Came home from birthday dinner for SWMBO last night and felt like a
glass 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 passing a law that
they would impound all flying saucers, etc that trespass. 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