Randall Graham made the trip to Denver to dine with us and talk about winemaking at a black truffle dinner hosted at Mel's in Cherry Creek.

A few side notes: Randall became the father of a baby girl just a few days before, so it was quite a treat to have him still make the trip to Denver. Also, the food was incredible as always. New chef Jeff Saudo is doing some magical things in the kitchen, making Mel's well worth the trip if you are in the area.

On to the show. Randall Graham is every bit the enigmatic character that is portrayed in the press releases and media outlets. He possesses a sharp wit, tremendous sense of humor and seems to have at least twelve thoughts bouncing around in his head at all times. I find his wine labels quite creative and his marketing efforts innovative and amusing. It was a true pleasure hearing him speak.

That said, we don't always enjoy the wines. We were members of the D.E.W.N. club for over a year. While we always enjoyed the packaging, newsletters, etc., some of his wine experiments don't turn out so pretty. So it was with some reservation that we approached a dinner featuring all Bonny Doon wines.

Our fears were unfounded, as Mr. Graham featured the best of what his efforts have to offer. We sampled seven wines over four courses, and each was quite enjoyable. I did not take formal notes, but will briefly summarize each.

2002 Moscato Del Solo-a semi-sweet, slightly bubbly starter. Very easy to drink, with an undertone of tangerine and mineral.

2002 Big House White-the only wine on the list that I'd tried before. A blend of several white grapes, with Sauvignon Blanc in the forefront. Crisp and clean, nice with food, and "en screwcap", as Mr. Graham likes to say.

2002 Get DEWN Estate Riesling-only available from the DEWN club. A Riesling made in the European style, with low alcohol (8%) and stone, citrus and mineral notes. The best white I've yet tasted from Bonny Doon.

2000 Old Telegram Mataro (Mourvedre)-A big, meaty powerful wine. Worked very well with the black truffles. I don't think this would be a good sipping/patio wine, but it was very good with the food. Great telegram-style label.

2000 Syrah-A nice Syrah. At this point I had four glasses in front of me and was focusing more on the entree, but I remember thinking that I wouldn't seek out this wine, but I wouldn't be at all disappointed to have this served to me a party or a dinner.

2000 Le Cigar Volant-The WOTN, in my opinion. A blend of several red Rhone varietals. Complex, with dark, brambly fruits, smoke and spice. Excellent with the black truffle-based entree.

NV Bouteille Call-A fun little play on syllables, but a serious dessert wine at 18.5%. Concentrated flavors of dark chocolate and raspberry, like eating a raspberry/chocolate torte. Someone commented that this wine could be poured over ice cream. Mr. Graham said they actually fermented raspberries with the grapes. A dangerous wine.

So there you have it. A very enjoyable evening. If you find the right wines, Bonny Doon is doing some good things, especially considering the QPR and the food friendliness of the wines. I just cannot recommend the club, except for curiosity sake.

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I can't sleep...the clowns will eat me!

Thanks for writting this up FTG. I'd agree with your interpretation of the wines at dinner. Nothing jumped out at me as exceptional, but all were solid. All also went very well with food, which works well in this type of venue.

The Old Telegram was the most food friendly of the reds while the Le Cigar Volant seemed the most interesting on it's own.

Nice notes,

It is too bad though he did not bring the Ca Del Solo Malvasia Bianca: it is a real treasure. When i worked at Avanti in santa cruz, Randall used to come in quite often with a gaggle of wines. He really is a most interesting fellow and though many of his wines are failures he has the most interesting labels in the industry IMHO.

thanks again,

cheers!

gene keenan