Bonny Doon Tasting at City Winery

It's hard not to want to admire Randall Grahm -- irreverent, whimsical, just enough out there without being too far gone. In fact, I have a quote of his from the NY Times tacked up on the wall next to my computer at work:

"I'm taking a risk, but it's a rational risk. Maybe it will

turn out great, maybe not. But I'll have made a sincere

effort to create something new and strange and different,

which may be the best you can hope for in the New World."

--Randall Grahm, April 2009

It's also why I ponied up $95 last night to go to a Bonny Doon wine tasting at City Winery and meet "the original Rhone deranger" himself. After all the good press recently, from both the establishment and the blogosphere, I thought Bonny Doon must be doing something I should know about. I remembered a wonderfully vibrant and complex Cigare Volant I had what seems like many years ago, and I realized I should learn more.

There is, apparently, a lot to learn about Bonny Doon. Grahm has been called "a marketing genius" (by himself, admittedly) and there is no shortage of information about him on the web. When I arrived at City Winery last night I was handed a volume sized press kit complete with press clippings from Wine Spectator to Wines & Vines. There is a lot of talk about "vins de terroir" and "minerality" and "sensitive crystallization" (although this last sounds like New Age crap to me) and I was quite excited. Sitting at the age of my seat before the tasting there was that air that something true and very American was about to happen.

The first two wines were exceptional. The 2008 Albarino ** from an estate vineyard in Soledad was tight and racy. The 2006 Le Cigare Blanc *** showed "quince and a little bit of spear mint." From Monterey, this was aged in 25% new wood, and was my favorite wine of the night. The 2008 Vin Gris de Cigare * was aromatic but a little flabby, while the 2003 Cigare Volant **/*** and 2004 Cigare Volant ** each showed a little reduction. The 2003 showed tar, smoke, and prune. The 2004 was fresher, earthier and riper and more complex. Neither was a "wow" wine.

By contrast, I very much enjoyed the 2005 Syrah Le Pousseur **/*** An elegant, restrained, but ripe and very purple wine, with a finish that made my teeth Zzzzzzzing! And the 2005 Nebbiolo is off the charts. (I couldn't append a star to this if I wanted to, because there is simply nothing in the world to compare it to.) In short, this wine stumped me. It may be the best Italian varietal wine from California I have ever tried. Then again, it may also be a freak. Those looking for a sangiovese from America should look for this instead.

Unfortunately, I found the 2007 Le Vol des Agnes uninspired.

These wines are good values. Overall, they are very fairly priced, very well made wines that show good fruit, nice complexity, and will go well with food. But these did not strike me as vins de terroir, and I wish I had tasted the minerality Grahm surely goes to great lengths to produce.

1997 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ***

This 1997 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley *** is brooding. Brooding in a kick ass Chris Martin way, not brooding in a Friedrich Nietzsche sort of way. This had class and shazam! Chewy tannin, dusty and elegant; with notes of lavender and soil.

Now I have to admit - I have a bone to pick with CellarTracker reviewers. I don't know who these people are and I don't really care what motivates them, but apparently everyone and their mother thinks they are entitled to slap a numerical score onto a wine these days (and ... ahem, write a wine blog). But is it just me, or do these alleged independent scores from Cellartracker users almost inevitably conform to whatever numerical score the wine has already received from the Wine Advocate or International Wine Cellar? Drink for yourselves people! Think and drink! This wine, which received an 85+? from IWC (whatever that means) is far better than that score would suggest. Wine lovers have got to break free of the cow towing to the great legends of wine criticism.

And Corison is a good place to start.

Thanks to Eric Asimov for turning me onto this wine in the first place with his great article of Napa Valley cabernets that shy away from the over extracted model. Chris Martin picture courtesy of Wonker Wonker from London, UK.

2006 Sine Qua Non Grenache Raven Series ***

From a central California vineyard, Sine Qua Non's 2006 Grenache Raven Series *** (8% syrah, 26% whole cluster fermented and aged in about 40% new French oak) is a purple color turning ruby on the rim - not opaque - but there is a certain density to the color here. The nose is extraordinarily complex even after just opening, with plums, spices, and dark cocoa. Smooth on the palate, with nice acidity through the midnote. The cocoa reemerges on a finish with mellow menthol, crushed peppers and herbes de provence. Too much alcohol by volume for perfection (15.5%) in my book, but this is damn close.

My Beach Party Animal Sauvignon

I tasted the 2007 Shinn Estate Vineyards Coalescence ** blind, and I thought it was Sancerre, but with more citrus.

"A stainless steel fermentation of sauvignon blanc, semillon, gewürztraminer, riesling, and chardonnay" (quote taken from the 2008 tasting note), this has a golden hay color, very light in the mouth with a touch of salinity and very tight citric acidity, then blossoming honeyed notes followed by lemon rind.

A resounding success for a Long Island wine. Drink the 2007 Coalescence ** at the beach or with some BBQ this summer.

1994 Ridge Vineyards Jimsomare ***

This 27 barrel lot from the 1994 Jimsomare portion of Monte Bello (pictured below) was aged in "air dried new American oak" and tastes like sweetly molten blackberries. Dark purple, with a mellow hint of bubblegum, dried herbs, and blueberry on the mid note and charcoal smoke on the finish. The tannins here are much fuller and sweeter than the '93 Horseshoe/Young Foster, which, I think, is generally attributable to vintage, rather than vineyard, characteristics. Slipped into a blind tasting, this will fool you as straight up Monte Bello.

1993 Ridge Vineyards Horseshoe/Young Foster **

Ridge Vineyards produced just 17 barrels from Monte Bello's two smallest lots - the Horseshoe and Young Foster - and held these out of the Monte Bello blend. A soupy dark and admittedly "very tannic" wine, with road tar and dark cocoa on the nose, this is tight in the mouth, with wowser acidity, but gives up some blackberry and cedar notes leading to that "aha ... Monte Bello" moment. The acidity and firm tannin will hold this together for years to come.

"Bottle Shock" (the movie)

I'm shocked I made it through this whole movie.

1986 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello

I've tasted the 1986 Monte Bello at least three times over the past five years and been disappointed each time. As Buttermilk Channel proprietor Doug Crowell put it last night, with respect to the undeniable but unidentifiable funk on this bottle, "Let's hope it blows off." It didn't. (I can't blame Doug - I brought this bottle for him to taste.) 

Later, researching this wine at home, I found that it has been described variously as "flawed" on CellarTracker.com and other forums. But no one can agree on the problem. Some commenters blame cork taint, others brettanomycees. It tasted maderized to me, but the cork was solid, and maybe it was due to poor storage, but the bottle had good provenance. And yet the problem could be as simple as poor vintage conditions, or as complex as a combination of all of these.

Whatever the ultimate culprit is, 1986 is an uncharacteristically poor vintage of Monte Bello. But I still have hope that there’s a good bottle of it out there, one that displays Monte Bello’s unique terroir and vintage characteristics. I just haven’t found it yet.

2006 Angelica Coquelicot Syrah White Hawk Vineyard **

Angelica Cellars' second vintage of Coquelicot is a winner. From the White Hawk Vineyard, this is a dark and brooding wine with sufficient concentration to warrant a serious look from the trade press. It displays its varietal characteristics nicely, with more ground pepper and spice than many blueberry-dominated Santa Barbara look alikes that receive 90+ scores. The tannins roughened up a bit after some aeration, but this has body and chewy fruit to round it out. Produced at the famous Crushpad in San Francisco.

1996 Les Allees De Cantemerle *

The second wine of Ch. Cantemerle, the 1996 Les Allees De Cantemerle * is purplish with ruby red on the rim. A nose of tar and prunes gives way to mild raspberry. Neither harsh or lush, this is "A Charming Little Cabernet" with mellow vegetal hints that has aged rather nicely for a $10 wine.

Previously reviewed:
Ch. Cantemerle **

Ridge Vineyards Z-List Spring Shipment

Ridge Vineyards Z-List Spring shipment included the 2007 Geyserville, East Bench, and Paso Robles zinfandels. We tasted these wines blind over the past five nights, with a 2004 Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon thrown in to mix things up. I'm happy to say that 2007 zinfandel so far has exceeded expectations.

We had no clear favorite among these wines, but the 2007 Geyserville *** has the composition, depth, and balance to age the longest. 55% zinfandel, 22% carignane, 18% petite sirah, and 2% mataro, aged in 12% new American oak (the balance 1-5 years old) the Geyserville is from the western edge of Alexander Valley. Day 1 this was clearly the darkest and most reserved wine, with a complex nose of briarpatch. I was put off initially by a whiff of ethanol which later subsided. The acidity and tannin tasted balanced, and overall this was much more elegant than the other two wines - almost Bordeaux. By Days 3-5, this was clearly progressing in a much more elegant fashion than the East Bench or Paso Robles, without losing definition or dark fruit notes. This needs time to develop, and will benefit from extended aging.

The 2007 East Bench *** from Dry Creek Valley was raised in 25% new American oak, and it tastes like it. Dark ruby in color, with nice black cherry on the palate and a hint of black licorice. But the predominant note on day 1 was the vanilla. The tannin is chunky but not overwhelming, and after 3-5 days of aeration, the oak had integrated into the wine very nicely. This needs a little time to come together, but is more pleasurable in the short term. I recommend this wine for drinking with friends and small plates of cheese and olives.

The 2007 Paso Robles *** was our clear favorite for drinking with dinner. A paler ruby than the East Bench, this shows its terroir very nicely, with striking raspberry and graphite notes and citrus hints on the finish. Having fully absorbed its 9% new American oak treatment (the rest only 1-3 years old) this has kick and finesse and is almost Burgundian in style. Drink this with dinner over the next 4-5 years. The acidity is refreshing and balances very well with food.

The 2004 Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ** by contrast was mote black and abundantly oaky on the nose at first glance. From 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 4% Petite Verdot, .5 % Cabernet Franc., .5% Petite Sirah, this wine (which received 90 points from Robert Parker) was disappointing at first because of its seemingly over micro-oxygenated chunky tannin ("channin") and severe vanilla. But this wine also developed very nicely over the next 5 days, integrating those unpleasant notes and allowing mellow green vegetal cabernet notes to emerge. I was pleasantly surprised by this wine after tastes on Days 3 and 5, and like the 2004 Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet, this is a good wine at a decent price relative to other 2004 Napa Valley Cabernets that sell for 5-10 times as much.