Popelouchum

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Country of Origin: USA
Location: San Juan Bautista
People: Randall Grahm, Owner & Winegrower
Viticulture: Practicing Organic

Items

Popelouchum 2022 Blanc, San Benito County Login JD 92
Popelouchum 2023 Blanc, San Benito County Login JD 93
Popelouchum 2022 Pinot Noir, San Benito County Login JD 94 In Stock
Popelouchum 2023 Pinot Noir, San Benito County Login JD 96 In Stock

Behold! The poet laureate and mad scientist returns. Cream is thrilled to be, yet again, working with Bonny Doon founder and OG Rhone Ranger raconteur, Randall Grahm, representing his life’s work and utopian passion project Popelouchum, an experimental vineyard located in San Juan Bautista, in San Benito County in California’s Central Coast. Wait, what?

Popelouchum (pope-loh-SHOOM): a Mutsun word meaning paradise.

This 415-acre estate was purchased by Randall in 2011. Always a work in progress, he is attempting what no vigneron has ever attempted: to propagate 10,000 new grape varieties, from disease-resistant progenitors, with the aim of:

  • Identifying one or more new “genius” grape varieties
  • Employing a radical new methodology for creating complexity in wine (the elucidation of terroir) by creating a highly diverse population in a vineyard (every variety being genetically distinct from the other)

In September of 2024, we had the pleasure of visiting the Popelouchum Estate in San Juan Bautista and “working” harvest and hanging with Randall and his petite crew.

The Central Coast is one of our favorite US wine regions. San Juan is, according to Randall, one of the coolest wine zones in the US (both literally and figuratively). We first heard about this project over 10 years ago when Cream was slinging the Bonny Doon juice and hearing Randall's diatribes about Bio Char.

Fast forward to 2024, and this magical site is now planted, thriving and producing:

  • Pinot Noir (his original pursuit and white whale)
  • Syrah
  • Sirene (Northern Rhone Syrah clone)
  • The 3 Gs - Grenache Rouge (Rayas clone), Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris (swoon)
  • Sagrantino
  • Ruche
  • Dolcetto
  • Picolit
  • Furmint
  • Harslevelu
  • Ciliegiolo

The Pinot Noir is very interesting, with two vintages on the way to Chicago. Perhaps Randall has cracked the code. The Blanc from Grenache Blanc and Gris is epic—we are also launching with two vintages. We cannot wait for the Sirene and Grenache Rouge in vintages to come. The Ruche in tank from 2023 was a mind-bender in the best possible way. Hoping to eventually get an allocation for our Illinois clients.

The long-term vision is one of both simplicity and great complexity: a property that will produce wine of distinction and a destination to host thinkers, leaders, contemporaries, and wine enthusiasts—an epicenter of a new wine community.

Reviews

  • Popelouchum 2023 Blanc, San Benito County
    Jeb Dunnuck
    Rating: 93 (4/11/2025)
    Made in a reductive, Burgundian style by the one and only Randall Grahm, from 60% Grenache Blanc and 40% Grenache Gris, the 2023 Grenache Blanc Grenache Gris Popelouchum Vineyard Estate shows the coolness and late ripening of the vintage, with a touch of reduction that works well here. Floral, tightly textured, and tasting of salinity, pear, and apple skin, Grahm says if you like red Burgundy, this is your wine. Interesting and creamy on the palate, it was aged in relatively young barrels and integrates the wood well. Enjoyable now, this should be drink well another 5-7 years.
  • Popelouchum 2022 Blanc, San Benito County
    Jeb Dunnuck
    Rating: 92 (4/11/2025)
    Given two hours of skin contact, the trick in making the 2022 Grenache Blanc Grenache Gris Popelouchum Vineyard Estate (54% Grenache Gris, 46% Grenache Blanc) was taming the acidity, so winemaker Randall Grahm picked the grapes a little riper than usual. Medium-bodied, it has a lush mouthfeel and is crowd-pleasing in its restrained richness and well-defined, salinity-laden flavors of ripe pear. Drink now-2030.
  • Popelouchum 2022 Pinot Noir, San Benito County
    Jeb Dunnuck
    Rating: 94 (4/11/2025)
    With close spacing (as referenced on the label), Grahm believes he can grow grapes with minimal irrigation that need very little else, and the clusters will produce small berries. In the cellar, he tries to avoid astringency by being careful not to over-extract. Closed and brooding in red berry, the 2022 Pinot Noir "20,000 pieds (vines)/ha" Popelouchum Vineyard Estate needs more time to come around. Enjoy 2028-2032.
  • Popelouchum 2023 Pinot Noir, San Benito County
    Jeb Dunnuck
    Rating: 96 (4/11/2025)
    Densely planted at 20,000 vines per hectare, with 12 different randomized clones, the 2023 Pinot Noir Exuberant Popelouchum Vineyard Estate is an elegant, delicate, and perfumed wine, slatey in crisp tart red fruit. One hundred percent whole-cluster fermented; the stems were air-dried. The peppery, savory quality of this unfined/unfiltered wine is profound. Drink 2025-2033.