NEBBYOLO -- 2025 Fantasy Wine Draft!
Wine has a rep for being stuffy but it should be fun more than anything else
To be filed under the category of giving credit where it’s due: the single best television ad I can remember from the past year was one for Cupcake wine featuring Patrick Warburton (most notably known as David Puddy from ‘Seinfeld’ among scores of other credits). He plays a football coach, giving a locker room pep talk to a group of fans about to eat, drink and watch a game:
That line is a classic: “Sure, wine and football can be complicated. But enjoying them should be EASY! SO LET”S ENJOY OURSELVES!”
Now, say what you might about a mega mass-produced wine like Cupcake BUT they straight up nail the messaging. Wine is complicated. And that can be off-putting or intimidating to so many people who pigeonhole wine as something only for stuffy or special occasions when that couldn’t be further from the truth. But the wine industry has done a poor job of communicating that. Of course wine can be special and sophisticated but more than anything it should be delicious and FUN.
To that end, and in honor of the 2025 NFL Draft, which begins this evening (and will be held in Pittsburgh next year) we thought it would be fun to have a Fantasy Wine Draft using the wines from our portfolio, and analysis that is chock full of sports cliches and analogies.
The rules — classic snake draft in which each member of the Allora Wine Group team picks one red wine, one white, one rose/sparkling/dessert wine and one “best available” selection.
Allora CEO Michel Mincin is now on the clock …
ROUND ONE
1. MIKE: Giovanni Chiappini “Guado de Gemili” Super Tuscan – Like a player that’s the bedrock of a dynasty this is the kind of wine that you can build an entire cellar around. A linchpin. The Mean Joe Greene of wines.
2. CUBES: Conte Emo Capodilista “Ireneo” Cabernet Sauvignon – This 12-month aged wine is powerful but nimble, an agile bruiser a la Derrick Henry or Jerome Bettis when he hit the second level.
3. DOM: Boen “Arnand” - A blend of Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo, this wine is a note perfect dart thrower ala Drew Brees or Tom Brady – near flawless flavor that feels effortless.
4. GIGS: Vinicola Venea “Borioso” Montepulciano D’ Abruzzi Riserva – An absolute palate wrecker in the best sense of the word, this wine also has also has a flawless refinement, not unlike that of Penn Hills native Aaron Donald, who could blow up the interior line with his power, but his technique was perfect.
ROUND 2
5. GIGS: Amastuelo Bialento white blend – If this wine had a 40-yard dash time, it’d be 4 seconds flat because that’s how fast you’ll drink this crushable crisp southern Italian blend of Fiano and Malvasia.
6. DOM: Casa Comerci “Refulu” Greco Bianco – This natural, biodynamic white wine from Calabria gives a crispy, dry tart funk, not unlike a possession receiver unafraid to make contested catches and go across the middle. Newly minted Steeler DK Metcalf is the analogy here.
7. CUBES: Giampaolo Tabarrini “Adarmando” Trebbiano Spoletina Riserva – Like the Manning family, it’s all in the bloodlines at Tabarrini where the name of this white with more body than a left tackle means “Of Armando” – an homage to the winemaker’s grandfather.
8. MIKE: Boen Petite Arvine – The Travis Hunter of this draft, this dry white wine from the far north of Italy is a two-way player that pairs as well with fish as it does with white meats.
ROUND 3
9. MIKE: Conte Emo Capodilsta “Donna Daria” Passito – They called the late, great Walter Payton “Sweetness,” and that seems like a worthy name for this exquisite dessert wine from the Veneto region. Perfect after dinner with a plate of cheese, a pastry or on its own. Dolce!
10. CUBES: Ricci Curbastro Brut Rose Franciacorta – You wanna win championships? Then you absolutely pick the wine you’ll be celebrating with in the locker room, Italy’s truest answer to Champagne – Franciacorta – and you won’t find any more elegant than this outstanding expression.
11. DOM: Monti Cecubi “Mamurra” Abbuoto Rose – Italian roses (or rosatos) are so highly regarded because of their sheer persistence of flavor, akin to a receiver who makes punishing yards after the catch – someone like that Kansas City TE with the famous ladyfriend. What are their names again? ;-) This Lazian varietal has minerality, salinity and citrus notes all at once – try it with fish or pizza.
12. GIGS: Le Fraghe Chiaretto di Bardolino Rose – Modeled after a Provence-style rose, this looks like it’ll be delicate, but it’s packs a wallop of flavor, like an undersize receiver who can clean your clock. Think Hines Ward on this one.
ROUND 4
13. GIGS: Lambardi Rosso di Montalcino – In honor of Franco Harris’s Tuscan heritage, we’re dubbing this Sangiovese aged for 14 months in Slovenian oak is a velvet hammer of a wine, a terrific meeting of power and finesse much like the way Franco ran the ball. A fitting wine for an Italian Army.
14. DOM: Tenuta Mazzolino “Terrazze” Pinot Nero – One of Mike Tomlin’s oft-used phrases touts “positional flexibility” and that’s exactly what this electric Lombardian wine has, as it goes with everything – red meat, white meat, seafood, and all the charcuterie.
15. CUBES: Casa Comerci A’ Batia Magliocco Riserva – Like an Alabama or Georgia lineman, this Calabrian red is big, bold and from the deep south.
16. MIKE: Petrucco Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso Riserva – No Mr. Irrelevant for our last pick, but rather a total field general of a wine with playmaking ability and above all strength, this bold and deep wine is like a quarterback that just won’t go down – a Josh Allen, Big Ben, Steve McNair type.
