'Welcome
to my nightmare': the Randall Grahm interview
Meeting the wine world's Willy Wonka, who has recently taken a
change in direction
‘Welcome to my nightmare,’ began
Randall Grahm, quoting Alice Cooper (with whom he bears a slight
physical resemblance, although it is quite
slight). Backtracking a little, he reassures us: ‘The Universe of
Bonny Doon is not nightmarish, although you do need a scorecard to
keep up with it.’
Bonny Doon, the chosen name of Grahm’s
winery, is an eponymous area in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 10 miles
north of Santa Cruz and 3 miles inland from the Pacific. Some 30
years ago Randall came here, ‘with the mistaken notion that I was
going to produce the great American Pinot Noir.’ But soon after,
in 1983, he found himself buying Pinot Noir from Oregon, and the
grapes were so superior to anything he could produce, it made own
venture seem ridiculous.
He describes this sort of observation as
‘the extistential paradox that lies at the heart of the grower in
the new world.’
‘In the old world you have all been
given the news: what grows well where,’ says Randall. ‘In the
new world we are making it up as we go along, and there are more
ways to stuff it up than get it right.’ He adds that ‘there
should be appropriate fear and trembling to making wine in the new
world.’
While Randall realised he was failing
with Pinot Noir, he discovered Rhone grapes, largely through the
help of importer Kermit Lynch. These varieties are better suited to
the climate in California. ‘You can pretty much go with the
flow,’ says Randall. ‘These grapes pretty much came in in
balance.’
He started with Grenache, discovering a
great Grenache vineyard in the town of Gilroy, and soon after began
to play with Syrah. ‘Intermittent positive reinforcement has kept
me going,’ he adds.
This was to lead to his most famous wine,
Le Cigare Volant, named after an edict made by the growers in the
appellation that flying saucers manned by extraterrestrials should
be banned from landing in the vineyards. ‘Le Cigare is the state
of the Doon message,’ says Randall. ‘For me it has been a full
circle. I started out knowing nothing. I wanted to make Châteauneuf
du Pape. I don’t even like Châteauneuf du Pape, but I do like
Burgundy. The only thing I knew about Grenache was not to use new
oak, to use large barrels, to avoid racking too much (it is an
oxidative variety) and to get it ripe. Over the years we have tried
all sorts of things, but now we have come back to the start. But it
took 30 years to get there.’
Of late, things have been changing in the
Dooniverse, and quite significantly. Randall has recently scaled
back his operations from 450 000 cases a year to just 20 000.
‘Bonny Doon has been like Mr Toad's wild ride. It has been a great
party, but at a certain point you have to go home,’ says Randall.
‘I have tried everything.’
‘I had turned 50, I had had my first
child, I had had serious medical problems. It led to a big change in
Bonny Doon. I sold off the large brands, stopped imports, and
stopped distilling. I moved things in the direction of producing
proper wine: vins de terroir – this is what I aspire to
produce.’ In the past, the impression I;ve had from Grahm is that
he has been frustrated because his wines have not been treated as
seriously as he’d like them to have been. In part, this could be
because he’s been operating with an ethos that is at odds with the
prevailing cultural scene in California and the USA more widely: one
driven by an obsession for big wines with lots of points. In part,
it may be because that Grahm is seen as something of a comedian,
albeit a sophisticated, erudite one. And people assume that a funny
guy doesn’t make serious wines.
So Grahm is focusing his efforts into an
uncompromisingly terroir-driven project. He’s going niche; scaled
down and aiming high. He reckons that to succeed in California you
need either to be large and efficient or small and distinctive, and
the latter is the direction that he’s now taking. ‘The notion of
terroir is the most beautiful idea in wine lore,’ he enthuses.
‘A true vin de terroir
needs a good rooting system. Terroir is a radio signal, and it is a
question of the signal to noise ratio. We want to amplify the signal
without distorting it. For example, if you restrict yields in a
deeply rooted vineyard, you amplify the signal. Drip irrigation
dilutes the signal. The ratio of roots to fruit is probably the
single greatest determinant of wine quality.’
‘You can’t make a vin de terroir if
you irrigate,’ he says. ‘A true vin de terroir needs a big
rooting system.’ Grahm states that, ‘if you get the fruit ripe
in a cool climate with lots of roots, it is hard to go wrong.’
‘A cool climate for me is also an
appropriate climate. The grapes come in balanced. You don't need to
acidulate or dealcoholize the wine. If you have to manipulate the
wine, this suggests that you are not growing the grape in the right
places.’
‘Not all vineyard sites are created
equal,’ he continues. ‘Not all vineyard sites are good for
grapes!’ His assertion is that in California and other places in
the New World people tend to be risk averse, so they tend to plant
grapes in places that are too warm.’
Grahm is full of great one-liners.
‘More wine is messed up by new oak than is improved by it,’ he
states. And when it comes to reduction: ‘One way I think of
reduction in wine is like horniness in guys. It can be a little
off-putting at times but it is a sign that they system is working
the way it should.’ And, ‘winemaking is quite simple: it is
growing grapes that is difficult.’
Grahm on minerality: ‘Minerality is a
squirelly term, used with a degree of precision. It correlates with
wines that are stable. Old world wines are frequently more stable
than new world wines, sometimes for two weeks.’
And on the wine industry: ‘The wine
industry is a sort of disaster now – a victim of its success,’
says Grahm. ‘I feel like a complete old fart. When I got started,
people did it because they loved it. It’s now a business, and too
much money is invested in it. It has given the business a loss of
self confidence. Everyone needs a consultant, and even the
consultants need consultants. The era of cooperation and goodwill
has largely gone.’
Grahm is more upbeat talking about his
new project. He’s recently sold the Soledad vineyards that
produced the Albarino and Muscat, but he’s bought some land (100
hectares) outside San Juan Batista, 12 miles south of Gilroy and 12
miles west of Holester. It’s a cooler site, and is in San Benito
County. So far he’s planted just 1.5 acres of grapes, and
eventually will have around 40 acres of Grenache and other Rhône
grapes, plus a spattering of Italian varieties. And, in a very
‘Grahm’ crazy plot, he plans to grow vines from seeds,
hybdrizing grapes with themselves.
So what about his wines? They’re pretty
good, and the best are serious. It will be interesting to see what
he does in the next few years with his renewed focus and new
vineyard.
THE
WINES
Bonny Doon Muscat Ca’ del Solo 2009
Salinas Valley
90% Moscato Giallo, 10% Loureiro (both don't exist officially in
California). Grahm describes Moscato Giallo as 'a lovely grape,
different from Muscat Blanc: not as pretty, more herbal, more food
friendly.' He says that it seems to love Californian conditions with
no sunburn or botrytis. Rich, fresh, melony and herbal with some
grapey notes. A joyful wine with rich texture and a bit of
minerality on the finish. Fresh and crisp with some citrus pith
notes. 89/100
Bonny Doon Ca’ del Solo Albariño
2008 Salinas Valley
Grahm says that Albariño looks very like Riesling and ripens
the same way, with a lovely citrus quality. In contrast, Loureiro
(the other Vino Verde grape he grows) has much larger clusters (8 oz
versus 3 oz). Fresh and herby with nice citrus and grapefruit pith
notes. Very appealing and herby with freshness and precision, and
light lemony fruit. 90/100
Bonny Doon Cigare Blanc 2007
This comes from the Beeswax vineyard in Arroyo Seco, further
south than the Salinas Valley and a little bit warmer than Soledad.
It has an eastern aspect, and the vines are two-thirds Roussanne and
one-third Grenache Blanc. Grahm says that Roussanne is difficult to
work with because it tends to russet (sunburn), and that the trick
is to try to get both sides of the cluster equally ripe. 'In a
perfect world, I wish it would have a bit more acidity,' he says.
He'd like to include some more Picpoul and Clairette for this
reason. It's 14.6% alcohol. Rounded, textured and nutty with smooth,
complex fruit, a hint of fennel and some subtle creaminess.
Fine-textured with subtle peach and pear fruit. Broad and lovely;
fat but fresh. 92/100
Bonny Doon Syrah Le Pousseur 2005
Central Coast
This contains 2% Viognier and 10% Grenache. Spicy, meaty and
dense with some earthy, medicinal notes. The palate is dry, spicy
and a bit herby with savouriness. A dense sort of wine. 90/100
Bonny Doon Cigare Volant 2005
‘This is our statement wine: the wine I am most proud of,’
says Grahm. It is sweet, intense, meaty, savoury, spicy and complex.
Lovely balance between the sweet cherry fruit and the savoury,
spicy, subtly meaty, slightly peppery notes. Hints of earth and
undergrowth with a real old world character. Fresh and quite
elegant. 94/100
Bonny Doon Vol des Anges Roussanne
2007
A sweet wine made from grapes that are selectively harvested
with multiple passes through the vineyard. Honeyed, with notes of
apricot and quince. Grapey, sweet and with lots of apricot
character, as well as a rich texture. Ripe, lush and sweet. 91/100
See
also:
Visiting
Napa Valley, California (series)
Published
02/11
Wines tasted 06/10
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