2021 Beckmen Vineyards Cuvee Le Bec Santa Ynez Valley 750 ml

From Wine Access head writer Pete Holland: 

The first case of wine I bought in my life was Beckmen Vineyards’ Cuvée Le Bec. It was 2008, and it was a serious thrill. Visiting the tasting room, forking over what felt like a serious sum, carrying my box past tourists buying a token bottle or two—it made me feel like I’d become a real wine-lover. 

To me, Cuvée Le Bec embodies the pure pleasure of a great glass of red wine, and the critics are huge fans, too. Robert Parker called it “one of the world’s finest bargains.” Wine Enthusiast’s Santa Barbara denizen Matt Kettmann said it “always overdelivers” in his 92-point Editors’ Choice review of the ‘21. Jeb Dunnuck says, “I always love this cuvée,” which “will stand toe to toe with the finest Côtes du Rhône out there.”

In the early 1990s, at the start of his quote-unquote retirement, Tom Beckmen purchased a ranch and a vineyard on the outskirts of Santa Ynez. His son Steve, then in his twenties, took a huge interest in his dad’s new venture.

By the time I barrel-tasted with Steve Beckmen, he was firmly in charge at Beckmen Vineyards, applying the inspiration he’d picked up on a Rhône Valley trip to his fantastic Santa Ynez Valley terroir. He was making high-scoring Syrahs and Grenaches off the Purisima Mountain, and slivers of those lots were going into Cuvée Le Bec. 

Composed of 50% Syrah, 38% Grenache, 7% Mourvèdre, and 5% seldom-seen-in-California Counoise, the 2021 is barrel-fermented in neutral French oak and polished to a smooth sheen. It’s such a pleasurable wine—my cases never lasted long, and I doubt yours will either. 

– Pete