And then there were four.
After two weekends of tasting thirty-two wines, the inaugural Grape Madness event is down to four worthy champions.
One last match-up, in my own Cost Plus bracket, to complete the Final Four and set up a dual-city tasting that will crown the first ever Grape Madness champ.
(2) The Show versus (3) Bodega Norton
I’m too lazy to research this fully but I think The Show was picked by far the most to come out of the Cost Plus bracket and sure enough it did. I had only heard about this wine recently and then promptly forgot about it, but as I said when the tournament opened and I found myself in the aisles at Cost Plus, something about the bottle itself just hit the right emotional buttons. And the juice did not disappoint. It methodically made its way through each game not with flash, like some Tampa Bay Buccaneer, one year winning it all, the next four missing the playoffs. No, The Show was more like my beloved Eagles, in every game, winning most of them. In the end, would it make a city proud, or crush our hopes and dreams again, like some overworked dad, home too late to tuck us kids into bed and read us a story?
The Bodega on the other hand came in unknown and proceeded to pump out the highest consistent scores in this bracket. After making short order with another nice CA Cab (337), it crushed the #1 seed killing Aussie handily to find itself in the Elite Eight. Regardless of the outcome, everyone would know their name now.
The Bulldozer from Mendozer raced out to a lead with a big, jammy nose that like or or not, I like. But The Show did what champions do, chipping away at the Malbec’s lead with a floral, fruity nose of its own, surprisingly mild for a young-ish Cabernet.
Halftime – Bodega 46, The Show, 41.
As the wines opened up in the third quarter, The Show earned its name by displaying a great balance, soft fruit and just a hint of acidity, turning the tables on the Bodega, which seemed to have more fruit on the nose than on the palate.
Third Quarter – The Show, 63, Bodega 60.
Marc and I tasted and retasted these two wines, going back and forth on which one we liked best (not the same one again), and sure enough the fourth quarter was a low scoring affair. A last second missed jump shot by the Show sent this game into overtime, the first one of the tournament.
It would be a costly miss.
The teams came out for the extra stanza cautious. The wines continued to open up and mellow but the Malbec started showing more than the Cab, which had slowed, perhaps its close, opening round games catching up. The Show was getting tired.
With 42 seconds left to play and The Show up by one, 81-80, Bodega and its younger 2007 fruit took the ball up the court and promptly made a quick bucket (82-81, Bodega). The Show called time out but as anyone in the crowd of two will tell you, they did not come back on the floor with a plan to win.
The inbounds pass was stolen, along with the hopes of many, who picked it to go all the way.
Final Score – Bodega Norton 82, The Show 81
And then there were four: Bodega Norton Malbec, Talus Pinot Noir, Steven Vincent Meritage and Chateau Chevalier Cab
This has been a great ride so far. Can’t wait to see what happens in the Finals.
[...] in the Aaku 82-65. In the Cost Plus regional final it went down to the wire before the Norton downed the Show 82-81 on a buzzer beater in OT. After taking down three Cabs it was matched against the [...]