We tried the other week (4/9/14) Some Calif Rhones:
1. BonnyDoon Picpoul BeeswaxVnyd/ArroyoSeco (12%; www.BonnyDoonVineyard.com) SantaCruz 2012: Med.light yellow
color; rather perfumed/aromatic/floral/honeyed/spicy bit pickle juice/volatile slight stony nose; tart/acid/
lean light floral/honeyed slight pickle juice lightweight flavor; med.short tart/lean/acid/screechy slight
floral/honeyed/Viog-like finish w/ some pickle juice; a bit too high VA and not a good Calif Picpoul;
disappointing from BD. $20.00
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2. BonnyDoon Roussanne BananaSlug BeeswaxVnyd/ArroyoSeco (12%) 2010: Light gold color; lightweigght honeyed/
honeysuckle/Rouss/waxy pleasant enough nose; soft/fat waxy/honeyed/Rouss slight earthy bit dull flavor;
med.short waxy/honeysuckle/Rouss soft/fat finish; speaks quietly of Rouss but on the dull/vapid side.
$16.00
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3. TablasCreekVnyd Cotes de TablasBlanc PasoRobles (34% Viog/30% Marsanne/30% GrenacheBlanc/6% Roussanne;
13.0%) 2012: Med.light gold color; beautiful perfumed/aromatic spicy/floral/Viog some Rhonish/stony/chalky
fairly complex nose; bit tart quite rich/lush spicy/floral/Viog/peachy light stony/chalky flavor; very long
floral/Viog/perfumed/peach light stony/Rhonish finish; speaks strongly of Viog; beautiful aromatics and
a steal at $21.60 (VIN)/$27.00
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4. TablasCreekVnyd GrenacheBlanc PasoRobles (13.5%) 2012: Med.light gold color; very attractive floral/GB/
apple/pineapple bit simple nose; bit soft attractive floral/apple/mango/pineapple/GB flavor; med. soft fairly
strong floral/mango/tropical fruit/GB finish; an altogether pleasant/attractive GB but just that and a bit
on the simple side; may become more interesting w/ a bit of age. $21.60 (VIN)/$27.00
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5. TablasCreekVnyd Roussanne PasoRobles (13.8%) 2012: Med.light gold color; beautiful floral/honeysuckle/mango/
pineapple slight waxy bit stony/mineral very aromatic/perfumed nose; fairly tart very strong floral/honeyed/
honeysuckle/Rouss/mango/tropical fruit slight stony/chalky/mineral slight Rhonish/earthy complex flavor;
very long/lingering honeyed/honeysuckle/floral/mango/tropical fruit slight Rhonish/stony/mineral lush/rich
balanced/tart finish; a classic Calif/aromatic Rouss w/ just enough mineral/stony character to make it
very interesting; as good as it gets for Rouss in Calif; well-priced at $28.00 (VIN)/$35.00
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6. PressGangCllrs Roussanne SantaYnexVlly (14.2%; www.PressGangCellars.com; StolpmanVnyd; 24 cs)
Kyle&Savannah Knapp/Lompoc 2011: Med.gold color; very perfumed/aromatic ripe/pineapple/mango/Rouss/waxy
beautiful/aromatic nose; soft lush/rich/very ripe floral/tropical fruit/mango light toasty/oak flavor;
med.long slight tangy rich/lush/floral/pineapple/mango slight toasty/oak very ripe finish; loads of ripe Rouss
fruit but a bit soft/fat and on the simple side. $31.00 (WH)
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7. TablasCreekVnyd Patelin de TablasRouge PasoRobles (53% Syrah/27% Grenache/18% Mourv/2% Counoise; 13.8%)
2012: Med.light color; rather lush/strawberry/grapey/spicy bit blackberry/Syrah/plummy quite attractive grapey
nose; soft attractive grapey/strawberry/Grenache slight blackberry/Syrah/plummy slight earthy flavor w/ light/
soft tannins; med.long soft grapey/strawberry/Grenache light blackberry/earthy finish w/ light tannins; a quite
pleasant/drinkable Rhone blend at a great price. $16.00 (VIN)/$20.00
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8. TablasCreekVnyd Cotes de Tablas Rouge PasoRobles (60% Grenache/25% Syrah/10% Counoise; 14.5%) 2012: Med.color;
deeper more spicy strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah slight candied/strawberry soda pop/Grenache rather
spicy/cinammon bit complex lovely nose; bit tart very spicy/cinammon/peppery black cherry/blackberry/Syrah
slight strayberry/tutti-fruti/Grenache slight stony/Rhonish/peppery flavor w/ modest/smooth tannins; very
long peppery/black cherry/blackberry/Syrah/very spicy slight Rhonish/earthy finish w/ modest tannins; speaks
more of Syrah (now) than Grenache; not the oomph of the Esprit de Tablas but an alltogether lovely/drinkable
Rhone red at a great price. $28.00 (VIN)/$35.00
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9. BonnyDoon Syrah Jesperson EdnaVlly/SLO (12.7%) 2010: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/
Syrah/framboise very spicy some peppery/cold-climate bit herbal/paprika/Pimenton some whole-cluster/Rhonish
complex beautiful nose; rather tart/tangy some whole-cluster/Rhonish/roasted bit peppery/cold-climate very
strong blackberry/boysenberry/framboise/Syrah complex flavor w/ modest/smooth tannins; very long/lingering
some Rhonish/whole-cluster/peppery/cold-climate very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Dyrah/framboise/spicy
finish w/ smooth/gentle tannins; a terrific cold-climate Syrah at a very fair price. $40.00
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10. BonnyDoon Syrah BienNacido/X-Block/SantaMariaVlly (13.3%) 2009: Very dark color; very intense black cherry/
blackberry/Syrah/very spicy slight peppery/whole-cluster/Rhonish/roasted some smokey complex beautiful nose;
tart/tangy/structured very intense spicy/black cherry/blackberry/BienNacido Syrah slight Rhonish/whole-cluster/
peppery/smokey/roasted complex flavor w/ modest/smooth tannins; very long/lingering intense black cherry/
blackberry/Syrah/very spicy structured/tart/balanced some whole-cluster/peppery/roasted/smokey/very Rhonish
finish w/ some smooth/polished tannins; a bit more interesting & complex than the Jesperson but a stunning
Syrah the likes we haven't seen from Randall in many yrs; fairly priced at $50.00.
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11. Kita Syrah Camp4Vnyd/SantaYnezVlly (15.2%) TaraGomez/ChumashCllrs/Solvang 2011: Very dark color; very ripe/
overripe intense boysenberry/framboise/Syrah/blackberry/plummy some toasty/oak bit alcoholic/fumey nose; soft
rather alcoholic.fumey/hot intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/very ripe/plummy flavor w/ soft/mushy tannins;
long overripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/plummy/licorice strong toasty/oak soft/fat finish w/ soft tannins;
huge overripe fruit w/ little structure; speaks more of Paso Syrah than anything; too over-the-top for my
tastes. $33.00 (WH)
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12. TablasCreekVnyd Panoplie PasoRobles (60% Mourv/30% Grenache/10% Syrah; 14.5%) 2011: Dark color; some earthy/
dusty/Rhonish very strong plummy/Mourv quite fragrant slight gamey/sauvage very spicy/perfumed beautiful nose;
lightly tart very strong plummy/Mourv/black cherry/licorice/very spicy slight earthy/Rhonish/sauvage very
balanced/sculptured some complex flavor w/ modest/smooth/graceful tannins; very long/lingering balanced/
graceful/complex very strong plummy/Mourv/black cherry/licorice/very spicy/bit strawberry complex finish w/
gentle/polished tannins; not a bombastic Rhone but a very lovely Mourv whose balance should take it out
10-15 yrs; just a very well-crafted Rhone red. $76.00 (VIN)/$95.00
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And the same ole/same ole from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. BonnyDoon: I have, of course, followed RandallGrahm from the very start. In his early yrs in the '80's, he
made some pretty spectacular wines. Particularly in the Syrah field. But has he scurries from one project
to the next hair-brained scheme or siezes on some latest marketing gimmick, he seems to have lost his focus
on making truly great CA wines. His wines over the last 10 yrs have been sorta hit or miss, with a lot of misses.
This kinda perplexes me, as he knows what truly great wine is and knows how to make such. Yet...when I talk
to him in person, he seems to be just as passionate for his craft as he was when I first met him.
So a few months ago, I ordered up a case of his latest wines, mostly to get the Nebbiolos, but to try to get
a better feel for what he's doing these days.
The two whites were pretty unthrilling. Awwwrighht, more BD misses I figured. So my expectation for the
two Syrahs was not very high. I couldn't have been more wrong. These two Syrahs were easily the best Randall
Grahm Syrahs I've had since the '80's. The Jesperson reminded me a bit of BobLindquist's Sawyer-Lindquist Sonnie's
Syrah from EdnaVlly, but not as restrained and more intense Syrah fruit. The X-Block is a notch up, even, though
not quite up to Bob's X-Block Syrah. It, too, is a stunning Syrah.
The BienNacido X-Block was planted back in the mid-'80's by grafting over a block of Riesling to Syrah at
Bob's request. That makes it one of the oldest Syrah plantings in SBC. It is located down on the flats, at the
most Southern end of BienNacido, where it starts to rise up towards the ridge where the HillSide block is
located. Usually, only Bob & Randall get these grapes.
Based on these two Syrahs, I would be here to shout that RandallGrahm/BonnyDoon is back. Alas, I'm not
so sure that that's the case. But it's very nice to know that Randall can still make exceptional wines
when he chooses to do so.
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2. Tablas: The VIN price is the TCV WineClub VINsider 20% discount price.
I've followed TCV from the very start. Been a VINsider Club member from the very start. It's one of the few
wine clubs that I'm sure I'll never drop. When the Fall or Spring VINsider shipment arrives, we always Pobega
the wines the very next week and invariably order several cases. With the 25% discount (and $10 flat-rate
shipping in April) they're some of the greatest bargins around for our group.
This Spring shipment was one of the strongest lineups yet, I thought. The Cotes de Tablas, Blanc & Rouge,
are terrific wines at great prices. The TCV Patelin's are both steals in the under $20 price range. But it
was the Roussanne that most impressed people; maybe one of TCV best Roussannes yet. The Panoplie is always,
yr in & yr out, impressive. It's like looking at a finely-crafted piece of woodworking, you're just sort
of in awe of how everything has been put together. Like most of the TCV wines, the balance gives them the
ability to age much longer than their extract or intensity would lead you to believe.
Tom