Notre Dame playing vintage wine game

University puts its name on 5 by alumni, friends

surrounded by the rural Midwest is hawking cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and chardonnay bearing its good name. Sacramental wine gets poured on Notre Dame’s campus daily, but we’re talking about table wine here — pleasure wine.

So why would the University of Notre Dame bother? Why wine and not some other commodity? The obvious answer is that they knew it would make money, and Notre Dame is as adept as any American institution at doing that. Domers and their flock are everywhere, and they drink wine just like the rest of us, and this is a way for the school to raise money for student financial aid and alumni programming. Someday, banks might give away wine just for opening up a passbook savings account. Or the cable company might send you a bottle when you sign up for service. It’s all good.

The labels on the bottles (three reds, two whites) are either blue or white, all with gold lettering and Celtic knot work. Curiously, three of the bottle tops are gold and two are black.

It’s obvious that the different cap and label color combinations were meant to distinguish each bottle from the others. But still, if I were a packagedesign-and-marketing referee, I’d throw a flag for Missed Opportunity. One has to believe that some of this wine will get bought and never opened — placed on a shelf forever as an ND collectible. Next year, I’d give them all golden domes.

This year, though, don’t save any bottles. If you’re a Notre Dame fan, you probably need all you can get. The Fighting Irish posted an uncharacteristic 4-8 record, including a crippling loss to of Southern Cal in the final game.

But you know that. So, let’s get to the good part. Below are brief tasting notes of the bottles in the Notre Dame Family Wines 2016 Collection, listed in descending order, according to style and price.

Full of butter and vanilla, but with fresh acidity that leads to a smoky finish. Tiny suggestions of orange and anise.

$35 $46 $30 $19 $16

The most NDlooking bottle of them all — golden wine with a blue label and a gold-foil top. Expect butterscotch, citrus and toasty notes.

Juicy cherry, bright acidity and minerality characterize this easy-drinking, versatile wine from Santa Barbara County. Great for tailgating.

With plum, vanilla, leather and spice, this wine is like a pulling guard, full of muscle but also fleet of foot. From Mendocino County. The MVP of the collection, this Napa Valley winner is floral with notes of raspberry, dark cherry, blackberry and tobacco.

MICHAEL TERCHA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE Show your Fighting Irish team spirit by drinking any of the five wines from the Notre Dame Family Wines 2016 collection.