2016 Shypoke ‘Keep’ Calistoga 750 ml

“This is a personal favorite of mine,” is how Amanda McCrossin, the wine director at PRESS Restaurant in St. Helena prefaced a round of pours of the 2016 Shypoke Keep, a unique red blend and preferred house wine of a 100-point winemaker (the one you may have never heard of). “Pete Heitz makes about 11 barrels,” she continued, “only enough for us to pour it by the glass, some to sell to his mailing list, and the rest seems to find its way to the French Laundry.” 

We asked McCrossin to reveal the blend of grapes in the dangerously gulp-able, spicy, medium-bodied yet supple red she’d poured for us. In her charming and fast-paced manner, however, she darted off to another table, but not before challenging us: “You tell me when I get back.”

Some of us guessed Cabernet or Merlot or maybe Malbec. At least one person looked up the wine list at the French Laundry and found a 2013 vintage currently on the books for $125. Others simply marveled over how brilliantly it paired with PRESS’ now-legendary must-try bacon-sampler—perhaps a clue.

When McCrossin returned, we couldn’t take the suspense any longer and begged for more details, but not before asking if she had a close enough relationship to secure bottles for our Wine Access Wine Club members. Even though none of us guessed the correct makeup—50% Charbono, 30% Grenache, 20% Petite Sirah, 10% Malbec—we didn’t let it spoil the night. We ordered two more bottles. 

Peter Heitz is not from the same Heitz family that owns Martha’s Vineyard. This Peter Heitz is a fourth-generation winemaker from Calistoga who spent nine vintages crafting Beringer’s Private Reserve, and since 2007 has served as winemaker at Turnbull Wine Cellars where he’s turned out numerous 95+ wines, including two perfect Parker 100-pointers. “Pete’s the nicest, most humble, most modest, warm human being you’ll ever meet,” McCrossin told us. And just what does this perfectionist, nice-guy winemaker drink at home? 

Well, he had to make that wine—this 2016 Shypoke Keep. Shypoke Vineyard in Calistoga is one of the oldest continually operated family farms in town. “‘Keep’ is a wine we started to pour at PRESS by the glass not long after meeting Pete,” McCrossin explained. “We’d always had something from Shypoke and Turnbull, which is one of the few Oakville wineries making accessible, high-scoring wines with a sense of place.” 

Heitz crafts each vintage of Shypoke at the cellars at Turnbull. With Keep, the focus is on Grenache, which although makes up just 30 percent of the blend, is front and center. “An embarrassment of stunning Grenache,” as Heitz puts it. One barrel comes from one-third of an acre in Calistoga, while the rest comes from 70-year-old plantings at Poor Ranch in Mendocino. Heitz then infuses the Grenache with Charbono grapes for “baritone tannins,” Malbec for juiciness, and old-vine Petite Sirah for blue-fruit fireworks.

Save for the website, where it’s typically sold-out, and small local Napa wine shops with a bottle or two, most of Shypoke Cellars wines never make it across the California border into the rest of the 49 states. With help from McCrossin, we were able to pry away 30 cases so a little more than one barrel out of 11 would be heading straight to the homes of Wine Access Wine Club members, making it that much harder to obtain here in the Valley. Cheers, and enjoy.