The color of the leaves here in north Florida have really begun to explode into beautiful shades of crimson, gold, indigo and a hundred other hues. With that come the perfectly sunny days in the seventies and cool, crisp nights dipping into the low fifties. The holidays are right around the corner, but for now it is all about the football season: college, high school and pro. And with that comes one of my favorite rites of fall, tailgating at the Jaguar games. While grabbing some chicken wings or a handful of submarine sandwiches will work in a pinch, there is nothing like a full-blown tailgate spread. This past week our hometown Jaguars entertained the Baltimore Ravens on that most special of events, Monday Night Football. So our crew got all the essentials packed up: the grill, multiple ice chests, a football, our Jaguar cornhole game, tent, chairs, beer pong table, beer, wine, wine glasses and tablecloth…what? We’re football fans, not troglodytes. For food, to go with the bottle of 1999 Piccolomini Brunello di Montalcino was a lovely, dry-aged two and a half pound, center cut piece of Angus beef tenderloin. Add to that a few baked potatoes, assorted veggies, mixed greens, bread, butter and voila!

 So after an hour or two of tossing around the football, a few friendly games of cornhole, and a sampling of craft beers at the beer pong table, it was time to get the dinner going. The potatoes were just about cooked, so it was time to prep the tender. A light sprinkling of spices and a rub of olive oil was all this gorgeous piece of beef needed and it was onto the hot grill. Now this isn’t our typical tailgate, but since it was a Monday night game we did it up a little. The wine was great with the meat and even better,  I have another bottle for some other good time down the road.

It was a very good night for all of us Jaguar fans, not only because we beat a team that we were not supposed to be able to beat. We had a terrific time before, during and after the game and look forward to the next Monday night game on December 5^th against the Chargers…Go Jags!

Ken Amendola, N. Florida Wine Supervisor