TN: Is Pacific Rim still Bonny Doon?

Since Betsy will be away this weekend, we decided to have an early Valentine's Day last night. She likes to go to movies (I'd typically rather spend money on wine), so I planned a dinner and movie evening in White Plains. I let her choose movie, and then went to make reservations at a nearby restaurant (Blue). Oops, Sunday night it showed completely free on OpenTable for Monday, now no availability. It seems Sunday night they decided to close Mondays for foreseeable future. A quick scan of Chowhound led me to a reservation at Soma 107. Fusion food (we shared charred baby octopus, then she had scallops with parsnips and I had grilled tofu with soba- sauces on main courses pushed sweetness edge). I planned on a couple glasses, but list btg started out at $9 with nothing I wanted to drink, so I went for one of the least expensive bottles ($30).

This used to be a Bonny Doon brand, but I think Randall sold label- am I right? I used to think this dependable if not exciting. The 2006 Pacific Rim Dry Riesling was nowhere near dry for my palate, off-dry sweetness and fairly low in acidity. Tastes a bit like a flat Fresca™ , once it nestled deep in ice bucket for a while it was palatable at very cold temps. Citrus and a little herb. Not very long, but cold it showed more acidity and at least was sippable. Still, we left half a bottle. C+

I enjoyed "Slumdog Millionaire" (and being with Betsy) more than the meal or the wine.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 

You are correct, it has been sold, but I can't recall who purchased it.

I have tried this a couple of times, based mainly on reviews from years ago when Bonny Doon had it, and I have not been impressed.

You are correct, it has been sold, but I can't recall who purchased it.
I have tried this a couple of times, based mainly on reviews from years ago when Bonny Doon had it, and I have not been impressed.

Hmmmmm......my recollection was, when Randall sold off, he sold the BigHouseRed & White labels and a few of those other funky labels, but that he kept the PacificRim and relocated it to a separate operation up in WashState. Could be wrong, though.

Despite Randall's passion for Riesling, the wine has never been a great example of what Randall is truly capable of. A decent/quaffable Riesling...but just that.
Tom

[Robin Garr]

Hmmmmm......my recollection was, when Randall sold off, he sold the BigHouseRed & White labels and a few of those other funky labels, but that he kept the PacificRim and relocated it to a separate operation up in WashState. Could be wrong, though.

Despite Randall's passion for Riesling, the wine has never been a great example of what Randall is truly capable of. A decent/quaffable Riesling...but just that.

We opened Pacific Rim Chenin Blanc the other night, and it is most definitely still a Randall product - Bonny Doon on the front label, and a truly wacky takeoff of Finnegans Wake that nobody but Randall could have done on the back label. American appellation (fruit from non-contiguous states, I guess) and thus NV, but it was a pretty good drop, if not terribly varietally characteristic. Lots of pear, peach and mango going on, just off-dry but very crisply acidic.

Most of the bottles in the market palce are Pacific Rim only. There are still a few of the old bottles working their way through the system. The web site has no mention of Randall or Bonny Doon. One distributor i've talked to said that this happened early last year.