Winey Tasting Notes: Tricky Rabbit Cabernet/Syrah for The Finals

I have never made it a secret that The Winey Family lives in Cleveland. (OK, an eastern suburb, but when people ask, we say Cleveland.) And even if you don’t like sports, or basketball or The NBA, I am sure you have heard what we have just been through there for the past two roller coaster themed months:

Always #ALLinCLE Game 6 photo courtesy of The Winey Son and The Winey Hubby

The Playoffs.

As in, our beloved Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs…taking us all the way to The Finals of this season. This season, where our hometown boy returned to the fold (he goes by the name LeBron, in case you live under a rock. Or are my mother) and the hopes for a championship for our long-suffering sports city rose with his return. This season, where, up until January, things weren’t looking so good. This season when, two months ago, our Cavs started a long, arduous journey also known as the NBA playoffs.

A few things happened during that journey: we lost one All-Star player to a dislocated shoulder. (Don’t even get me started about HOW it happened and why a certain member of a team from a certain northeastern team is not exactly “liked” here.) And then BOOM! Another All-Star down to a fractured knee cap. LeBron, Dellavedova and the rest of the team played valiantly until the bittersweet end, all the way to Game 6 of The Finals, when a certain team from the western frontier of our nation (playing with ALL of their guys) ended our season.

But what a beautiful season it was! The Cavs won everyone’s respect and admiration with their amazingly tough playing. And winning. And diving. And sweating (a little too much of that – just ask Dellavedova, who wound up on an IV in the hospital after Game 3). It was a thrill ride with the wonderful city of Cleveland spotlighted in the background of every home game and our fans cheering themselves hoarse.

The Winey Family was in attendance for various games throughout the playoffs. And when we weren’t inside The Q, we were at home on the edge of our seats, clutching out stomachs, through every minute. Because a playoff ride like this one does not come without some nerves, some family room coaching (cue the Winey Hubby), some very specific, well let’s call them “ideas” for the referees (cue The Winey Hubby and The Winey Son) as well as a fair amount of screaming nervous chatter.

The Winey Son actually flew home to visit during The Finals. And his visit was rewarded with tickets to Game 6. (In my effort to maintain  my title of “Cool Winey Mom/Cool Winey Wife, I will tell you that the pair of tix was the Hubby’s Father’s Day gift. Of course, the Hubby was the one to actually buy them, but I will profess ’til the day I die that I thought of it first.) He and The Winey Hubby still say that, despite the outcome of that game, it was a total blast. Outside The Q,
the crowd was massive, the legendary Cleveland food trucks were out in full force, and inside the arena: the fans were loud and proud and #ALLin. It was a very special time and place.

But, I will tell you, the behavior of my boys during Game 5, a few nights before that, was not a total blast. It was a bit, um, opinionated. Loudly so. In fact, they scared the four legged member of our household:

As you can see by my post, I was prepared for Game 5. I have lived with these two Cleveland fans for a combined 50+ years of sports watching, after all. The wine that evening was a red (for the heart health benefits needed during a Cleveland playoff game) from Chile. I sat quietly in my chair, sipped on my Tricky Rabbit Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend (2012, 14%, Chile) and tried to comfort the doggie.

Tricky Rabbit is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Syrah. It’s dark maroon (not unlike some of the Cavs uniforms) and has a nose of cherries and wood smoke. The taste is very ripe cherries, some cedar and a tinge of oak. It wasn’t fruit forward at all..more of the Cabernet came through on the palate. (It is 60% Cab, after all.) It finished with almost a mocha flavor and some woody tannins.