What a wonderful word to a football fan: the NFL playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl™ on February 5^th, the holy grail of events for a sports fan. It’s still early in the process; we won’t know who’ll be in the game for a couple of more weeks, but rest assured whichever two teams meet, the entire country and much of the sports world will be glued to their flatscreens to see who will walk away with the Lombardi Trophy. And though cheering for your favorite team has usually been with a cold beer in your hand, there are plenty of good wine choices to go with your next football party. Here are two wines that will go with just about any bowl game foods.

 The first is a really fun red wine called Dalliance from the Lake County winery Shannon Ridge. This wild blend of Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Syrah, Barbera and Grenache is a fruit-forward, lip-smacking, flavor-packed bottle of wine that takes all the snobbery out of wine drinking. I remember drinking wine thirty years ago, watching football on Monday nights with friends at my downtown apartment. They would be knocking back Bud Lights and a buddy of mine and I would be drinking a bottle of something red. I think back to those days and wish I’d had a bottle of this to quaff.

   Another fun wine to try is a white wine from a South African winery, Graham Beck, a blend of Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. This medium bodied white has bright fruit flavors of grapefruit, apricot with a touch of residual sugar that makes it a delight to open and pour. These wines are both priced around $10 or so, and are neither complex nor pretentious, just really a joy to drink and very food friendly. So, when game day comes around, you don’t have to immediately grab for a can of beer; instead, try these two wines. You will see that they both will go great with any chips, dips, sandwiches or food platters you may find at the buffet.

Ken Amendola

Wine Supervisor, North Florida