What the heck does a California middle school and Thomas Jefferson's estate have to do with football? This isn't a flashback to my history class, is it?

Let me be honest...getting adjusted to the back-to-school routine has been difficult. The combination of that plus some other classes I am working on at the store are taking up a good portion of my time. That being said, I have no excuse for not continuing to share how you can drink well when you have the window to enjoy an adult beverage. Fortunately, the football season helps write the script for me, and this week we have any easy inroad to include wine! Sunday night's matchup features the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins; each city is a reasonable drive to several quality vineyards in Northern California and throughout Virginia (yes, I realize the Washington stadium is in Maryland, but whatever. It's my site).

Look, we can go to so many wineries for our choice to represent the Raiders, but understand something about this franchise. Late owner Al Davis always did things his way, and one of the things he had established in 1996 was to hold his team's summer training camp in Napa, Redwood Middle School to be exact. Yes, this is the same Napa where pristine, well-manicured vineyards that produce some of the most opulent and rich styles of wine found anywhere on earth are located. This brings me to a visit I took for my work-study trip after claiming my WSET Diploma. I never actually made a recommendation on what to taste from Cuvaison, which was one of my two winery visits. It is not easy to do, especially when my visit involved tasting a lot of different clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (which led to the different cuvées that are now the finished wines available to you for purchase) inside of a brand-spanking new facility. The options are all solid. In the end, if you have a chance to get your hands on a Cuvaison Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, you are getting a shimmering New World example of pure fruit meeting intelligent use of barrel-aging, where the wine is not overwhelmed by oakiness and woodiness.

Virginia may not be well-known nationally along the lines of the west coast regions or even New York's Finger Lakes. However, the next batch of states that includes serious winemaking and viticulture know-how includes Virginia. Need proof? You can visit any of the 17 wine trails and have yourself a very good time. But for our purposes, it is difficult to discuss wine, especially Virginian wine, without including Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was a wine-lover and President George Washington's Secretary of State. Prior to that role, he was a Minister to France; his trips to Europe opened his eyes to the world of wine, becoming quite knowledgeable to the point where he took such comprehensive notes and purchased so many wines to bring back to the United States, he helped build the President's wine cellar. Jefferson also had the dream to grow European grape varieties (the popular ones we all know and love) in the Eastern U.S. The goal never panned out before his passing, but today the Monticello wine trail might be the heartbeat of Virginia wine with the state's most popular winery of Barboursville leading the way. There is a great story on how a multi-generation Italian wine family left a lasting impact on this property's fortunes in the wine industry.

So today will be one of the few weeks I can make straight wine recommendations. No beer. No whiskey. Just great-tasting adult grape juice. Enjoy what should be another entertaining game along the lines of last week!

Cuvaison Spire Carneros Pinot Noir ($55): Carneros is one of the cooler parts of the North Coast, with fog and mist that can linger until lunchtime, before giving way to warmth and abundant sunshine. The Spire Pinot Noir offers a foil to the brute force of a football game with elegance, liveliness, and ripe fruit. All of the berry fruits are in this wine, with baking spices and a touch of cola and smoke. It will give your senses something to focus on during the commercial breaks.

Barboursville Viognier ($22): No barrels. No malolactic fermentation (the process leading to buttery/butterscotch flavors in wine). Just pure fruit expression of the aromatic white Rhône variety, with some aging on the lees to add a layer of complexity akin to fresh baked bread. With Viognier's apricot, tropical, and floral aromas, this is a great example of what Virginia is capable of and it is totally worth the price tag. Drinking this wine is like enjoying jam and bread...really easy.