2019 Shannon Ridge 13 Rams Red Wine Lake County 750 ml

Shannon Ridge 13 Rams Red Wine is exceptional—a 100% estate-grown, certified-organic, inky-black blockbuster that shows exactly why Napa Valley icons, like grower Andy Beckstoffer, are flocking to Lake County.

In the 1970s, wineries like Ridge, Freemark Abbey, and Concannon pushed the deep, dark, tooth-staining Petite Sirah to new heights of popularity. In 1976, 14,000 acres had been planted in the state. However, by 1995, due to Chardonnay and Cabernet hysteria, Petite Sirah acreage had bottomed out at less than a fifth of its peak.

But the story was nowhere near over. Petite Sirah is pushing back toward an all-time high, in both acreage and quality, thanks to its indefatigable deliciousness, its ageworthiness—and growers like Clay Shannon.

Shannon owns a big estate and has a big vision. It’s that ambition—to be one of the greatest, grandest wineries of the next generation. Next to famed vineyard impresario Beckstoffer, who has also invested heavily in cultivating the region’s potential, practically no one else is operating on the same scale here.

With about half its total acreage covered by vines, the Clay Shannon estate practically boasts its own microclimate. The hills are windier than at the lake level but warmer in the evenings. In the mornings, you can see the fog settling at lower elevations. These conditions, so conducive to vine health, help focus the ripening of the grapes. The berries are tiny, the tannins are huge yet refined, and the resulting wine is so impressive it might just inspire you to go see the place yourself.