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Item Number: 6973
UPC: 0769434148220
Country: USA
Region: California
Appellation/AVA: California
Vintage: 2012
Grape(s): 62% Cabernet Sauvignon / 22% Petit Verdot / 8% Tannat / 1% Petite Sirah
Type: Wine - Red
Bottle Size: 750ml Pack: 12
Closure: Screwcap
Alc by Vol(%): 13.2
Total Acidity: 6.4
pH: 3.62
Bonny Doon Vineyard is, as we all
know or should know, a strictly Cabernet-free zone, at least it
has been for the last twenty-eight years. Randall Grahm,
owner and winemaker, has expressed opprobrium, occasionally
bordering on amused disdain, for this popular grape variety.
We are not really at liberty to say how Bonny Doon Vineyard
has come to be entrusted with the distribution of a wine made
from such improbably alien grape varieties, but suffice to say
that the deal was doon grudgingly and harumphingly.
So, with these caveats, the sentiment at Bonny Doon Vineyard
is that if we ever were to drink a Cabernet-based blend, this
would be one that would serve quite well. It is lean, neither
overly alcoholic (weighing in at 13%), nor overly extracted; it
is precisely as one would imagine 'A Proper Claret' to be. The
wine contains a substantial dollop of Petit Verdot, which
adds a silky note of violets and textural elegance, in precision
counterpoint to the lead-in-the-pencil firmness offered by the
inclusion of the manly Tannat. There is a lovely suggestion
of cedar and mint, in the nose. The wine has medium tannins,
nice acidity, and finishes cleanly.
Now, as to the label. What does Doon say? They are just scandalized,
sputteringly unable to countenance the opportunistic wine
marketeers who would stoop to using lurid imagery merely to
sell a bottle of wine. Has it come to this? It is only because they
enjoyed the wine so much that they are willing to put up with
the tasteless monstrosity that is this label. “Proper”(!?!) Claret.
Indeed.
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