The Bear and the Bottle

09/22/2021

2018 OGC (Oakville Grocery)
The Mercantile Napa Valley Pinot Noir.

Give it at least an hour decant and you’ll be rewarded with a racy, fruit-forward wine worth more that the $9.99 at Costco (Roseville, CA)

It’s reminiscent of the better aspects of Belle Glos at a price that forgives the over-extraction and satisfies those looking for a simple, hedonistic pour that requires little thinking.

Bing Cherry and raspberry with minimal tannins and decent acidity, this wine takes dead aim at the California palate and hits a bulls-eye.
Surprisingly, day 2 was less impressive.
The wine lost it’s zip and took on a sour plum finish. I held a pour back for day 3 and while it was better than day 2 it came across as a mellowed version of day 1.

Not a cellar selection, but for $10 you can entertain or just pull one out for a weekday wine affordably.

08/19/2021

Not the quality or complexity I was hoping for a in a wine with such backing and pedigree.

Overwhelming cranberry at PnP, 2 hours decant and even 5 hours.
It did settle down and show some black licorice and secondary fruit at the 3 hour mark but lost that after 5 hours of air

06/03/2021

2018 Sea Slopes Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
$16.99 after discount at Costco - Rocklin, CA

The label says Fort Ross but the flavor profile is more Russian River Valley.
The wine was given a 2-hour decant and has a nose of cherry and plum.
Good acidity and a medium-weight mouthfeel, the wine has flavors of the aforementioned cherry and plum with pomegranate and a little more heat than you would expect from a 13.5% wine.
I didn’t taste the feral/umami components associated with the true Sonoma Coast in the middle, only at the finish which is slightly bitter, dry, and lingering.

A great deal at the price I paid but not at the MSRP of $35

04/29/2021

2017 Brown Estate “Eastside” Zinfandel

Elegant nose of mixed dark berries and rhubarb.
Silky mouthfeel.
Flavors of blackberry, dark cherry, pomegranate, mild tannins.

03/10/2021

Kang Hodong Baekjong Korean BBQ
Koreatown - Los Angeles

04/03/2020

Brown Estate will be the first winery we visit once this all blows over

The first and only Black-owned Estate winery in Napa.

03/28/2020

After many years of visiting the Mendocino Coast via Highway 128 Handley Cellars is still our favorite winery tasting room to visit either on our way out or back. For as long as we have been going there they have made co...

03/24/2020

My wife and I attended the UC Davis Alumni Winemaker's Tasting on campus some years ago. The event highlighted graduates of the UCD wine program that had gone on to make their own wines. One of those graduates was Jason ...

03/15/2020

Gotta love the Mom & Pop wineries.

Consistently great wines from with a pedigree from Pinot Noir royalty.