A Nickel and Nickel Dinner

Nickel and Nickel
2002 Sori Bricco Merlot, $67 (restaurant price)
2000 Dolce, $19 a glass (restaurant price)

To celebrate Jen’s new job, we went for a fancy dinner at Harris’ Restaurant in San Francisco. I have to admit that I’m not too thrilled about paying between $30 to $40 for steak or prime rib, but this was definitely some of the best prime rib I’ve ever had. The wine list was amazing, and much to our delight, we found a Nickel and Nickel Merlot on the list that we hadn’t tried– the Sori Bricco Vineyard Merlot. It cost $67 so taking into account the typical restaurant mark-up, it probably retails around the $40 - $45 range. This Merlot is dense and chewy and exhibits a rich berry flavor with chocolate up front and vanilla on the finish. It is much more fruit forward than most of Nickel and Nickel’s offerings and we absolutely loved it. It went amazingly well with my prime rib and Jen’s Filet Mignon.

For an after dinner wine, we went with another Nickel and Nickel offering – the 2000 Dolce. Whenever I drink Dolce, I don’t even bother trying to describe the multitude of lush, rich, botrytized flavors that explode on the palate: I just sit back and enjoy it. Everyone should try this wine at least once in their lifetime.