Dudley Doon Right!

Visit to Bonny Doon Cellars in "lovely" Davenport, CA. Highlights:

2014 Tempranillo. This was quite a nice wine. Earth, red plum, touch of wood. Lovely.

2014 Cigare Volante Blanc. Rich, nutty, but with some definite sharpish acidity. I like (but prefer the rouge). My favorite white Rhone blend was always the Madame Preston from Dry Creek, but this was nice also.

2014 Pinot Noir (Cienega Valley). Not sure about this wine. It had some definitely unresolved? acidity. Good "pinosity".

2011 Pinot Meunier (Yount Mill Road, Napa Valley!). This is a surprising place for a Pinot vineyard, but I preferred this bottling. Lovely funky earthy Pinot-ish fruit. Delicious. Maybe it's the extra three years?

With dinner Sunday night:

The Blanc (above), which was lovely with the salad.

Helios (Cathy Corison Second Label) Mendocino Gewurtraminer. Fantastic with the home-grown chiles rellenos. The richness...not too much richness...complemented the heat of the peppers and there is enough acid to cut through the rich cheese.

After Dinner: 2009 Cigare Volante Rouge. Normale, not Reserve bottling....what a fantastic place this Rhone-style blend is in right now. I don't know how Randall captures the warm garrigue in a California wine, but he does! Earth, plum fruit, well-integrated, silky tannins I love this wine!

Visit to Bonny Doon Cellars in "lovely" Davenport, CA. Highlights:

2011 Pinot Meunier (Yount Mill Road, Napa Valley!). This is a surprising place for a Pinot vineyard, but I preferred this bottling. Lovely funky earthy Pinot-ish fruit. Delicious. Maybe it's the extra three years?

With dinner Sunday night:

Helios (Cathy Corison Second Label) Mendocino Gewurtraminer. Fantastic with the home-grown chiles rellenos. The richness...not too much richness...complemented the heat of the peppers and there is enough acid to cut through the rich cheese.

Hmmmm, Brian.....NapaVlly?? That's pretty high-rent district for Randall to be buying grapes. I can't think of a NapaVlly
wine he's ever made before.

Was the GWT from AndersonVlly or McFaddenRanch/PotterVlly??
Tom

Hmmmm, Brian.....NapaVlly?? That's pretty high-rent district for Randall to be buying grapes. I can't think of a NapaVlly
wine he's ever made before.

Was the GWT from AndersonVlly or McFaddenRanch/PotterVlly??
Tom

Anderson Valley, Tom.

2011 was the "bad year"...maybe they were rejected grapes or something? Still, a very lovely wine-did not taste under-ripe at all!

[Jenise]

Love the title. And, btw, I have loved a lot of 2011's. It was particularly harsh up here and a lot of vineyards were absolutely trashed--there was like one good week around Nov 1 where the grapes were ripe enough but before frost hit. But in less frigid California, this cool vintage was a gift to European palates, and I've had many good wines from it.

Love the title. And, btw, I have loved a lot of 2011's. It was particularly harsh up here and a lot of vineyards were absolutely trashed--there was like one good week around Nov 1 where the grapes were ripe enough but before frost hit. But in less frigid California, this cool vintage was a gift to European palates, and I've had many good wines from it.

Agree pretty strongly with this, Jenise!