2021 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant, Central Coast, California
Regular price $17.00
Unit price per
A delicate color in the glass, this blend pops with bright raspberry, crushed rock, turned earth and lilac aromas on the nose. The palate is tense with rocky edges and yet zesty with pomegranate and strawberry flavors.
While Bonny Doon Vineyard began with the (in retrospect) foolish attempt to replicate Burgundy in California, Randall Grahm realized early on that he would have far more success creating more distinctive and original wines working with Rhône varieties in the Central Coast of California. The key learning here (achieved somewhat accidentally but fortuitously) was that in a warm, Mediterranean climate, it is usually blended wines that are most successful. Bonny Doon Vineyard made its mark with pioneering work with Rhône varieties, innovative production techniques, and imaginative marketing that has, truth be told, sometimes been too clever by half. They’ve championed screwcap closures on wine bottles as well as included their ingredients on the bottle, encouraging transparency in their own production and others. The story of the name and the label art is as follows:
In 1954 the village council of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was quite perturbed and apprehensive that UFOs or "flying cigars" (aka Cigare Volant) might do damage to their vineyards. So, right-thinking men all, they passed a legal ordinance prohibiting such landings. The ordinance has worked well, as there have been no such landings since the adoption of this far-sighted legislation.