Judge not, Jiu Jitsu & Spain

     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.