We took down a few private label wines last night with some interesting results. Star of the night was the regular bottling Yesterday Oakville Cab. It’s the same wine as the Reserve except the Reserve had 6 extra months in the barrel before bottling. I’m not disappointed in the Reserve despite the inferior performance versus it’s regular bottling sibling. It was a fine bottle of wine but not a “wow” wine.
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2018 Yesterday Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (2/6/2021)
3 hour decant and drank alongside the Yesterday Reserve. A stellar showing for this regular bottling. Fully expected this wine to pale in comparison to its “Reserve” sibling but this wine was beautiful from start to finish. Wonderful bouquet of dense blueberries and rich strawberries. Smooth on the mouthfeel the wine resolved into rich dark fruits with soft minerality. Nice lingering finish made this wine the star of the evening. This was my third, and best, experience with this bottling. (94 pts.)
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2018 Yesterday Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (2/6/2021)
3 hour decant and drank alongside the regular bottling. Sampled 1 oz. each hour post decant until hour 3. The nose and wine were on an often enjoyable roller-coaster all evening. At hour one: earthy nose with notes of minerality on the palate feeling like an old world wine. Hour two: linear nose of Napa fruits with a distinctly new world flavor. Hour 3: Nice rich nose (if a bit simple) and an enjoyable full-bodied wine. Rich dark fruits evidencing a bold yet restrained wine. Into the night the wine continued to shift between Old and New World flavors in a pleasant if confusing way. Probably needs 6 - 12 months to settle into its final form. A good, not great, wine. (90 pts.)
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2019 de Négoce Pinot Noir OG N.70-A - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains (2/6/2021)
4.5 months post bottling; Slow-Ox 2 hours prior to sampling.
Gentle, floral nose with hints strawberries. Soft on the mouthfeel the wine was thin but creamy with a bit of a spice kick at the end. Over the next hour the wine continued to evolve with muted notes of cherries and strawberries. Not a long finish nor much memorable about the wine. It was wine you would be happy to serve family that enjoys but doesn’t know wine. Smooth, easy drinker you would not mistake this for name brand producers selling $50+ Pinot Noir. Overall I was fine with the experience thinking it fairly valued near $20. It didn’t make me want to rush out and buy more but also didn’t make me think I’m sitting on cases of plonk wine. (86 pts.)
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