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Recommended Retailer:Bonny Doon Vineyard
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Contra is a wine that reflects the opposite of modern wine sensibilities - of wines overworked and amped up, pushed and prodded into Procrustean palate-numbing sameness. A rebours, this wine is a contrarian blend of mostly
old-fangled grape varieties from mostly older vineyards, located primarily in Contra Costa County. Contra is a somewhat contradictory flashback/forward to the straightforward, frank wines of yester- and future-year. A field blend that contravenes contraindicated convention,
with aromas of cherries and licorice, flavorful cassis, blackberries and silky tannins. A wine (hardly) contraindicated for gastronomy, it is above all, contrapuntal.
Tasting Notes
Contra unites the earthy rusticity of old-vine carignane - that hard, stoniness that if untempered may be a tad too austere for some - with the luscious, opulent fruitiness of a number of the softer blending grapes. In the wine, you’ve got rocks and raspberries (or maybe they’re mulberries or blackberries), a lively acidity, tannins that are firm but perfectly ripe, and the result is an amazing experience that is both intellectual and sensual. It is hard to really articulate why this experience is so special, but the yin and yang of soft and hard, of fruit and earth, creates the most electrifying aesthetic frisson.
Winemaking Notes
Dedicated to producing wines in a more unaffected, hands-off style, with a particular emphasis on the expression of terroir, or unique sense of place, Bonny Doon Vineyard fashioned the 2009 Contra from hand harvested grapes from the Northern most reaches of the Central Coast - old vines from Contra Costa County’s Gonsalves Vineyard and its more Southern climes, Santa Maria Valley’s famed Bien Nacido Vineyard. Hand sorted, indigenous yeast fermented in individual lots, extended maceration and 100% ML, before blending to achieve to a wine that is bursting with life, exuberance and deep vitality.
Vital Statistics
Vineyards: 79% Gonsalves, 16% Ca' del Solo, 3% Bella Grace, 2% Bien Nacido
Appellation: Central Coast
Alcohol by Volume: 13.5%
TA: 6.5 g/L
pH: 3.6
Production: 6,900
Wine club members always receive discounts on our wines:
1-11 bottles, save 15%
12-35 bottles, save 20%
36 bottles or more, save 25%
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2009 Contra - New Release!
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