Interview With a Person. Ditka. Wine, and Winners (Lulu Arroyo)

Michael Siegler — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:14:17 +0000

On Tuesday we held our first weekly Twenty Tweet Tuesday event over Twitter in which we play 20 questions with a secret wine, given to the winner for free. Since it was our first, we didn’t know quite what to expect and just hoped to contain the madness that is Twitter while having fun at the same time. It ended up being a very good time, but with the large crowd there’s no doubt the game will benefit when we implement the “dashboard” on the website this coming Tuesday. Each week, we’ll do a post like this to recap, and talk a little bit about the wine and the winner.

I'm the impressionable young man on the left - yes, the one Ditka seems to care most about.

The Wine

Winery:	Mendicino Wine Company
Varietal:	Merlot
Vintage:	2006
Wine Name:	Mike Ditka ‘Da Coach’ Merlot
Estimated Deliciousness:	Moderate

For the first event, I had to choose a wine that meant something to me. Growing up in Chicago, I’ve always been a huge bears fan, and you can’t love the Bears without loving Ditka. There are few men that have the lore of Ditka. He started off as a five time pro-bowler and superbowl champ. Then he decided to give coaching a shot and led the best-defense-ever, best-superbowl-shuffling-ever ‘85 Bears to Superbowl victory. During these years Ditka wore his intense passion and rage on his sleeve, frequently having heart-attacks “just to prove a point”.

Several years later he was inducted to the Hall of Fame by the Board of Selectors; legend has it that this occurred largely out of fear of being destroyed by Ditka. The early 90’s brought the Superfans on Saturday Night Live, and the 2000’s (err 00’s???) marked the arrival of Actor Ditka on Kicking and Screaming. If you haven’t seen it, you should.

So now, with a humble understanding of the lore of Ditka, you will undestand why I chose the 2006 Mike Ditka ‘Da Coach’ Merlot as the first giveaway wine. I’ve only had this wine once, and it only struck me as decent, but you have to start somewhere. Some of the Ditka wines, for example the “Kick-Ass Red”, are said to be pretty darn good, actually. So who are the others that share the lore of Ditka? (3) The guy on the Dos Equis Commercial that is ‘the most interesting man in the world, (2) Chuck Norris, and (1) Ditka.

The Person

Name:	Lulu Arroyo
Person Type:	Winner *

Michael. What’s your favorite wine?

Lulu. French (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Northern Italian (not in that order!)

Michael. What’s your favorite food?

Lulu. Impossible to answer, savory over sweet but love the combination of the two, add spice and I’m done!

Michael. Do you prefer Friends or Seinfeld?

Lulu. Seinfeld!

Michael. What’s your passion?

Lulu. Learning. Always learning no matter what area it is.

Michael. Ditka versus a humongous snowball, what’s the final score?

Lulu. Ditka. Everytime. Everytime.

Editors Note: Since no actual score was given, we have analyzed the situation and determined that the score would be approximately Humongous Snowball: 12, Ditka: 248

Michael. Would you rather eat only bread (butter, cheese, or your favorite spread allowed) for the rest of your life, or drink only wine for the rest of your life (no water or anything else allowed)?

Lulu. Tough one. I love both together and individually but forever is a long time.

Editors Note: Since neither selection was taken, we have analyzed the situation and determined that the correct answer was A: Eat only bread with your favorite condiment or spread because (1) Bread is delicious (2) You have the opportunity to be creative in your definition of condiments and spread, and (3) if you could only drink wine you would perpetually be either thirsty, drunk, or hungover, none of which are amazing.

Michael. What is your primary motivator to purchase a specific wine? Do you rely on friends advice, wine ratings, like to experiment, etc?

Lulu. I like to experiment. There are so many wines I have not tried. I’m open to suggestions all the time. Motivator is different everytime. Curiousity is one, food match is another, many reasons to love wine!

Thanks to Lulu for participating in Twenty Tweet Tuesday and sharing your answers for our interview! We hope you join us next week for the fun!

*Claims of a person being a winner are based on our knowledge and interaction with them, which typically involves nothing more than the frantic exchange of tweets in order to win free wine, and a follow-up email. So, based on what we know, and our good judgment, we can only assume that they have indeed won every single thing they have ever done, and are in-fact, a winner.

The Bottle Topper » contest

Interview With a Person. Ditka. Wine, and Winners (Lulu Arroyo)

The Wine

The Person