Galloni: “Unctuous, heady…shows just how distinctive Ballard Canyon is”
- 94 pts Vinous94 pts Vinous
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
2019 Beckmen Vineyards Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard Ballard Canyon 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
A Blessed Site, and a Biodynamic Pioneer
Steve Beckmen’s Purisima Mountain Vineyard is one of the most extraordinary Syrah sites in California—and it’s why his Beckmen Vineyards Purisima Mountain Syrah boasts more depth, character, and complexity than just about any under-$30 red in America.
Antonio Galloni of Vinous called the 2019 a “wild, exotic wine,” bestowing it a glowing 94-point score. Biodynamically raised in a place as perfectly suited to Syrah as Russian River is to Pinot or Napa is to Cabernet, this is one of California’s great steals. It’s a wine that belongs in the cellar of anyone who wants to taste a marquee red from one of the best—and most meticulously farmed—terroirs in the state.
Steve Beckmen was one of the first people we ever heard use the word “biodynamic.” That method of farming has been an obsession of his for decades, and he long ago recognized that top producers like Château Pontet-Canet, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and Méo-Camuzet all credited biodynamic practices with transforming their estates. So he sought to do the same.
“I was excited about never spraying a drop of chemical herbicide or pesticide on one of my Syrah vines,” Steve told us about his move to biodynamic. “But second, Santa Barbara is dry. Sometimes very dry. Everyone I spoke to in France told me that once the vines adapted to the new farming protocol, if there was too little water on the surface, the roots plunged, finding reserves underground.”
Steve’s are truly some of the finest Rhône grapes in California, and after picking up gorgeous toasted notes in 35% new and 65% twice-used French oak, they’re expressed in a bottle that way overdelivers for the price.