Item Number: 6973 UPC: 0769434148220

Country: USA
Region: California Sub 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.