Crossfit Wine 101

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JAN       SATURDAY ZONE FUN-NESS!
29th       Author: Shrav    File Under: Fantastic Nights - Zone Class Info

Hey Everyone!
Wine has been considered to be a drink of wellness and camaraderie. A recent wine tasting event at one of the Crossfit members' houses was a definite example of camaraderie, friendship, fun and a whole lot of wellness. This section is usually reserved for short diatribes about moderation and drinking too much and what drinking can do to you, but today's write-up will focus on the benefits of wine.

THE WORKOUT

BUY-IN: Read a little about the seven varietals of wine to be featured at this evenings workout. You will work your way through Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Suavignon. These are the most common wine grapes and produced in wineries all over the world. Of course these days it is not uncommon to find Tannat, Carmenere, Tempranillo, Viognier, Marsanne, Rasusanne, Malbec and so many more, but we will save that for our next workout in the cycle, Wine 102.
The Buy-in should start with 20 reps of glass pulls. Fill a Riedel wine glass 3/4 full of water. With forearms extended and elbow slightly bent lift glass toward lips, touch lips. In order to qualify as a proper rep, glass must be returned to table and not thrown down. Glass breakage results in a re-start. Next will be 20 reps of cheese spreads. You may want to do wrist loosening stretches prior to attempting this exercise. Take a spreading knife in your right hand and practice pushing down as if you were cutting a soft cheese like brie. After taking your imaginary dollop on your spreader, use your free hand to reach straight in front of your body to grasp at a piece of baguette from B-RED by Brad. Spread the dollop on the bread without bending your elbow with the spreader just in front of you. Repeat. Warning on this one, salivary glands may be activated causing slight drooling. A pile of Chalk on the kitchen counter will be useful in catching any moisture escaping your mouth. When you have finished your Buy-in you should be ready for today's WOD. Good Luck with it!

WOD: "Team Winey Cheesy"

Email 14 of your buddies and invite them over to sample some amazing wines brought in by Everything Wine in Langford,BC and cheese from around the world, of course brought to you by Charelli's Cheese Chicks on Foul Bay Road. This is a tough one gang, but if you scale appropriately you should be able to make your way through the evening. Carefull with the Cash-Out, it can be dangerous at times, for some athletes. If you are unsure about how far to go or when to stop consult with one of your coaches. They will guide you in the right direction.

Under the direction of guest coach, Jeannette from Everything Wine Gym and her assistant Alexa, gather a wine glass and stand with it directly in front of you outstretched. You must keep the glass in this position until Alexa has poured the wine.

Once poured, flex your arm at the elbow bringing the wine glass to your nose. Put your nose as far into the wine glass as possible and inhale. This is called getting the "nose" of the wine. Discuss with your team what you smell. Perhaps honey, cherries, grapefruit, grass, barnyard, tobacco, leather, smoke, citrus or nothing!

Once you have found your "nose" take a small sip sucking air around the sip to get an initial taste for the wine. Discuss with your team what you taste initially. Now use the spreader thruster action from your hips to put some cheese on a piece of baguette. Enjoy the flavour, add some duck rillette or a little artichoke dip. Re-sip your wine and note further nuances in the flavour perhaps enhanced by the cheese and bread or made more forward.

This WOD is to practice style and correct movements, not for time. Repeat six times keeping reps at each different wine level about 5-3-1.

Here are the wines you will want to hit for this WOD, not all of you will appreciate all levels, but enjoy all that you can:

Sauvignon Blanc - Cono Sur Organic  2010 - Chile - $15.99 EW
                             Citrus, Grapefruit, Green Apple, Grass

Chardonnay - Terra Incognita 2008 - France - $23.99 EW
                       Light Oak, buttery on tongue, almost no nose, unique chardonnay

Riesling - Gunderloch Fritz 2008 - Germany - $17.99 EW
               Nose of gasoline, flavours of lemongrass, apricot, anise

Pinot Noir - Valmoissine - Louis LaTour 2006 - France - $24.99 EW
                   Nose of farmyard, flavours of fruit, strawberry, a little cherry

Syrah - Esprit de Granit 2007 - France - $34.99 EW or BCL
            Smoky nose with flavours of tobacco, cherry and smoke, oak

Merlot - McManis 2008 - California, USA - $24.99 EW
             Jammy nose with flavours of toffee, blackberry, plum

Cabernet Sauvignon - Langmeil Blacksmith 2006 - Australia - $33.99 EW
                                   Nose of Eucalyptus, flavours of vanilla, smoke, jam

Take rests in between sets and take time to have some of the cheese ranging from Brie to Sticky Toffee Pudding, Tiger blue to applewood smoked cheddar.

Cash-Out: Try some choclate dipped strawberries and then if you dare a team excursion to downtown Victoria with Coach Dee and Coach Shannon to celebrate Dubs birthday....and beyond.


POST SCRIPT: This was an amazing evening hosted by two of the Crossfit family. I use that term not loosely at all. It became evident through the evening as everyone chatted comfortably, what a great group of people the gang from Crossfit is. It was like old friends were getting together to enjoy an evening. Jeanette from Everything Wine, had done a great job of picking some very interesting wines, which were fodder for great conversation, and made the cheese plates go quickly. My favourite was the :barnyard" pinot noir. Pinot's do have a reputation of sometimes having a barny nose to them, and this one did, but ultimately the fruit forwardness of the flavour won out, for me, perhaps not for others. There was not a bad wine on the night, all of them, different in character spoke to us differently but in a great way. It truly was a magical evening, and so was the "Cash-out" party - but that is a story in and of itself! Next WOD Wine 102: The Sequel.