Sanit Helena.  Despite regular exposure to Napa wines, I don’t drink much Napa Valley Cabernet for pleasure.  I often find it overdone & on the sweet & alcoholic side.  However, there are some Napa Cabernets that show why it has become such an iconic wine region.  This wine is a great example of how a wine can be rich & luxurious without being overblown & how it can massive & yet complex.  It’s a little like a quarterback trying to thread the needle & get a pass in between two defenders.  It doesn’t always work, but it can be amazing when it does.

For those not familiar with it, To Kalon vineyard is the most famous in the United States. H.W. Crabb planted the original vineyard in the 1860’s.  The name means “highest beauty” in Greek.  It doesn’t look like anything special.  You can see it along the highway as you pass Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville.  We are often told that the best wines only come from mid slope on steep mountains that are difficult to farm.  That’s true sometimes, but To Kalon proves that fantastic wines can be made on very flat land.  The vineyard is sheltered between the Vaca & Mayacamas mountain ranges.  It has well drained gravel-based soil.  This allows moisture to drain quickly & allows the roots to dig deep.  There is a good diurnal shift (it is warm during the day & cool at night), which is perfect for growing grapes.  The fog that the Humboldt Current sends through the Valley on a regular basis provides moisture.  This combination of factors leads to long growing seasons with slower ripening & more development.  Many vineyards in the same area share similarities, but To Kalon is generally considered a jewel in the crown for Napa.  There are a half dozen people &/or companies that own a portion of the vineyard including Andy Beckstoffer, who grew the grapes for this wine.

This is an excellent example of what the vineyard can produce.   It announces that it is a Napa Cab from the second you put your nose in the glass.  You are hit by black fruit, cassis, spice, & oak.  The wine starts with massive ripe black fruit followed by tons of cassis, & some pyrazines that show as almost a crème de menthe.  There are also notes of all spice from the oak. While the wine is highly structured with big tannins, it isn’t overwhelming.  I don’t have any details on the production of this wine, but they clearly used new French oak to age the wine, likely 100% new oak.  I’m sure it was a bit chewy when it was first bottled, but with 10 years of age, the tannins have integrated & are almost plush & velvety.

On the finish, there is a nice dusty drying tannin note that cleans the palate & keeps the wine from being overly sweet despite the intense ripe fruit.  As the wine sat in my glass it continued to open with the herbal tobacco notes becoming more prominent.  While the wine is 10 years old, it clearly has another decade or more to age.  The complexity that the wine is showing & its ability to mature in the glass is what makes the wine stand out from some of the more one note examples from Napa.  If you have a chance, give it a try.  If you don’t find this one, then look for other To Kalon vineyard wines.  They are a gold standard withing what is considered the gold standard for California wine.