As we all know, I’ve been on a mission to make it acceptable to drink good wine during games, if that’s your preference over beer (ohhh yeah). Progress: very little. Last time I asked what kind of wine they had at Blondie’s, I was told “red or white.” But you know who’s with me on my mission? Gisele.

I know this was 4 years ago, but since the Patriots are playing in the AFC championship today I thought it was a perfect time to revisit. During that 2008 Superbowl, cameras caught Gisele drinking red wine in the sky box. Apparently, this caused major controversy. The blog for a radio station in Toronto said: “Sweetheart, it’s a football game — you drink beer. If I go to the opera I’m classy enough not to drink beer from the bottle.” Too bad you’re not classy enough to not call girls “sweetheart.” A blog on fannation.com stated: “Personally, I can think of no better distraction as a quarterback than gazing up into a luxury suite and seeing my supermodel girlfriend knocking back a glass of wine like it was Kool-Aid.” And Alison Stewart, co-host of NPR’s “The Bryant Park Project,” whatever that is, said, “At least [Tom] had Gisele’s shoulder to cry on. She was up in one of the press booths drinking wine through the whole game.” I’m sorry – as opposed to the other 45 million people who were drinking BEER through the whole game?

What is WRONG with these people? I can’t stand how people hear the word wine and turn it into something all elitist and snobby. Gisele likes her grapes, get over it. She wasn’t even drinking a piddly little white. I’d hope she was drinking something bold and beefy like Shiraz since I think it’s the best quarterback match, and it was possible (though not likely) as the Wall Street Journal proved that year. Since people aren’t allowed to take alcohol into the stadium, here’s what was in the sky box wine stock:

* Gallo Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (2005) – this was the basic red offered, so the most likely candidate for what Gisele was drinking. It retails for about 6 bucks – oy.

* a very limited edition ‘Gold Etched’ bottle featuring the Superbowl XLII logo on a McWilliams 2005 Shiraz from Hanwood Estate in South Eastern Australia – now obviously Shiraz would’ve been my choice for her, but seeing as it was a very limited edition I don’t know if she’d crack it open. I’ve never had this one, but it’s about a $10 bottle.

* Sterling Merlot  – you could special order this California wine in the sky box for $46, but would she really be paying more attention to the wine list than the game? Not sure even grapefriend would, unless I got there early enough to do so, which I probably would.

* Marqués de Riscal Rioja – this was also a special order possibility from Spain for $34

* Santa Rita “120 Series” Cabernet Sauvignon – the last special order option, from Chile and also $34. None of the special order wines are even that great, so why bother? I mean, a step above Gallo I guess but not so amazing.

* However, each sky box got one of these as a gift: Gary Farrell Pinot Noir (awesome one from Russian River in Sonoma, about $40), Shafer Vineyards Merlot ($50), Rubicon (Coppola’s higher-end wine, didn’t state which type, but they’re around $120-150) and Scala Dei Priorat from Spain (Priorat wines are really yum, mostly Garnacha/Grenache – this bottle’s about $45). Now we’re talking (or drinking) – grapefriend definitely would’ve made a solid goal line stand in front of these puppies so no one else could get to them. There was only one of each for the whole box, but you’re dating the quarterback so I think it would be yours for the taking.

Well, Gisele and Tom’s new $20 million Brentwood home does have a wine cellar in it, so I hope Gisele keeps going for the grape during games. Also, for superstition’s sake, the Pats were playing against the Giants in that Superbowl and NY came out on top… I’m going red for Big Blue.