A Game of Hoopes
TASTING NOTES: “Aromas of carved Spanish cedar and lit tobacco float through the air. On the palate, beautiful and whimsical notes of black Twizzlers, rolled tobacco leaves, and earthy fennel fronds give way to a soft transition into the lengthy finish full of velvety melted dark chocolate and salty sour umeboshi plums.” (AbV 14.5%, pH 3.68, TA 6.28 g/L)
VARIETALS: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 1% Malbec 1% Petite Syrah
BARRELS: 28 months in French oak, 30% new.
PAIRS WITH: N/A
THAT REMINDS ME OF: The basketball hoop. How’d that thing get up there?
Ten feet up. Pretty high, higher than anyone could casually reach, even while hopping. And it’s been consistently that height for the history of basketball. Is there a specific reason?
Nope! So basketball as a sport was invented by a guy named James Naismith at a Massachusetts YMCA back in 1891. He took a couple peach baskets and stuck them on railings that just happened to be 10 feet tall. Pretty quickly, once it caught on, they replaced them with metal rings. This was because you would have to climb a ladder to get the ball every time someone scored, in addition to getting the baskets down.
Some other quirks for the original game: because basketballs didn’t exist yet, they used a soccer ball. Probably not the easiest thing to dribble. But that’s okay, because dribbling didn’t exist! Yes, there was only passing and shooting originally. As soon as you had the ball, you were locked in place.
Probably couldn’t dunk in those conditions. How far we’ve come.
