Stick around long enough, and you will quickly catch on to my love-affair with California's central coast wine country. In the summer of 2007 I got in my car and drove due west 800 miles on a whim one day just to clear my head. Where I would end up was anyone's guess. Driving north along the coast from Santa Barbara towards Morro Bay, my intended destination for the night, I was inexplicably gripped by an urge to veer off PCH just past Goleta, and to head towards the oddly situated somewhat Disneyesque "Danish" village of Solvang. I arrived in Solvang before dark, just early enough to wander the surreal cobblestone streets past endless rows of half-timbered gingerbreadish souvenir and pastry shops. As weirdly captivating as I found this most kitschy of all California towns, I knew the next morning would find me rolling on to follow the myriad of intriguing little white arrows with vineyardy sounding names stenciled on them, pointing down winding two-lane highways. As soon as I had driven past the last pseudo-Scandinavian motel, I know this would be one of those rare life-changing drives in the country. Past white-fenced farms, eucalyptus-lined horse pastures, orchards, and small vineyards, and on into the rolling Santa Maria hills vineyards along the heart-stoppingly beautiful Foxen Road.
This was the kind of scenery that makes you glad to be alive, to find a new purpose, and to want to figure out how to put down roots immediately, right then and there. At the very least, it was the kind of place that makes you decide that come hell or high water you will be back, and back I came. Four months later my brother and I rolled back up the pacific coast highway for a spectacular week of camping on remote beaches, gallery hopping, sight-seeing, and some incredible eye-opening wine tasting in and around the ruggedly scenic, sage infused Santa Ynez Valley. The wines we tasted on this trip were principally from the warmer valley floor vineyards, and Santa Maria hills, mostly delicious, delicately fruity Rhone varietals and luscious tropically scented Sauvignon Blanc. It wasn't long, two years to be exact, before I returned with my girlfriend at the time for a second round of sampling the produce of the central coast vineyards, discovering the fabulously alluring Pinot Noirs and bright, delicate Chardonnays of the Santa Rita Hills. But these wines are material for another day.
Today we will take a look at Beckmen Vineyards, a producer named Food & Wine's "Most Promising Winery in 2000," and in 2007 as one of he "Top 100 Wineries" by Wine and Spirits magazine.
When I first visited Beckmen in 2007, they were just a year into the process of converting to all Biodynamic farming methods in their spectacular 365 acre Purisima Mountain Vineyard, and therefore the wines I tasted had not yet benefited from the meticulous and intensive procedures that have presumably influenced their current crop of wines. I must confess I have not tasted Beckmen's wines recently, but they are definitely on the agenda for an upcoming video episode. For Tom and Steve Beckmen, proprietors since the early 1990's, biodynamics is more than anything else a reflection of their commitment to the highest quality possible. What impresses me is that their commitment to Biodynamics was not a knee-jerk image-making ploy, but was instituted only after careful small-scale testing before implementation throughout the vineyard.
According to Steve Beckmen, the results have been quite impressive, with healthier vines that have produced wines which "achieve the purest possible expression of the Purisima Mountain terroir." Steve feels that they are now producing their best wines ever, and I am looking forward to proving him right.
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