Extraterrestrial Experience

Came home from birthday dinner for SWMBO last night and felt like a glbutt or two of wine and a movie. Had picked up a mixed case from Whole Foods last week on a trip to Dallas, so in the dim light of temporary storage in the new house, pulled up a "pinot noir" bottle.

Turned out to be 2001 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant. Not a PN, but a Rhone mix which I'd seen mentioned in print but had never tasted. Simply labeled as "California" and "Red Wine" the color comes off as dark burgundy but not inky syrah. Nose is a bit candy-ish with things like bubble gum, maraschino, and cranberry coming to mind. On the tongue, I got a lot of the cranberry following through and an interesting sweet-spiciness. There didn't appear to be a lot of development after opening, with the wine showing consistently for the hour and a half or so it took to consume.

The story behind the name is a jab at the Rhone folks who apparently spent too much time in the tasting room and decided it was time to legislate against extra-terrestrials interferring with their vineyards. The "flying cigar" reference is to a spaceship and those crafty French folks took care of the problem by pbutting a law that they would impound all flying saucers, etc that trespbutt. Bonny Doon might be making this stuff up, but it's fun and the wine is attractive.

Not sure what food I would pair with it, maybe Chinese or Indian?

Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled" www.thunderchief.org www.thundertales.blogspot.com