2/16/2022 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine:

From the wine list ($110) at Glen Ellen Star. On the nose and palate, everything red: cherries, strawberries, currants, rhubarb and raspberries, rose petals, earthy minerality, piquant spice, a bit of forest floor, and a peppery note. Lighting medium purple with a slight brown tinge, light to medium bodied, light legs. Very brisk acidity, a bit of a tannic bite, no heat (13.5%). Good complexity, VG persistence, excellent intensity. As you might expect in a restaurant, this was a PnP, and this came out of the bottle with a charge, singing the body electric. This was pretty much a cold slap in the face, especially on its own, on opening, but it was dead on point with diverse food, a whole pan roasted branzino and lamb puttanesca rigatoni, fresh, light and lithe enough to complement the former, and, with its zingy acidity, able to cut through the richness of the latter. As readers of my TNs know, cocktail Pinots aren’t high in the desiderata (sorry Messrs. Kosta and Browne), but when the structure is there with relatively low alcohol, this varietal can be a refreshing and versatile companion, even if the best of the breed I’ve had so far falls well below my faves of other varietals (and yeah, if anyone wants to hold me down and pour a good DRC down my throat to convince me otherwise, DM me). Still pretty primary at this point, my question is whether the zing will run out before more secondary notes peak through, but right now, I’m enjoying its angularity just fine. This is my first Occidental, a favorite of my ordinarily non-Pinot loving CT friend cyclist, but I’ve had surprisingly mixed experiences with the proprietor’s chards with the eponymous mothership. This effort will definitely earn this label more looks. 93-94+

I note that this was reasonably priced at $110 on the GES wine list, since I’m seeing it at about $65 retail (should a winery’s entry level Pinot be $65? Another question for another day). All the more notable since the ‘16 Ad Vivum Sleeping Lady I paid $115 for was $375. Ouch.