Randall
Graham of Bonny Doon
Randall
began his rebellion against the dominance
of Cabernet and Chardonnay in California winemaking,
what he called the “Cabo- and Chardocentric
Paradigm.” California had a mediterreanean
climate, and should grow mediterreanean varitieties
of grapes: Rhone varietals, Italian varietals,
Spanish varietals and so on.
“Like Columbus who sought a trade route
to Asia, I set sail in 1979 for the Great
American Pinot Noir, foundered on the shoals
of astringency and finesselessness and ended
up running aground in the utterly unexpected
New World of Rhône and Italian varietals.
If there is a tragic flaw at Bonny Doon, it
is no doubt, excessive eclecticism. We are
experimenting with scores of meridional varieties
in the hopes of discovering which grape varietals
will marry well with the growing conditions
that obtain in our Santa Cruz Mountain and
Monterey vineyards.
The salient and recurring winemaking themes
of Bonny Doon Vineyard/Ca’ del Solo are:
1) Having as much fun with the wine as the
relevant governmental agencies will allow.
2) Producing wines and wine labels that will
scintillate the sensibilities of the most
jaded imbiber.
3) Retaining as much of the natural qualities
of the grapes (especially fragrance) through
careful handling and minimal cellar treatment.
Limpidity for its own sake, is eschewed.
4) Paying particularly close attention to
the chestnut that wine is produced in the
vineyard. We try to enact the appropriate
cultural practices that will lead to the fullest
expression of the character of the varietal.
I consider myself a champion of the strange
and the heterodox, of the ugly duckling grape
varietals whose very existence is threatened
by the dominant Cabo- and Chardocentric paradigm.”
“Ca’ del Solo is an imaginary kingdom
located somewhere near the Soledad-Piemonte
border whose inhabitants speak a grammatically
unique dialect. [There actually is a vineyard
of Italianate varietals planted in Soledad,
located just behind the California Men’s
Correctional Facility.] Ca’ del Solo
is an enological kingdom in exile, temporarily
quartered at Bonny Doon Vineyard. It’s
inhabitants are continually going ‘solo,’
embarking upon projects that are sometimes
risky, sometimes wrong-headed, but always
according to their own lights. Ca’ del
Solo is a work in progress and in the coming
years, one might expect a proliferation of
eclectic Italian varietals from this domaine.”
--Randall Grahm
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