Review: Wines of Bonny Doon, 2021 Releases
Ever looking for a way to delight its customers, California’s Bonny Doon has priced all of its 2021 main-line releases at $15. Today we look at the quartet of releases, including three blends and one solo varietal, a picpoul.
2020 Bonny Doon Picpoul Monterey County Beeswax Vineyard – Salty and sharp up front, this wine eventually settles into a creamier groove that evokes melon and some coconut. Best served very cold, where its natural salinity is more obviously evident. B
2020 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc White Wine of the Earth – A weird blend of 60% grenache blanc, 32% verminto, and 8% clairette blanche. Sure enough, it tastes like a weird blend, a doughy but also rather green wine with notes of honeysuckle, white pepper, broccoli rabe, and a notable green bean character. The finish is on the dank side, hinting at fresh tobacco and mud. All of that may sound bizarre, but the wine is curiously drinkable in its own way. C+
2020 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare Pink Wine of the Earth – Rose made from 79% grenache, 5% grenache gris, 5% grenache blanc, 5% vermentino, 3% cinsault, 1.5% picpoul, and 1.5% clairette blanche. Very dry, with a huge floral element to it. Things get a bit mushroomy as the wine develops in the glass, the finish going from grassy to vegetal, with a rather unripe character that lingers on the back end. Notes of lime leaf add a citrus pop to brighten things up a little. B-
2019 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant Red Wine of the Earth – 50% grenache, 30% cinsault, 13% syrah, 1% petite sirah. Slightly smoky but light as a feather, this melds the styles of the Rhone Valley and California’s Central Coast into a somewhat fitful whole, with notes of plum, cherry, and blackberry backed up by tea leaf and a little pepper. It’s not the most perfectly balanced nor the most elegant, but it’s definitely the best of the Cigare lineup as it stands today. B
each $15 / bonnydoonvineyard.com
2020 Bonny Doon Picpoul Monterey County Beeswax Vineyard
$15
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