2013 Beckmen Vineyards Grenache Purisima Mountain Vineyard Ballard Canyon 750 ml

“Grenache? It’s like my kids! It misbehaves!” — Steve Beckmen on Purisima Mountain

It had always been a mystery to us. While thousands of acres on the coast are planted to Syrah, little high-quality vineyard land has been devoted to Grenache, the more floral and voluptuous variety that is the backbone of the great wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas.

During a dizzying ATV tour of Purisima Mountain last August (not for the faint of heart), we came to understand why so few Californians farm Grenache as they do in Châteauneuf — and why Steve Beckmen’s staggering 2013 may well be the finest example ever crafted on the Santa Barbara coast.

“At first, we thought Grenache would be easy. It seemed to flourish all over Europe. So much easier than Syrah, we figured. Let’s just say, we figured wrong!” Steve laughed during a pause atop a hillside, before leading us barreling toward the terraces in the center cut of the hillside. “We had planted Grenache in a great spot. Perfect exposure and drainage. But we trellised it as we did Syrah — reining it in, pinching its sprawl. It didn’t take long to figure out that Grenache doesn’t like order. It’s like my kids! By nature, it misbehaves!”

This was the viticultural puzzle with which Steve Beckmen was confronted. The greatest Grenache in the world — that grown in the sandy soils of Châteauneuf-du-Pape — enjoys long growing seasons. Head-trained and widely spaced, the vines grow wildly, pushing out instead of up. While these sprawling bush plants can yield a large crop, growers have learned to drop fruit aggressively. Leaving just a few bunches per plant maximizes aeration and allows the summer wind to cleanse each bunch, fending off mildew and disease.

After a half-dozen years of farming his Grenache as he did his Syrah, Steve Beckmen told his dad that they needed to completely retrain their Grenache. Tom, who has poured a fortune into Purisima Mountain, must have rolled his eyes. Then he did exactly as his son suggested.

We hopped off the ATV and scooped up the dark-sand soil, strewn with small chunks of white limestone. We eyeballed the few clusters per plant, each perfectly aerated. The berries were pert, the bunches perfectly uniform. We looked at the crop load — by our estimation barely 2 tons per acre — and calculated the economics behind Steve Beckmen’s viticultural experiment.

A half-hour later, seated at the kitchen table at the top of the mountain, we tasted Beckman’s 2013 Purisima Mountain — one of the most extraordinary Grenaches ever produced in California according to our scorecards and that of The Wine Advocate.

Dark ruby-purple. Exotic aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, violets, lavender, and sweet spice, framed by new-wood cedar. Big, bold, and voluptuous on entry, massively concentrated (in the hot 2013 growing season), filled with a mix of black- and red-fruit preserves, finishing with terrific floral lift and length. Drink now-2025.

94 points from Parker’s Wine Advocate. $48 on release. $29 today. That's the good news. The bad? Just 576 bottles are up for grabs. (We had 50 cases. Guess who bought the missing two?)