Notes From The Cellar » Bonny Doon Vineyard

☆ 2010 Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin Gris de Cigare

Steve — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:00:44 +0000

More Than Just a Summer Sipper

Today’s the 4th of July, and if you live outside the United States, perhaps that means nothing more to you than a date and a month. But for those of us who live in the USA, today is, of course, Independence Day.

And, for those of us who spent a grip of years in college studying Political Science,¹ this is a particularly excellent holiday.

The proper way to celebrate gaining independence from British rule, and perhaps even more importantly, crafting a document like the Declaration of Independence² can be summed up in three letters:

B. B. Q.

Hopefully you are grilling the flesh of something dead today. If you’re a vegetarian, vegan, or other herbivorous type, then grill up some delicious fresh veggies. But break out the barbeque, sit out in the sun, maybe take in some baseball³ or just lounge at the park or by the pool. Catch some fireworks tonight.

But whatever you do, you’ll probably be drinking.⁴ Now, it might seem like a no-brainer that beer is not only a better choice for barbeques or other outside activities, but also a better choice for America FUCK YEAH Day. But to that, I say “pish-tosh.” Wine can be just what the doctor ordered on a hot day.

Take this wine, for instance. Seriously, have a sip. You didn’t think you like pink wine, did you? You do. Everyone does. Some people just don’t know it yet.

The 2010 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare is (like most Bonny Doon wine) a blend of Rhône varieties, predominantly grenache,⁵ and clocks in at a very reasonable 12.8% ABV.

In the glass, the Vin Gris is a salmony-peach color. Very pretty, and not as pink as what I think most people imagine when they picture a rosé in their mind. On the nose are wonderfully-fragrant notes of peach and apricot, and a whiff of strawberry.

On the palate, the wine has a light body and a medium-length finish. Notes of peach and strawberry mingle with very faint hints of bread or toast, and the wine is ever-so-slightly frizzante.⁶

It’s delicious. And perfect to break out for your summer barbecues. Highly recommended.

Price Point: $12-$16

Footnotes

Yup.
That took balls.
Despite the popularity of NFL and NASCAR, I would remind my readers that baseball is still America’s Pastime™
Please drink responsibly.
Roussanne, grenache blanc, and mourvèdre are also part of the par-tay.
Meaning it’s a bit bubbly. But not actually bubbly, of course.

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☆ 2001 Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Volant

Steve — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:00:04 +0000

Bonny Doon Flagship Holds Up Over Time

It should come as no surprise, dear reader, that I like Bonny Doon Vineyard. In an interview this summer I namedropped BDV’s head honcho, Randall Grahm, as someone I really admire in California winemaking.

Le Cigare Volant is the flagship wine from Bonny Doon. A Châteauneuf-du-Pape-style blend of grenache, syrah, mourvèdre, viognier, cinsault, and carignane, this is the southern Rhône-inspired wine that gave the Rhône Ranger his famous nom de nick.

A few months back, I had the pleasure of meeting Randall at BDV’s Santa Cruz tasting room, and he poured vintage after vintage of this mainstay. I think the 2001 might have been my favorite of all the Volants I tried.

The 2001 Le Cigare Volant from Bonny Doon is the first recipient of my heretofore-un-awarded Tall, Dark, and Handsome badge. A dark, ruby red at its core, the wine lightens and gets a bit tawny to the edges, but it’s still a bold, dark presence in the glass.

Notes of leather mix with a smoky raspberry aroma on the nose, mingling with plum and other dark fruit. The wine is medium-bodied and exceptionally balanced. Full of lush, fleshy fruit, the wine has a smokiness that is unmistakable and, for those who will enjoy it, intoxicating. And not just intoxicating because it’s alcoholic, smart guy.

This wine has held up beautifully over the last nine years, and feels no where near its peak. It could drink well for another decade, certainly, but it’s incredibly delicious now, and highly recommended. And at about $20-$30 a bottle, it’s a complete steal.

Verdict: 92/100

☆ 2009 Bonny Doon Vinho Grinho

Steve — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:15:18 +0000

Growing Portuguese Grapes in Monterey County

I like Portuguese wine.

I like Randall Grahm.

So it’s no surprise that I like this wine. I don’t love it, not yet, but there’s so much to like about it, I’m still pretty excited.

By now, chances are you know the tale. Maybe you’ve even heard me tell it. The tale of the Rhône Ranger, Randall Grahm, who twenty-some odd years ago starting really going to town growing Rhône varieties in California, which had been dominated by the noble species of Bordeaux and Burgundy to that point.

But now, everybody’s growing grenache and syrah. OK, maybe not everybody, but still, the two grapes—especially syrah—are incredibly easy to find in California wine now. Randall doesn’t seem the type to do much laurels-resting, so where’s he headed next?

Portugal.

I don’t know of anyone in California—and please, please correct me if I’m wrong—making wine that is over 50% loureiro. Besides Bonny Doon, that is.

At 56% loureiro and 44% alvarinho (I use albariño’s Portuguese spelling here for obvious reasons), Bonny Doon’s Vinho Grinho (VEEN-yo GREEN-yo) is California’s first attempt¹ at Portugal’s venerable Vinho Verde white wine. The grapes hail from BD’s Ca’ del Solo estate vineyards in Monterey County.

And it’s pretty damn good. It will kind of depend on what you’re looking for in a white, of course, but this was something I enjoyed, and my wife actually kind of raved about.

The wine is almost clear, light yellow in the glass. Kind of sauv blancish if you’ve never seen a Vinho Verde before, and kind of Vinho Verdesque if you have. The nose features pine and green herbs, but not heavy, very light in the air.

The wine is actually a bit fuller-bodied than I expected, but I would still characterize it as “light-to-medium” bodied. Minty herbs that reflect the aromas on the nose are greeted by a pleasant green apple note on the palate. The wine is not particularly acidic, and finishes pretty short, but it’s not meant to be big or bombastic.

I hope this is an example of things to come for California winemaking, just as Randall’s adoption of the south of France was in the 1980s. The world could use more wine from Portuguese grapes.

Verdict: B

2009 Bonny Doon Vinho Grinho

Footnotes

again, that I know of

☆ 2006 Riesling to Live Méthode Champenoise

Steve — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:00:46 +0000

Sparkling Riesling? Ja Wohl!

I love it when winemakers get creative.

Over two decades ago, Bonny Doon Vineyards’ Randall Grahm earned the nickname “The Rhône Ranger” by embracing the southern Rhône varieties for production in California, among them grenache, syrah, marsanne, and viognier.

He could have made chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, and merlot. He probably would have done alright with it. Instead he bucked the trend.

And now? Now that grenache and syrah (especially) are growing all over California? What trend is he bucking now?

Well, my wife and I, and our families, drink a fair amount of sparkling wine. And 99% of it is made from some combination of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier—the traditional grapes of Champagne. There’s a good reason for using these grapes, and it’s not just tradition. They work excellently in the style.

This wine, however, is a méthode champenoise (i.e., traditionally-crafted sparkling wine) made from 100% riesling.

I’d never had anything like it.

In the glass it truly sparkles, a very light color (more like a blanc de blancs than a blanc de noirs) with small, fast bubbles. On the nose is an unmistakable scent to me: aged gouda. The good kind, with those little crystallized something-or-others throughout the cheese. Know what I’m talking about? Dry, aged, gouda. Some sourdough on the nose too.

More of the same on the palate, the wine tastes like a wonderful combination of bread and cheese. A little yeasty, a bit sour, just a little nutty. It’s delightfully effervescent, with a light, crisp mouthfeel.

Back in the mid-80s, Randall Grahm convinced a winedrinking world that Rhône varieties could not only survive, but thrive in California. And in the summer of 2010, when he poured me a glass of the “Riesling to Live,” he convinced me that sparkling wine can be made from this noble German grape.

And well, at that.

Verdict: B+

☆ 2006 Ca’ del Solo Sangiovese

Steve — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:48:00 +0000

I am loving Sangiovese

One of my favorite wineries is Bonny Doon Vineyard. This quirky little Santa Cruz-based winery makes interesting blends, names their wines with attitude (my favorite is probably Cardinal Zin) and isn’t afraid to give you something great, even if it means sometimes, they give you shit.

This, dear reader, ain’t shit.

Ca’ del Solo Sangiovese is not from Bonny Doon’s home base in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but from San Benito County, a little further inland, between Salinas and Fresno. I found the wine to be pretty amazing, even if driving through its home is simply something you do to get to either Los Angeles or San Francisco.

The color is almost purple-red. There is a maroon quality to it that I haven’t noticed often. On the nose, a bright raspberry note announces its presence with authority, but there are also notes of sour cherries and spices.

The front of the palate starts a bit sweet, more of the raspberry. Quickly, however, there is a spiciness and a hint of sour apple that take over the palate, and the wine feels rich in the mouth and finishes wonderfully. It goes out with a kick that it doesn’t have on the way in. It’s like the opposite of March.

Another fantastic bottle (which can be had for under $15, like many of their selections) from a fantastic winery, Bonny Doon Vineyard.

Verdict: B+