Who says football and fine wine don't go together? (post 2 of 3)

Post 2 of 3 of our High Hampton weekend!

After we rested up from our lovely Sunday, we were looking forward to the following day, when all we actually had definitively planned was meeting up for dinner. That meant that Dio and I had plenty of time to just bask in this beautiful locale and check out some more of what the property has to offer.

We took a boat out on the little lake, and just had a very laid-back and relaxing time enjoying nature. Because it’s that time of year, there wound up being a couple of short, random rain showers. That caused us to cancel one of our outdoor activities, and instead we wound up sitting at the bar near the pool, sampling beers and watching other folks run back and forth from the pool, in and out of shelter whenever the sky opened up. Observing that while remaining dry was kind of fun in its own way.

This unexpected extra time allowed me to prepare for our next two wine experiences. In our room with that amazing view, I decided to attempt adding some live video to my blog for the first time. I mean, that view deserved to be showcased, right?

So, the day before, we had heard through our friends and their cousins that Drew Bledsoe — the NFL quarterback for the New England Patriots prior to Tom Brady assuming that role — was going to be there on site, holding a wine tasting. That might have seemed odd, but we had just recently learned that once he’d left football behind, he’d moved back to his hometown of Walla Walla, Wa. and started his very own winery. In fact, we learned this by watching the controversial televised Roast of Tom Brady, where you could tell one of the main reasons Drew had agreed to appear there was to use that opportunity to promote his winery. Prior to seeing that Netflix telecast, I had no idea he had anything whatsoever to do with the world of wine.

Those of you who have already seen his appearance at that podium may recall that he made a big point of mentioning his winery throughout his segment — holding a glass of his own wine, swirling it around in an exaggerated fashion, and joking that the reason he named his first release “Double Back” (which is true, that is what it’s called) was in honor of Tom Brady, due to his successor’s supposed narcissistic habit of backing up to check himself out for a second time whenever he happens to pass a mirror. It got a big laugh.

All the time we were trying to arrange our activities for Monday, we kept telling the folks at the front desk that we needed to make sure we were done in time to attend the Bledsoe Wine Estates tasting, but they kept insisting they had no idea what we were talking about. Eventually someone explains to us that it was a members-only event, which is why they weren’t acknowledging it. I mean, we’re not members of High Hampton, we were just guests.

But, we were guests of our friends’ cousins, and they’re members. And they said, yeah, of course, you’re our guests. Come join us for the tasting. Sweet!

Knowing I really wanted to blog about this unusual occurrence, I came ready to ask questions and get pictures and video of our time there. We take a golf cart to a little terrace outside of the pro shop overlooking the driving range, where there’s a bar. That’s where the tasting was taking place. As soon as we walk up we immediately see a huge, tall guy who was clearly Drew Bledsoe. They pour us some of his wine, and we’d made it through a couple of them when Drew comes straight over to us and introduces himself. We didn’t have to stalk him or wait our turn to have a moment with him (as one might expect with a celebrity of his stature). And he was about as nice as he could be.

He was going out of his way to spend about ten minutes of his time, one-on-one, with each person who was there, getting to know them. I took that opportunity to remark on how cool it was to learn of his winery by seeing him drinking some of his own wine at the Tom Brady Roast, and then to soon thereafter find ourselves standing, chatting with him while we all drank his wine together.

Which is when he dropped a total bombshell on us, and spilled the beans about the drama that went on behind-the-scenes at the Netflix taping, concerning his wine. There’s a good chance you’re only going to hear about this here on my blog.

It seems that when Drew showed up to the Roast, the folks in charge of the venue refused (for whatever reason) to allow him to bring in his own wine. Even though him speaking about and drinking it played a key part in his comedy routine. So, the entire time that he was promoting his winery in front of the crowd and the TV cameras and seemingly enjoying a glass of Double Back, he was actually choking down what he described as whatever “crappy wine” the venue had chosen to serve that night! Crazy.

I must admit, it was very cool to have a lengthy, private conversation with a sports legend of that magnitude. And he honestly couldn’t have been nicer and more down-to-earth.

After he’d visited with all the members and invited guests, he got up and made a speech to the whole group that concisely explained how he came to start his own vineyards and winery. It seems Drew’s always been an extremely competitive guy (no surprise there). And during his time in the NFL, he was part of a group of other highly competitive pro football players who loved fine wine. They had a group that would get together to share and discuss wine, and each of them would always bring a bottle. Obviously, given their personalities, everyone was always trying to outdo the others and show up with the best selection! And with the kind of money those guys were making, he had the opportunity to taste some seriously amazing wines.

Once he retired from the NFL, he realized his hometown was smack dab in one of the best wine regions in the country. He said to himself, “I should be making my own wine.” So, he bought some vineyards and did what he knew how to do best: assembled a team. This was not just an investment to him. He’s so down and dirty into it that he actually planted some of the vines himself, by hand.

And now, this is all he does. He says he has no interest in doing commentary for football games or anything like that. His life now is centered around producing wine. He actually named the first wine he released “Double Back,” because that’s what he did in his own life by returning home to his roots and starting this new chapter. Since then, he’s expanded and now has wines in Oregon as well.

For those who want the serious details on what I thought of his wines (spoiler alert: they were impressive) you can find them on CellarTracker.com.

Later on, our friends and their family members showed up, and they loved his wines as well. We grabbed a quick photo, which you can see below, and then got ready for dinner. And that, dear readers, is where my next post will pick up…