So before I spend my money anyone ever tried it before?
May I have your impressions of it.
2006-09-08 10:10:31 · 5 answers · asked by LAUGHING MAGPIE 6 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
Sorry, Canadian Dollars.
2006-09-08 13:46:59 · update #1
Reps rarely offer up a taste of the wines you want to taste and I must admit my money is a tasting allowance I'm have. However I have to share. :> (
2006-09-08 14:13:12 · update #2
You'd be better off getting the real thing at less cost. The 2003 Domaine Chante Cigale Chateauneuf du Pape is about US$35 (~$39 Canadian) and will convey more terroir than a New World imitation.
Wine Advocate rating: 94
"Superb quality with a big, sweet nose of tapenade, ground pepper, kirsch, blackberry, and licorice. The wine has great fruit, full body, tremendous density, and a layered, full-bodied palate with even a hint of truffle emerging."
Opens up after a couple of hours, could also do a couple more years in the bottle.
ps I personally find that ~northern~ Rhone wines are much more of an "acquired taste" than CdP, Gigondas or Vacqueryas.
Incidentally, why isn't the distributor giving you a taste?
2006-09-08 14:05:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have had it. Bonny Doon is a winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Santa Cruz near a famous nude beach, called Bonny Doon - enough trivia...
Le Cigare Volant 2002 retails from the winery at $32/bottle.
As the earlier poster noted, it is an acquired taste.
the label is fun, though. Le Cigare Volant means UFO in French, which is why there is a UFO on the label.
http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/wine/view/82
2006-09-08 12:05:13 · answer #2 · answered by odu83 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a BIG fan of Randal Grahm, winemaker at Bonny Doon (how can you not enjoy a guy who names his German white "The Critique of Pure Riesling" and opens the tasting notes with "Kant? Or won't?"). And while I enjoy the Cigare, I wouldn't pay $58 for it. (That's in US dollars, at least; I'm not sure what Canadian, Australian or New Zealand dollars work out to.) It's nice, if you like Rhone varietals (I do! I do!), but it's not a lot better than a large number of US$20 wines.
The Cigare Volant is a blend of southern French varietals (grenache, syrah, mourvedre, etc.), to make a moderately complex wine. The name is, as another poster points out, a reference to the 1954 law prohibiting flying saucers (called a "cigare volant," or "flying cigar," in French, due to their only being seein in profile, apparently) from landing in the vineyards.
Grahm also makes a remarkable wine, however, called "Vin Gris de Cigare," which is made from a similar "meridionale" blend of the same basic wine grapes (with some carignane and cinsault thrown in, I seem to recall), left on the skins just overnight and then fermented to the same dryness as their red wine. It's wonderful stuff on a hot summer day, with some of the complexity of a red wine but light enough to be served chilled, and none of that sock-you-in-the-skull sweetness of most pink California wines. Have it with some crusty French bread, a hunk of Petit Basque or Jarlsberg cheese, and watch the sunset...
The pink version of Le Cigare is also a GREAT barbecue wine, if the dollars you're talking about come with pictures of the Queen on them and you're celebrating the beginning of spring! Do a nice dry rub of sage, garlic and cumin on pork tenderloin slices and chuck 'em on the fire. Mmmmm...
As for the Cigare Volant -- frankly, I'd rather have a nice McLaren Vale or Koonunga Valley shiraz most days, and if you're talking $58 in US dollars, there are some super Oregon pinot noirs from just down the road from me that I'd be picking up for that price. (Names? Oh, Torii Mor, Argyle Reserve or better yet Argyle Nut House, Ken Wright, and others...) Or I'd pick up a big amarone or maybe a Barolo... hmmm, it's getting on toward dinner here, what can we make that involves a big, voluptuous red wine?
2006-09-08 12:44:21 · answer #3 · answered by Scott F 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ive had it and its not worth the price ,it is supposed to be bonny doons version of a chat. de pape, it does not come close ,even if you forget the intended chat. comparison and just judge it as a stand alone wine,you cannot justify the price.
2006-09-08 10:47:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I NEVER DID BUT THAT'S NOT A BAD PRICE. E.G. LETIEF
ROTHCHILD, COST 250.00-PER 5TH OF A BOTTLE!!!
SO IF YOUR EXCITED ABOUT IT, GO FOR IT. YOU ONLY LIVE
ONCE, SO SPLURGE AND LIVE IT UP, YOU DESERVE IT!!!
2006-09-08 10:16:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋