2018 Skyhook Red Wine Bennett Valley Sonoma County 750 ml

Winemaker Derek Beitler enjoyed a long tutelage at Caymus under owner Chuck Wagner, who happens to be his uncle. Swaggering, high-powered reds come second nature to him.

But then Derek can turn on a dime and craft a wine like today’s—earthy, restrained, with classic accents of olive tapenade and practically oozing with Old World grace—that tastes like it escaped from a 100-year-old stronghold of the Southern Rhône!

Sumptuously finished in French oak, 30% new, this is a just-released exclusive and an absolute winner for the dinner table.

And if you were lucky enough to buy into some of our previous wines from Derek, like his releases from Bodega Rancho and Cerro, you’ll know that he’s a winemaker who thinks hard about barrel and bottle age.

“The lesson I’ve learned is that Syrah and cool-climate wines really benefit if you have the means and the bandwidth for that extra aging time,” he’s told us. “Cool-climate Syrahs and Grenaches can have some edges on them. But after a couple years, you start getting seriously crowd-pleasing fireworks.”

Vested with a bold structure, the 2018 Skyhook Red Wine Bennet Valley doesn’t start off with a bang. Give it 10-15 minutes to open up—and then buckle for a generous beauty that absolutely floods the palate with juicy plums and sun-kissed blackberries.

The 60% Syrah hails from the Vivio Vineyard, one of the highest sites in Bennett Valley, where volcanic soil and ocean fog from the Russian River imprint grapes with mineral finesse and powerful intensity. The 40% Grenache was contracted from Jemrose Vineyard—another Bennett Valley gem known for its stiff breezes and long record of producing premiere Rhône grapes.