Soon after establishing Bonny Doon Vineyard in California’s Central Coast, Randall Grahm realized early on that he would have more success creating distinctive and original wines working with Rhône varieties than with Burgundy grapes. As in the Rhône valley, the Central Coast’s warm, Mediterranean climate produces excellent blended wines. Bonny Doon released their first release of Le Cigare Volant in 1986 as an homage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a red blend that remains the winery’s flagship wine. Since then, Bonny Doon Vineyard has enjoyed a long history of innovation – the first to truly popularize Rhône grapes in California, the first to utilize microbullage in California, the first to popularize screwcaps for premium wines, and the first to embrace true transparency in labeling with its ingredient labeling initiative.

Bonny Doon attempts to purchase grapes from the coolest possible regions. They typically destem but not crush 65-85% of the grapes. They punch down the caps of the ferments in open-top tanks and for more robust, rustic varieties, utilize the technique known as délestage, or rack-and-return, which is the removal and return of fermenting juice from the tank. They generally like to assemble their blends early in the life of the wine as possible, but at the same time also like to delay the completion of malolactic fermentation at least until spring if possible

Randall’s relentless intellectual curiosity has led his vinous pursuits around the world. His focused set of wines targeting smaller production and special vineyards he has worked with over the years represent the best he has produced.