Chronic Negress

Before going to Boony Doon’s cozy tasting room in Santa Cruz, the Negress went to Aldo’s, a waterfront seafood temple in town. I had been advised by a second-generation Californian that the Pacific snapper was first-rate as was the clam chowder. The meal was a 50-50 split. The snapper was delicious, lightly spiced and augmented by lemon and a pleasant tartar sauce. The clam chowder was not up to the East Coast standard, and featured celery and no bacon fat. Not bad for what it was but not what it should be.

Bonny Doon wines can take you out of this world

Anyway I met up with Barbara Smith, the brand manager for Bonny Doon Vineyards, at the tasting room and cafe. We tasted through the wines they sell in 50 states and 15 countries. The winery production is down from about 450,000 cases to 30,000.  Doon’s founder Randall Grahm has sold the Big House vineyard, and so there isn’t going to be any more Muscat. Grahm  produces wine that’s Demeter-certified biodynamic. The 2009 Albarino and Muscat are gorgeous wines that are like summer print fabrics, light and relaxed. They come from the Ca’ del Sol vineyard, which is on the Western, fog-cooled side of Paso Robles. The wines have less than 13 percent alcohol. First of all, the Albarino is luscious,  slightly salt-touched and is best if it’s a little warmer than most Yanks like their whites. Grahm doesn’t acidulate this wine, and he doesn’t need to. This wine can be intimate with food. If you’re used to wines that throb with big fruit, you might miss the train here. The Muscat has some sweetness in its smell and could easily pair with grilled stone fruit and sushi. Smith says it’s a summer wine and she’s not wrong.

Grahm continues to dally with Rhone grapes and the 2008 Cigare Blanc blends 57 percent Rousanne and 43 percent Grenache. It comes from the Beeswax vineyard and smells of linens in a summer beach cottage. There’s some honeysuckle in the mix, lighter and less viscous than actual honey, and a touch of vanilla. Grahm doesn’t use new oak and what he does use is French. The Negress immediately wanted roast pork with this.

Smith was a little unnerved by the tasting room’s easy cacophony so naturally the Negress started talking about a personal wine issue. She has some friends who love steak but have nasty reactions to red wine. Smith agreed with her assessment that white Rhones are the way to go in this unusual situation. The Cigare Blanc could easily fill this bill.

The next wine was somewhat familiar to me. Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post has written about the 2009 Vin Gris de Cigare, a grenache based blush wine. The gris is an accurate description since the wine is a very pale pink. The wine is high-minded and versatile. The Negress usually doesn’t ascribe mental faculties to wine, but the Vin Gris rises to sentience.

Next the reds.