Friday, June 13, 2008

Boony Doon Winery survives Bonny Doon fire... [Mac McCarthy]


The BonnyDoon wine company sent email to its members today assuring them that the tasting room has come through the Bonny Doon fire unscathed, fortunately.

Bonny Doon is the name of a tiny Santa Cruz Mountains community where the winery has its tasting room. Grapes are provided by growers elsewhere, also not affected by the local fire, and the wine is made in Santa Cruz. The tasting room will reopen as soon as the roads are cleared once the fire is completely contained, the winery said.

Bonny Doon is noted for its affordable offbeat wines, offbeat wine names, and arch label descriptions penned by its offbeat owner, Randel Graham, who calls himself The Original Rhone Derranger. Popular Bonny Doon wines include Le Cigare Volante (the flying cigar--the French term for a flying saucer) line of Rhone-style blends, Big House Red, and Ca' del Solo Italian-style wines, as well as apple-pear brandy, flavored eau de vie, and orange muscat.

News reports say that patrons seemed reluctant to leave the tasting room despite the growing volume of smoke drifting over the facility. Those are either real wine lovers, or just nuts.

--Mac