2018 Beckmen Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Ynez Valley 750 ml

“If this said ‘Napa Valley’ on the label, there'd be another digit on the price.”

We were sitting on the wood porch of a tasting room with Jeff Beckmen, drinking what he and his brother Steve were calling the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon they’d ever produced from the Santa Ynez Valley. It's a vibrant, muscular Santa Ynez Valley bottling that belongs in the incredibly exclusive 94-point, under-$30 club for California Cabernet Sauvignons.

Since 2009, we’ve had fabulous success selling world-class reds and Rhône varieties from the Beckmen clan—“one of the best producers from Santa Ynez,” according to Robert Parker. Yet they were convinced this 2018 was their all-time high-water mark for Cabernet from the appellation.

Vinous founder Antonio Galloni found it to be exceptional as well, unloading praise in a 94-point love letter, calling this bottle “such a gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon” and “an expansive wine endowed with tremendous depth and complexity.” If you’re interested in buying one of California’s best efforts, don’t miss this one. Dense, rich, and poised, it fits right in with Napa heavyweights, while costing just a fraction of the price.

When the invite came in from Jeff to taste through Beckmen's 2018 lineup, we couldn’t wait to make the trip out to Los Olivos. Their wines never fail to impress, and they exemplify what focus and patience can accomplish in the vineyards.

Tom Beckman purchased 40 acres of land in the Santa Ynez Valley back in 1994. Long before it was a buzzword, Tom’s son and self-taught winemaker Steve began instituting biodynamic farming practices. Over the years, the soils became darker, richer, and less compacted, translating into wines of outstanding freshness and precision.

Steve is the only winemaker the estate has ever had, and his expertise and intimate knowledge of the land here is unparalleled. Most of the grapes for this wine are sourced from the Thomas and Judith Beckmen Estate Vineyard in Los Olivos District—the site at the heart of the estate. Sitting near the valley floor, the heat helps grapes ripen in well-draining gravel soils that are ideally suited to Cabernet cultivation. The Santa Ynez Valley’s east-west orientation introduces cooling winds off the Pacific that counteract the heat and extend the growing season.

2018 was the Cabernet year the Beckmens had been waiting for. With long hangtimes, ripening occurred at a leisurely pace, allowing the team to pick each block as it reached the perfect pitch, instead of rushing to harvest dozens of acres all at once. Multiple rootstocks and clonal selections give lush layers to the Cabernet expression, filling out the dense purple-fruit core with accents of blackberry preserves and spice.