Metro Newspapers publishes weekly newspapers in California's Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz County and the North Bay. Metro's award-winning publications reach more than half a million readers in the San Francisco Bay Area every week.

Cover Story: A King Without a Kingdom

In Bonny Doon's 25th year, trickster Randall Grahm gives up puns for the biodynamic revolution and makes a serious bid for his legacy

By Christina Waters

RANDALL GRAHM has been called many things: Rhône Ranger, marketing Svengali, punster extraordinaire. Over the last quarter-century, the lanky, long-haired trickster-winemaker has reinvented himself enough times to make even Madonna blush.

After switching his attention to a handful of Italian varietals, Grahm went on to unleash dozens of proprietary styles, each with its own satirical label. To the high-end syrahs for which he was lauded, he added a low-end line with controversial screw-top closures. By the end of the last century, oenophiles were dizzy from all the spin Grahm inflected upon his postmodern empire. But he kept up the pace. And just when the empire had ballooned, some said, out of control, Grahm pulled off yet another transformation.

As if to exorcize the lees of his youthful, "gonzo" winemaking style, Grahm radically cut back his operation last year—from 450,000 cases to 35,000 cases—sold off the popular low-end Big House and Cardinal Zin series and jettisoned the Pacific Rim Riesling brand to the Pacific Northwest. He retired three-quarters of his employees. Maintaining production of the flagship "Cigare" series largely from sourced grapes, Grahm, viticulturist Nicole Walsh and associate winemaker Jillian Johnson are focusing on a handful of estate wines made from the Ca' del Solo property near Soledad. ...

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