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Tasting notes
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published February 23, 2005
Bonny Doon wines offer a bargain tour of the world's endless basket of grapes, and all the wines come with a fascinating back-label story. The Big House wines and Le Cigare Volant are widely available; others may be harder to find.
* Big House Pink, 2003, $8 to $10. This dry rose has red grapes and white from mouvedre to pinot blanc, yet the aroma and taste is a consistent strawberry, clear, crisp round and with minimal sugar, a spritzy tingle and a long finish. Fridge fun.
* Uve di Troia, La Violetta, Il Circo, 2001, $15. A Randall Grahm find in Puglia, a red with the cheap perfume of streetwalkers for whom the grape is named. It looks rich and dark, does smell of violets and tastes surprisingly sweet, smooth and jammy, but the core is a touch coarse and sharp on finish. Not a keeper.
* Ruche, La Donna Cannone, Il Circo, 2003, $15. A Piedmont grape often left to dessert and sparkling wine, it makes a cannonball candy red wine. The nose explodes with cherries; the taste is rich, round and plummy, like chocolate filled with nuts and berries, with an easy finish. Pow, right to the moon.
* Club Montonico, Ca'del Solo, nonvintage, $15 (375 ml). This Piedmont rarity might be a bland mistake, but Grahm turned what he grew here into sleek dessert wine with woodsy spices. It hints of pine, cloves, rosemary, orange peel and licorice in a honeyed texture. A Greek cookie in a glass.
* Erbaluce di Caluso, La Funambola, Il Circo, 2003, $15. A rare, delicate white Italian grape, it is a subtle entry in the big gap between chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. Fresh and almost as mineral-crisp as a riesling, the nose and flavors are those of sweet stone fruits and nuts, lightly peach like viognier or albarino. A great food wine.
* Le Cigare Volant, 2001, $35. Pride of the fleet of dreams, this vintage's magical blend is based on peppery grenache, the star of the southern Rhone that plays second fiddle to syrah in the United States. Le Cigare knows better and shows it in a midnight-purple wine, soft, round, full of plums and raspberries and earthy flavors. Profoundly easy to drink, but so dramatic you should tarry.
[Last modified February 22, 2005, 09:56:04]
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