So we were working Kimuras (Ude Garami) in jiu jitsu today. It was all fine and dandy because I was tapping fools left and right. Then I rolled with my buddy Paulie who is really good and as I was gonna do the technique he swings around and knees me in the eye ball. I have a lovely shiner to prove it.  That's the thing I love hate about jits. It's that it shows you reality every roll, every day. There's nothing fake about it. And at the end of the day it's good for you. Because that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
     Same goes for wine. Wine grapes, at least vitis vinifera has a myriad of polyphenols that act upon the body in a positive manner. Even Joe Rogan talked about it today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyWOdoLTqTA    The stress response that grapes experience make wine with things like Resveratrol which will help you to live as long as the folks in the Blue zones. Yet another reason to love wine.
     Finally, I was watching Lego Batman with my daughter when one of the bad guys (Voldemort) escapes from the Phantom zone and wreaks havoc by changing people first into fish, then turning people into frogs and then lastly turning people into fish frogs! My daughter then wondered if there was such a thing and I remembered the mudskipper. Which in my opinion is a frog head stuck on a fish with legs. Then I wondered if thing could be eaten. If it could be eaten then it could be paired with wine! See where my mind goes... Anyway, I have never eaten one, nor have I heard of anyone eating one. These guys remind me a little like catfish. They are both close to the water floor and they kinda look like one another, kinda. If we're pairing with catfish then be prepared to pair with an oilier fish (think trout, herring, sardines and tuna. You will want a high acid wine to wipe away the fats so each taste is fresh and full. So there you go you fish frog. God speed.

     So I just judged my first wine competition. This was so interesting for me because it featured Cold Weather Varietal wines. It was so great for me because I wasn't familiar with these new grapes that are not completely vitis vinifera.  I don't believe in participation trophies but I didn't want to be too harsh. The thing is that these wines are being sold at $18 to $40 and above. With that price tag you can get exceptional wine from just about anywhere in the world. And to say that these wines were equal to something from Mendoza or Provence or Marlborough would be a blatant lie. I do think that in a few years that this style will improve because there were a few unicorns, but IMHO not worth $40 plus.
     And I lost first round at Worlds (IBJJF) by points 6 nothing with an advantage going to my opponent.  Kudos to him and drats for me. But by filming and watching my performance I got to see the holes in my game. There are many. I will fix them. I'm competing again in the Twin Cities IBJJF tournament coming up next month the day before my birthday. If you're in town stop by and see me kick some glutes.
     Finally I will be teaching a wine class focused on Spain. I know a ton about Spain because I was an English teacher in Madrid for about a year and a half. Did I know about wine back then. Uh, no.  As I look back on my time there I kick myself mentally because of all the places I did not see because I had no clue they were there. But I do now. So if you want to taste some incredible wines join us. We're talking Cave gran reserva (Methode Traditionnelle), Albarino, Tempranillo, Garnacha and to round it off a Dom PX desert wine. Damn skippy. Gotta run, my pealla is done.