Heretics of Doon

Bonny Doon “Ca’ del Solo” 2008 Muscat (Monterey County) – Friendly and approachable, more in the fashion of an Alsatian or northeastern Italian muscat than something sweeter, with balanced perfume and a pretty finish. (4/09)

Chapterhouse Doon

Bonny Doon “Ca’ del Solo” 2008 Albariño (Monterey County) – Very light, yet a little sticky as well. Yellow-skinned fruit and light floral notes, not so much almond, and a crisp-creamy finish. More or less boring. (4/09)

Duce

Bonny Doon “Ca’ del Solo” 2005 Sangiovese (San Benito County) – There are dollops of nero d’avola, cinsault, and colorino here. What do they add? I’m not sure. An intense nose of mixed jellies – plum, blueberry, blackberry – fades to simpler multi-hued cherries by the finish, there’s a tannic bite that grates with underripeness as the wine lingers, and a fairly significant amount of acidity adds to what eventually becomes a general and growing sensation of off-putting weediness. Eh. (9/08)

Orange you glad?

Bonny Doon “Ca’ del Solo” 2007 Orange Muscat (Monterey County) – Less than 1% residual sugar despite all organoleptic evidence to the contrary, which actually isn’t all that unusual for muscat. Orange peel perfume and medium-sweet fruit make this overwhelmingly approachable, but the wine’s fatness is only broken by acidity late into its finish. Some crystals – which they just love at Bonny Doon – are perhaps present as a sort of foundation. This could be better. (9/08)

Doon messiah

Bonny Doon “Ca’ del Solo” 2005 Sangiovese (San Benito County) – Hard, then tart, then absent, with a big burst of strawberries scraped from the tongue with a rasp of tannin, giving way to a puckery sourness, and eventually skipping off to parts unknown. The loony (and unfortunately given the source, unfunny) mysticism on the label won’t save the wine from its flaws. (2/08)