2016 Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Volant Central Coast 750 ml

Randall Grahm has done it all. A James Beard award winner, Wine Spectator cover boy, catalyst of the California Rhône revolution, inductee of the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintner’s Hall of Fame... the list goes on and on. We shouldn’t have been shocked by the heroics that we found in Grahm’s 2016 Le Cigare Volant, but from the moment we poured four ounces of ruby-hued excellence into our glasses, we were in awe. 

Despite its high profile, the 2016 Cigare, as Grahm calls it, is as honest as it gets, and what shines through in the bottle is pure, enviable class: the rich, ripe fruit of California combined with the bold spice notes of the Rhône; a juicy, unctuous blend of old-vine Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre. At 36% off, this iconoclastic blend is here at the best price in the nation, a truly stunning under-$30 achievement, and a must-have for lovers of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (for half the price) as well as those seeking the source of all Rhône-style California wines.

The Cigare is Randall Grahm and Bonny Doon’s flagship bottling—the wine that put the Central Coast on the map and changed the landscape of California winemaking forever. Starting in 1983, Grahm sought to re-create the character of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Grenache-based blends with grapes from California. From the beginning, however, Graham did things differently, pioneering the use of biodynamic viticulture and employing unique vinification techniques such as a manipulation of sur lie aging, all to create a wine risqué and unabashed, but still civilized enough to take to a dinner party without scandal. The vin d’effort, as Grahm labeled it, was a resounding success, and he was dubbed the “Rhône Ranger,” appearing on the cover of Wine Spectator in 1989. 

In 2006, Grahm was doing exceedingly well, Bonny Doon was flourishing and sales were skyrocketing. But then everything changed as a health crisis put his life on the line and revolutionized his perspective. From that point, Grahm shrugged off the success and the money and made a beeline for originality and authenticity. What followed have been some of the best wines of Grahm’s career, with the 2016 near the top of the list. 

What’s different about the 2016—its unprecedented level of freshness, lift, and ageability—is due to a small change in Grahm’s winemaking process. Always refining his craft, Grahm has been experimenting with aging his wines in 5-gallon glass demijohns for years. In the past, Grahm made the Cigare Volant Reserve from wine aged only in demijohn, which as he described it, has the “magical effect of slowing the wine’s evolution,” preserving freshness and longevity. But Grahm also found that the demijohns could easily over-stylize the wine, robbing it of the purity and honesty that he sought above all else. 

So in 2016, Grahm didn’t make a Reserve. All of the best lots went into the 2016 Cigare Volant, with 40% aged in the glass demijohns and the remainder in oak. The result was just what Grahm hoped for: an extra level of purity and vibrancy without any loss of the identity of the 100-year-old Cinsault and Mourvèdre, the cool-climate Syrah, and deep-fruited Grenache. 

The old-vine concentration and purity is the first thing that leaps from the glass when you swirl the 2016 Cigare. Blackberry, blueberry, and pomegranate etched with cracked pepper, flint, and herbes de Provence. Over the course of hours, and even days, the 2016 will continue to unfold, adding layer upon layer of macerated black cherry, stony mineral, and charcuterie notes. It is truly a wine that keeps on giving, with the capacity to age for decades. 

We were grateful to receive Grahm’s kind-hearted wisdom last week and even more grateful to see it translated in the glass. There aren’t many wines that deliver this kind of depth, and those that do are often well above today’s under-$30 price tag. At the best price in the nation, there’s only one thing left to do: lock up this California classic by the case.