Vin Gris de Cigare 2002 MARSANNE ATTACKS! the palate in a very gentle fashion and we’ve included a generous dollop of it in this classic southern French inspired cuvée. Our ’02 Vin Gris is an exercise in the usual refreshingly fruity aromatics that one typically finds in a proper pink – strawberry and rose with perhaps a subliminal suggestion of linden flower and lime blossom. There is a wonderful creaminess and sophistication to this year’s pink.

This wine is perhaps the most emblematic of the great sea change that has occurred at Bonny Doon Vineyard since the sell-off/draw-down of the Ginormous Doonamath. This wine is a true Vin Gris, which is to say, made from bespoke grapes (not a by-product of red wine production), harvested at the appropriate ripeness level for its style, and receiving but minimal skin contact. The essential principle here is that less is truly more. The wine does not overwhelm one with fruitybombasticity; it’s charms are seductively subtle. Discreet nose of alpine strawberry, evolving into a refreshing mintiness with additional air and warming. On the palate, a beautiful natural crispness and a great sleek and savory texture, in virtue of the extended lees contact/bâtonage the wine received postfermentation. Possibly the most elegant and complex Vin Gris de Cigare to date. A blend of 62% grenache, 17% mourvèdre, 9% roussanne, 6% grenache blanc, and 6% cinsault. Fresh and bright with a shell pink color reminiscent of a Côtes de Provence Rosé. Since this is a true Vin Gris, and perforce receives but the most minimal skin contact, it is very discreet both in hue and aromatic profile. There are hints of wild strawberry, white cherry, ripe peach, and the barest whiff of spearmint, giving way to notes of strawberry, blood orange, and grapefruit. A very lean, mineral-intensive structure draws one into the wine, rather than assaults one with a riotous floral/fruity bombardment. Perhaps most compelling is the wine’s tremendous food-friendliness.

Review

Fresh and bright with a shell pink color reminiscent of a Côtes de Provence Rosé. Since this is a true Vin Gris, and perforce receives but the most minimal skin contact, it is very discreet both in hue and aromatic profile. There are hints of wild strawberry, white cherry, ripe peach, and the barest whiff of spearmint, giving way to notes of strawberry, blood orange, and grapefruit. A very lean, mineral-intensive structure draws one into the wine, rather than assaults one with a riotous floral/fruity bombardment. Perhaps most compelling is the wine’s tremendous food-friendliness.

Food pairing

absolutely perfect with the whole Mediterranean palate – tomatoes, capers, olives, eggplant, you know the drill.