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Wine Buy: Bonny Doon Vin Gris
Food Talk sommelier Carol Berman writes:
Bonny Doon Vin Gris De Cigare 2000 may be called "gray" (gris), but the gorgeous color of this "pink wine," as the label also calls it, is quite enough to make me happy. However, what it does for the taste buds is even better.
Vin Gris de Cigare is a serious rosé, which is to say it is made in the traditional way rosés should be made -- from red grapes. The color the wine comes from the grape skins of red wine grapes. The longer the skins are in contact with the juice, the deeper the color will be. For a red wine, the skins could be in contact with the juice for days, or at least through the fermentation process. In the case of rosé wines, the skins are removed sooner rather than later, perhaps after only minutes or hours after the grapes have been pressed.
In this bottling, winemaker Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, a quirky guy who makes quirky wines in bottles with witty labels (look for the flying saucer or cigare on this one), has blended a wonderful combination of grapes. The wine is made up of some Rhone varietals, such as Mourvedre, Grenache, and Syrah, with a couple of Italian grapes, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. The end result is a rich and succulent wine that finishes very dry.
I would enjoy this wine with any kind of main course salad – chicken, shrimp, lobster, a salade Nicoise, and with grilled vegetables and rich fish, such as tuna, salmon or swordfish. I feel it is made for drinking outdoors on the patio or deck, in the heat of the summer when red wine really goes to the head.
To paraphrase a famous line from the movie "Funny Face:" Drink pink!
Average retail price is $11.99.
