Beckmen Santa Barbara Cuvee Le Bec 1998
Other Red Blends
Product Details
Varietal
Producer
Vintage
1998
Size
750ML
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 1998 growing season was greatly affected by the El Nino weather pattern with a cold wet spring and cool growing season the vines were slow getting started and slow in ripening. We finally got some nice weather in September & October which helped the grapes achieve full ripeness. The grapes for this wine were harvested in mid October with the Mourvedre and Grenache harvested from the Stolpman Vineyard and the Syrah from our estate vineyard. The hand harvested grapes were destemed and slightly crushed and fermented in open tops for 12 to 14 days depending on the lot. The varietals were all processed separately and then blended in May of 1999. After pressing the wine was put to barrel where spontaneous MLF completed. The Grenache and Mourvedre were aged in neutral French oak while the Syrah saw 25% new French oak. After the wine was blended it finished aging in neutral oak and aged for a total of 14 months. The wine is unfined and lightly filtered before bottling in December of 1999.
The goal of Beckmen Vineyards is to become the most prominent family owned vineyard estate in Santa Barbara County. Rhone style wines cultivated from Purisima Mountain Vineyard will be their contribution to the next chapter of winegrowing in the Santa Ynez Valley. To appreciate this goal is to be able to understand the history of the Santa Barbara Wine country and the pioneering spirit of Tom Beckmen and his family.
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.
CLW541240_1998 Item# 23150