Bonny Doon Vineyard

Californian Wine ‘Doon’ Differently

Bonny Doon Vineyard, founded by Randall Grahm in the 1980s, is an iconic and innovative Californian winery and one of the first to popularise Rhone grape varietals in California. Whilst working at the Wine Merchant in Beverly Hills, Randall Grahm had the opportunity to sample many great French wines and devoted himself to replicating these in the States. He soon found success working with Rhone varieties in California’s Central Coast and has been labelled as one of the original ‘Rhone Ranger’ winemakers.

Winemaking

Vin de terroir wines are ones that express a sense of place and this is typical of Old World wines, whilst vin d’effort wines aim to express the winemaker’s stylistic intentions and is a more common characteristic of New World Wines.
Bonny Doon aim to showcase ‘terroir’, as is more typical of Old World wines. In order to achieve this, Bonny Doon make wines with as little intervention as possible with the aim to show respect to the vineyard soils. Since 2004, their grapes have been grown biodynamically. Biodynamic practice seeks to harmonise farming with the ‘subtle forces of the universe' and follows signals given by the plants themselves. It also involves using biodynamic compost, the use of biodynamic preparations and lends itself to the presence of animal life on the farm. All of this allows Bonny Doon to produce the best possible fruit typical of the vineyard and vintage

Wines of the Earth

Le Cigare Volant

The first vintage (1984) of the winery’s flagship ‘Le Cigare Volant’ was released in 1986 as a homage to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It is named after a 1954 law in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape AOC which prevented flying saucers from travelling over vineyards in the region – hence the flying saucer featured on its label. Now, over 25 years later, we are bringing you the 2019 vintage. This is a classic Southern Rhône-style blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, with intense aromas of fresh, ripe plum and strawberry with touches of liquorice and savoury spice.

Le Cigare Blanc

‘Le Cigare Blanc’ came slightly later in 2003, beginning as a blend of Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. Following a number of difficulties working with Roussanne over in California, it was replaced with the Vermentino variety in 2018. The 2019 vintage is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Vermentino and Clairette that all work together harmoniously resulting in a fresh and vibrant wine with a rounded mouthfeel and medium weight. The Vermentino really shines through with notes of citrusy lime and tropical mango and pineapple with fresh pine and minerally wet stone touches.