Beckmen Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Purisima Mountain Vineyard 2016

Beckmen Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Purisima Mountain Vineyard 2016

Starting out and a terrific Sauvignon Blanc that offers lots of pretty, citrus, mint and floral aromas and flavors, the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc Purisima Mountain Vineyard is medium-bodied, pure and downright classy on the palate. It’s a more fruit-driven effort that will drink nicely over the coming year.

I was reorganizing one of our case warehouses when I discovered an awesome surprise: around 50 unlabeled cases of half bottles, buried around old pallets of empty glass. For years I thought these cases were old empty glass, but as I unearthed the pallet, I saw the boxes had been date stamped, a sign that these were not empty bottles but wine bottled in 2001. I grabbed a couple of bottles and headed to the lab to figure out this mystery wine. I checked the date in our records and figured out it was the 1999 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. I popped open a bottle and a humongous smile came over my face. I thought, “Wow, after 18 years – and being lost for 15 of them – the wine is in pristine condition, as fresh as it was when it was bottled 16 years ago.”

Back in 1999, our first vintage off Purisima Mountain Vineyard, I left some Sauvignon Blanc to dry on the vine for a late harvest style wine. We selected each cluster as it became ready, harvesting over a few week period in late November/early December. I used to do some crazy stuff back in the day, like fermenting and aging in 100% new French Oak for 16 months. This is the true nectar of the Gods; exotic, flamboyant, unctuous, and utterly delicious, the 1999 is perfect right now and has the potential to live longer than all of us drinking it today. Please do not miss this hidden gem!