Maybe I’m suggestible, but when I opened the bottle, I did notice the aromas of bramble, blackberry and good clean earth in this red Rhone-style wine labeled “Red Wine of the Earth.”
Now that I think about it, it’s probably not accidental that this “Earth”-y wine is named for a flying saucer (cigare volant in French); the mayor of the great Rhone wine region Chateauneuf-du-Pape banned flying saucers from landing there in 1954 for fear they might damage the vineyards.
Seventy years later, in the US and in France we still can’t agree if flying saucers are real. But winemaker Randall Grahm named one of his wine labels after the French flying saucer phenomenon and tonight I’m drinking his California version of a Rhone blend (made five years ago), and it tastes like blackberry through and through, its light tannins and acidity so melded into the fruit they’re barely noticeable. Well, maybe as a tingle around the edges, with a hint of tobacco in the after-burn. And it’s on the lower side for alcohol content, at 13.5%, so that’s good.
WHO: Bonny Doon Vineyard
WHERE: Central Coast, California
WHAT: 56% grenache, 30% cinsault, 13% syrah, 1% petite sirah
HOW MUCH: around $15 [media sample]