We can all keep an eye on Jesse, one of the 25, no make that 30, bachelors who are vying for the attention of Jillian Harris on ABC’s reality show, The Bachelorette. Last night, Jesse made enough of an impression to survive the first cut when 10 were handing their walking papers, leaving roseless. So far we know is that Jesse’s hometown is Carmel Valley and that he is 27 and a winemaker. According to Jesse’s bio on ABC.com, he’s currently living in Roseville. Monterey County Weekly gives us a little more insight about Jesse:

Carmel native and former CHS Padre baseball star (and a minor leaguer until about a month ago), Jesse Kovacs is half of the strapping sibling duo behind Kovacs Brothers Wine out of Carmel Valley. A bottle might come in handy as Kovacs looks to ferment a little reality-show romance before millions. Not that he can tell us. “It’s pretty hush hush,” he says. “I brought some wine down, but you’ll have to wait and see if she was able to drink it. I want to tell everyone what happened, but can’t say s***. It’s tough – people are trying to feed me drinks and get me drunk so I’ll talk.” He does say he was armed with what he calls his “heavy hitter,” their inaugural 2005 Monterey County Meritage, which is almost sold out on their website, www.kovacsbrothers.com. The show starts Monday, May 18.

Good luck, Jesse. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for our home town guy.

Update: June 8 Woohoo! Jesse is MVP in Curling. He won the evening date for the red team in the Curling competition. Jillian seems to like Jesse and had a nice kiss later that evening. Not bad considering she turned David down later that evening. Last week, I almost thought Jesse had disappeared. Tonight, looks like Jesse is still in the running. He got the rose on the group date so he’s safe. Even Mike said Jesse is a good guy. Hang in there Jesse. We’re pulling for you.

Update: Jun 15 Jesse, the winemaker from our own Carmel Valley, finally got a one-on-one date with Jillian. They had a spectacular date on a glacier, the scenery breathtaking. Later that evening they had a little rendezvous in the hottub. They shared a kiss, but it lacked a bit of passion—it seemed. Maybe it was the cameras that cooled things. Jesse got the rose, which is a good thing, since if he hasn’t, he’d be packing his bags. Jesse seems like a nice genuine guy, and she’d be lucky to have him.

Update: Jun 22 We didn’t get to see much of Jesse this week. Nor does anyone really talk about him. Is the show just being coy? Or is there nothing to tell? At least Jesse got a rose and survived once again. Next week is home to meet the families. Can’t wait to see Jesse and Jillian come home to Carmel Valley.

Update: June 27 Coming up next week are the home town dates. Here is a picture of what is reported to be Jesse and Jillian on touring the winery in Carmel Valley on a tractor. Can’t say for sure. We’ll see on Monday. If Jillian passes up this great catch, let’s nominate Jesse as the next Bachelor!

Update: June 29 The end of the road… the home visit wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped. The family was great but his brother made a comment about Jesse having problems opening up. Did that do him in? Or was there just a lack of sparks?

You’re still our guy, Jesse! Best of luck to you.