2017 Halcon Vineyards Esquisto Estate Yorkville Highlands 750 ml

Based on Wine Access member feedback alone, Halcón Vineyards can do no wrong with any of the wines from the 2017 vintage, and this heady, 92-point red blend is a peppery, blue-fruited, under-$20 testament to this mountain winery’s already stellar reputation.

In the last year, we’ve been unable to keep anything on our shelves from this tiny, word-of-mouth producer, especially in recent months when we’ve managed to nab the scant allocations typically earmarked for Michelin-starred Bay Area hotspots like The French Laundry, Plumed Horse, Meadowood, State Bird Provisions, Californios, Saison (the list goes on)—where a wine like today’s would fetch at least two or three times its regular $32 winery price… we’ve got it for 38% less.

This 2017 Esquisto Estate Southern Rhône-style blend is the latest from Halcón’s treasure chest, and it’s as generous and showy as it is layered and nuanced. A classic blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, its boysenberry and blueberry aromas gain complexity with black tea leaf notes and a compelling herbal component. The palate is just as enticing, with rich fruit tones over layers of black pepper, dark chocolate, and exotic spices with a healthy dose of natural fruit tannins that will keep this red singing for over a decade.

We were so taken with this 2017 Esquisto that we cleared an afternoon over Labor Day weekend to drive all the way up to its Yorkville Highlands site—one of the highest elevation vineyards in California—to better understand why every wine from this Mendocino mountain seems to show even better than the last.  

“Probably because these wines are built to improve with time,” was owner Paul Gordon’s explanation. “So every additional month of age is another month closer to its sweet spot, two to three years from now”—a pretty impressive cellar statement for a $20 wine.

That age-worthy, Old-World style is exactly what Paul and Jackie Gordon were going for when they established Halcón in 2004 after falling in love with Mendocino. As natives of England, the husband and wife duo wanted to seize California wines’ inherent fruit character, but deliver it with the precision and minerality more closely associated with European wines.

Paul prefers the funky, spicy side of Grenache and 2017 was his first vintage that was 100% dry-farmed, imbuing the Esquisto with intensity and the transparent representation of place that has endeared Halcón to Northern California’s most respected sommeliers.

Modeled after his favorite Châteauneuf-du-Papes (Charvin, Vieux Télégraphe, Beaucastel), Paul wanted to see what temperatures much cooler than the Southern Rhône would reveal in the Esquisto blend, proudly boasting, “I believe we have the coldest climate planting of Mourvèdre in the world!”

At 2,500 feet atop a windblown mountain overlooking the Pacific, the high-elevation aspect is helped along by the same schist soils and climate found in the Côte-Rôtie, emphasizing the savory intensity, rocky minerality, and peppery drive that’s evident in every sip of the 2017 Esquisto. The result is a mid-weight wine that’s remarkably similar to those found in France.

The Gordons produce such little wine—only 210 cases of 2017 Esquisto were made—that they don’t bother sending the wines out for press. But the critics still seek them out. The Sacramento Bee’s legendary critic Mike Dunne christened the winery as the “lonely Mendocino outpost yielding wines of uncommon authority.” Vinous critic Antonio Galloni agreed, calling the 2017s “a terrific set of releases from Halcón,” while Wine Advocate alum Jeb Dunnuck recently wrote, “I’ve always been a fan of Halcón, and if you like cool-climate wines that have depth, texture and balance, you’re going to love these… Given the quality, these wines are seriously under-priced.”

Superfan Dunnuck has yet to review the 2017 Esquisto, but he called the last vintage “just a joy to drink… reminiscent of a Gigondas from the Southern Rhône Valley.”

Thanks to our early support of Paul’s Mendocino marvels, we’ve been first in line for wines like this gorgeous blend that would normally go straight to the Bay Area’s most iconic dining destinations. At $20, we’re not taking for granted this rare opportunity to have a stockpile of Michelin-star wine to zhuzh up our weeknight dinner routine for months to come. 

And based on the recent runs on every Halcón wine we’ve offered this year, we’re confident that you’ll do the same.