A whispering of Syrah

The Beckmen Vineyards story begins like a formula script about a businessman who goes nuts about wine and leaves the rat race to start a small winery with his son. But then the plot takes a surprising twist: Instead of automatically planting Chardonnay or Cabernet, as most newcomers to the wine world do, he hitches a ride on the Rhone Ranger bandwagon.

And less than 10 years later, he and his son are in the front seat, leading the pack with wonderfully delicious Syrahs, Grenaches and Rhone-style blends that are more interesting and less expensive than most Napa Valley Cabernets.

An avid Bordeaux collector for years, Tom Beckmen sold his music software company, Roland Corp. U.S., in 1993 and bought a small wine estate in the Santa Ynez Valley, founding Beckmen Vineyards.

So far, so unremarkable. But in 1996 Tom and his winemaker son, Steve, took the step that put them on the cutting edge of California’s rapidly evolving wine industry. They purchased (or stole, at a measly $3,000 an acre) 365 acres of virgin land in the rugged Purisima Hills near Los Olivos. Over the next three years they planted 130 acres of closely spaced vines on the property, which they named Purisima Mountain. They observed the variations in soil, topography and microclimate, and selected grape varieties and rootstocks to match.

Despite Tom’s abiding love for Cabernet-based Bordeaux, he and Steve listened to the voice of the land. And it said, “Plant Rhone grapes.” Which they did, in an exemplary way.

They determined that the property’s dramatic contours (up to 1,250 feet above sea level), its scant topsoil and limestone subsoil, along with warm days and ocean-cooled nights, made it an excellent platform for varieties that thrive in similar conditions in the sunny south of France. So they installed a multifaceted roster of Rhone varieties, including Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Marsanne and several others.

Steve and vineyard manager Jeff Newton designed the planting block by block, to give each variety its special place in the sun. Each significant shift in soil type and exposure called for a specific clone-rootstock combination. “I blend vineyards, because I think that makes more interesting wines than single sites,” explains Steve. “So from the very beginning I saw it not as one large vineyard, but as a palette of small vineyards.”

Prior to planting, he put in long days four-wheeling around the property with a compass and contour maps. “I drew in where I wanted the blocks and where the rows would go. I wanted to keep it as natural as possible, so we designed the rows to flow with the contours of the hillsides.”

The Beckmens are proving that while the cooler parts of the Santa Ynez Valley may remain indisputably Pinot Noir country, the warmer areas slightly inland are capable of producing heroic Syrah and Grenache. Cuvee le Bec is essentially a California Cotes-du-Rhone blend -- primarily Grenache and Syrah, with a dollop of Mourvedre and a dash of Counoise. The little-known Counoise, obscure even in France, is a red grape that makes ho-hum wine on its own but has a mysterious capacity for punching up the flavor profile of a blend.

The 2002 Beckmen Vineyards Grenache Rose is remarkable, one of the most delicious roses I’ve tasted this summer. Its brilliant, deep-garnet hue would qualify it as a red wine by most standards, though not when compared with Beckmen’s deeply saturated red Grenache bottlings. That deep color, the Beaujolais-like body and intense fruit flavor proclaim its origin as a deliberate wine, not a byproduct of red winemaking.

Although most roses are made with juice bled off tanks to further concentrate red fermentations, this one is made from scratch. To capture their relatively light color and bright acidity, the grapes are picked a little earlier than they would be for red wines. The juice is fermented in older barrels (for rounder body and texture without overt oak flavor) and then touched up with a small fraction of red Counoise or Mourvedre for added depth.

The 2001 Estate Grenache has the radiance of a candle viewed through several layers of red stained glass. It’s a plump, luscious wine with a bright note of red rose in the perfume and juicy fruit flavors delivered with mouthwatering acidity. The 2001 Purisima Mountain Grenache is a single-block, single-clone wine (the so-called Tablas Creek or Beaucastel clone). Incredibly, it’s a step beyond the Estate Grenache in sheer intensity.

The Beckmens planted seven different clones of Syrah, each offering a subtle variation of Syrah character. They comprise 22 distinct blocks, which are picked cluster by cluster as the grapes ripen, yielding more than 60 separate Syrah fermentations. “First we understood the blocks,” he says. “Now we’re looking into the differences within each block.”

About half of those blocks yielded the 2001 Beckmen Estate Syrah, a rich concoction of savory, earthy, black fruit flavors with spicy overtones and a pleasantly raspy texture that cleans the palate nicely after a bite of, say, grilled lamb chop.

The 2001 Beckman Purisima Mountain Syrah comes from one small block of vines that are all Estrella River clone. It’s a regal Syrah, showing characteristic high-toned black pepper spiciness over dense yet crystal-clear fruit seasoned with a little sweet oak.

These wines don’t match the power of the slab-thick, often ponderous, yet indescribably delicious Shiraz from Australia’s Barossa Valley, nor are they quite as fine as the noble, etched-in-stone Syrahs from Cornas and Hermitage in France’s northern Rhone Valley. They’re purely and beautifully Californian, expressions of a Pacific-Mediterranean climate that are perfect with our Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.

For all that Rhone emphasis, the Beckmens haven’t forsaken the Bordeaux side entirely. They did plant Cabernet Sauvignon on one rocky patch of ground at Purisima Mountain -- and therein lies a paradox. Although their Syrah and Grenache are bigger, bolder wines than the typical Rhone model, Beckmen Cabernet is a little lighter and more elegant than its Napa Valley counterparts.

True to its relatively cool location, it’s a Bordeaux-lover’s Cab with bright red fruit, supple tannins and lively acidity. And there are only about 500 cases a year, which sell out quickly -- so it’s kind of a cult Cab after all.

Meanwhile, the Rhone movement continues to escalate. And at a time when it’s still rare for a winery to produce both Syrah and Grenache, Beckmen is taking the lead with multiple bottlings of both.