2012 Beckmen Vineyards Big Hands Red Wine Purisima Mountain 750 ml

2012 Beckmen Vineyards “Big Hands” Purisima Mountain — AI, Kobe, and an LA Clippers 2-Guard

Our appointment on Ontiveros Road was for 1 p.m. sharp. But when the guy in front of you at Steve Beckmen’s tasting table is 6’4”, has both an impeccable palate AND one of the sweetest jump shots on the planet, even WineAccess is obliged to take a back seat.

When we first met Steve, he was just 24 years old. On the surface, he was just another Southern California surfer boy; underneath, it didn’t take long to figure out that Beckmen had inherited his father’s drive to do something extraordinary.

In 1993, on a lark, we invited Steve to accompany us on a buying trip to France and Italy. He accepted. To this day, the younger Beckmen credits our three-day stay with Paolo De Marchi at Isole e Olena for having paved the way for the Beckmens’ historic purchase and planting of Purisima Mountain.

THE MOUNTAIN, as Steve explained to the L.A. Clippers shooting guard, is perched on the western side of Ballard Canyon. Comprised mostly of clay and gravel, Purisima’s distinguishing feature is its limestone subsoil, closely mimicking the steep hillsides of Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. The planting of Purisima Mountain was planned with painstaking precision — 37 distinct blocks each farmed to biodynamic precision, varieties and clones chosen according to the exposition and contour of the mountain.

Ever since Robert Parker called Beckmen’s “Le Bec” “one of the wine world's finest bargains,” and Wine Spectator placed that same voluptuous Rhône blend on its list of “100 Outstanding Values,” the Ontiveros Road tasting room has become a magnet for Hollywood actors and sweet-shooting two guards. After a brief introduction to “J.J.,” the winemaker to the stars politely excused himself. He had something “experimental” that he wanted us to taste.

As we waited for Steve to return, we thought about being polite, and not bothering our tasting-table “buddy” with a question we’d always wanted to ask. Then, we did as we usually do, and threw decorum to the wind.

“Who are the toughest guys you’ve ever had to guard?” we asked.

The leading scorer in Duke basketball history didn’t miss a beat. “Forget about LeBron. He’s on another level — a logical mix of Jordan, Bird, and Magic, with a little bit of Bill Russell thrown in. Otherwise, the toughest? They’re the ones who know how to draw contact, forcing you to lay back. Then, they kill you. Four guys: Iverson. Dwyane Wade from 2007-2010. Kobe. And Ginobili in his prime.”

The greatest scorer in Duke basketball history continued on, so engagingly, a brilliant student of the game we loved to play, but could never hope to master. We half-hoped our host would never come back from the cellar. But when Steve Beckmen finally returned, and then uncorked the bottle of his “experimental” 2012 Big Hands, even J.J. lost interest in basketball.

2012 was one of the greatest vintages in Ballard Canyon history. Yields were modest on Purisima Mountain. There was no sign of desiccation or raisining. Natural concentration was extreme, even as acids remained firm. Steve Beckmen crafted just a few hundred cases of Purisima Mountain “Big Hands” — offered ONLY to wine club members and visitors to the Ontiveros Road tasting room. The wine blew us — and J.J. — off our stools.

The 2012 Purisima Mountain “Big Hands” is comprised of 55% Grenache, 22% Counoise, 13% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre. Opaque purple to the rim. Lavish aromatically, featuring a luscious mix of black raspberry preserves, sweet spices, violets, and thyme. Big, broad, and plush on the attack, at once deeply concentrated and light on its feet, packed with crushed red and black fruits, finishing with the extraordinary vibrancy and lift that comes only from the limestone substrata found in places like Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, and Purisima Mountain. Drink now for its youthful hedonism or lay down — as we will — until the early 2020s.

60 cases remain in the Beckmen library. J.J. purchased one. WineAccess took the rest. $16. Shipping included on 6.