Napa Valley, CA; from Karen Cakebread; 13.5% ABV
$7 at the Berkeley, CA, store on 25 Nov. I think also at Richmond.
Patrick had recommended this wine on 23 Nov, but I ran into it first at Berkeley on the 25th. It does have a very nice presentation in label and bottle, and the color of the wine is a greenish yellow that I have learned to look for in SBs I’ve liked. So I got a bottle that I was indeed very happy with.
The wine immediately had a fantastic nose of green melon, with some yellow melon and lemon. There was a good bit more of that on the palate, with gently supporting vanilla oak, and rather crisp acid, bitterness of grape skin, and a little minerality. The acid verged on being too strong for me, but that mellowed some as it aired and especially as it warmed from fridge temp. However, it went very well with food, which tonight was lemon teriyaki tofu with dinosaur kale over rice. (I know. Who’da thunk? But I did add plenty of lemon juice.) I feel like, for how good it was, I should come up with some better descriptors, but given the recent discussion about it all, maybe that’s not necessary. 🙂
I won’t be able to tell you how it was on the next day because we greedily drank it all in one night. However, it does not seem at all close to being too old.
Picked up a bottle in Novato and tried a couple of days ago and tonight. Completely agree with the flavor description including the slight vanilla from the oak. I didn’t mind the acid level. Not an intense SB but a complex, nuanced wine.