What do you get when you combine syrah, tannat, tempranillo, petite sirah, touriga, malbec, aglianico, nero d’avola, grenache, petite verdot and montepulciano with a sense of humor and a bizarre personality? If you’re Randall Grahm you get Big House Red, a project now overseen by a Romanian winemaker and made in a facility separate from where the Bonny Doon wines are made. For all I know Randall sold the entire thing, but the website still reeks of his whacked-out little world.
Anyway, some people might complain that this wine, whose makeup varies from year to year (sometimes it has valdigue, counoise and/or carignane in it), lacks varietal definition. I don’t. Year after year it’s a gulpable, fun wine for cheap and the current version (2007) is no differerent. In fact, it’s one of the better ones. Drink up!