Winemaker Notes
VINEYARDS & HARVEST
2002 was a cooler vintage allowing long time on the vine ensuring explosive complex flavors. Prior to harvest, we made three fruit drops to limit yields to 1 ton per acre, in order to ensure optimal ripeness. Grapes were hand harvested in mid-October and came in perfectly ripe with amazing varietal character.
WINEMAKING
88%Grenache and 12% Syrah from Purisima Mountain Vineyard
The Tablas clone of grenache was co-fermented with clone 887 of syrah for better integration of flavor. Grapes from this individual section of vineyard were destemed, gently crushed and cold-soaked for 48 hours to extract color and taste-enhancing phenolics. Fermentation took place in open tops for a period of 10 days. The caps were punched down by hand three times daily. After fermentation, the free run juice was gravity racked straight to barrel. The wine underwent spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrel to integrate fruit and texture. The wine was barrel aged for 16 months in 1 year of French oak barrels to ensure full expression of varietal character. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
In 1996 Beckmen Estate Vineyards purchased Purisima Mountain Vineyard a 365-acre Estate overlooking the Santa Ynez Valley, where there are ideal soils and climate for Rhone varieties. They began planting in 1997 and have completed a total of 130 acres at this time. The high density plantings are designed to optimize different hillside exposures and elevations.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.