![Wine Club 4405](https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1375&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=2200&s=2cccbb919ec8d0a1c376005b529103c7 2200w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1250&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=2000&s=cab04d645b9ffac77edc1ee1339ba1ee 2000w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1125&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1800&s=3bcfd72cf8d3fa679ce9f9a723cb04b2 1800w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1000&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1600&s=2dd4856b27d9ac533fed242723ee495a 1600w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=812&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1300&s=f5cb7233da76bf5404c6d33987300d98 1300w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=687&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1100&s=982767152aa5c757b402e79d6504a73d 1100w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=562&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=900&s=838910eb8ad81848f20cc1b65b0a4235 900w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=500&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=800&s=66667f86e15bfbf8632c319a52a0e1c7 800w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=375&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=600&s=03bdf9c5a992396214faa34861b3ae53 600w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/blog/WineClub-4405_2023-06-06-181748_zhjv.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=250&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=400&s=e52e61cac3f367e9894a12789d548c90 400w)
Differentiating our Grenache Wines
Posted: Jun 6, 2023
We’ve always been big fans of the Grenache grown in the Santa Ynez Valley, and are proud that we were the first winery bottling a single varietal Grenache in Santa Barbara County in 1995. Since then, our Grenache wines have been a source of great pride for our winemaking team. Over the years, we have experimented and produced many different bottlings of Grenache as we learned to appreciate the subtleties that our various blocks of Grenache develop in the vineyard. Our current Grenache portfolio consists of four different bottlings: the Santa Ynez Valley Grenache, Estate Grenache, Purisima Mountain Vineyard Grenache, and the newest bottling Grenache Libre. Here’s an overview to help you appreciate how we look to highlight the different flavors that Grenache produces in our two vineyards.
Santa Ynez Valley (SYV) Grenache
The Santa Ynez Valley Grenache is our largest and oldest single Grenache bottling. Dating back to our very first vintage of the release in 1995, the SYV Grenache has always demonstrated beautiful, pure, ripe Grenache fruit. The fruit for this wine is grown on both Purisima Mountain Vineyard and Thomas and Judith Beckmen Estate Vineyard, from some of our oldest vines ranging in age from 25 – 28 years old. The wine incorporates completely destemmed fruit which undergoes a long, slow fermentation of 12 – 15 days. Aged for 10 months in neutral French and American oak barrels, the SYV Grenache is approachable upon release and expresses layers of pure Grenache fruit with flavors ranging from raspberry to cherry to pomegranate with a touch of white pepper.
![Beckmen TJ north view winter LR](https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1124&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=2000&s=ce1328565141b4584793db7cc08c33b5 2000w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1011&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1800&s=b464af8e47724579c7a88170b4d4d4b6 1800w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=899&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1600&s=b2d2312d9c42937bd4577dfeea9e687f 1600w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=730&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1300&s=a9039d18bf419000be116531a398270b 1300w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=618&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1100&s=f055b34c92150a77d43b1004ba625a73 1100w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=505&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=900&s=0e44c0251438afc03c1d7afd87174a32 900w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=449&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=800&s=7e581f6d34089f99986f40e1ec3f8f65 800w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=112&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=200&s=952f6b1406017fcc83098c4baa868858 200w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=224&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=400&s=312ed96c2da24796e12e7b2bc1d82033 400w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-TJ-north-view-winter-LR.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=337&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=600&s=4859ec6549977928294e4b82eb8d0da6 600w)
Estate Grenache
The Estate Grenache is grown and harvested from our oldest Grenache vines planted in 1995 on the Thomas and Judith Beckmen Estate Vineyard in the Los Olivos District AVA. The Estate Grenache highlights the best characteristics of this site: its gravelly, clay-loam soils and slightly warmer temperatures when compared to Purisima Mountain Vineyard. Made from completely destemmed fruit, the Estate Grenache ages for 12 – 15 months in 500L French oak puncheons. The Estate Grenache is the ripest and roundest (silkiest) Grenache in our portfolio, exhibiting great flavors and aromas of Kirsch liquor, pomegranate, red fruits, and bakers spice.
Purisima Mountain Vineyard (PMV) Grenache
The Purisima Mountain Vineyard Grenache is grown and harvested from Purisima Mountain Vineyard in Ballard Canyon AVA, from vineyard blocks planted in 1997 and 2015. This bottling was first produced in 1999. The PMV Grenache is fermented with 33% stem inclusion to add structure and texture before aging in 500L neutral French oak puncheons for 14 – 16 months. With the clay/limestone soils and more moderate temperatures found on Purisima Mountain Vineyard, this bottling demonstrates great ripeness, but the limestone slopes add a higher level of acidity and tannin that balances the ripeness and creates the most elegant of our Grenache bottlings, showing bright red fruits, spice, garrigue, and mineral.
![Beckmen pmv GR1 june NE 2](https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1650&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=2200&s=a0ef73309b465a22ca414c3a8176a33e 2200w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1500&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=2000&s=8d3e70d3488e3504388560e513c552d0 2000w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1350&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1800&s=00dbf066735ae2ffba0d4577e1da551a 1800w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1200&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1600&s=2cfef222f0eccec0fbbc64443110b14a 1600w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=975&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1300&s=62b32812f52dd438c20f6eb068989eb6 1300w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=825&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=1100&s=2d9872b23fdaad06008644ccc1a7ce9a 1100w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=675&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=900&s=d2217483faf9268ad4ce622623153762 900w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=600&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=800&s=7467985fd518d231a16ca781321e9a72 800w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=150&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=200&s=8e309651750528da79ab2ff627219533 200w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=300&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=400&s=af7ef5095b3eef4c5a7b300785c5f0b1 400w, https://beckmen.imgix.net/general-images/beckmen-pmv-GR1-june-NE-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&domain=beckmen.imgix.net&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=450&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=600&s=3ff3b6b5554d7a743eed4e4dd0ec37fa 600w)
Grenache Libre
Our newest single varietal Grenache bottling is the Purisima Mountain Vineyard Grenache LIBRE. Grown and harvested from Purisima Mountain Vineyard in Ballard Canyon AVA from vineyard blocks planted in 2003 and 2015, the Libre was created to highlight the flavorful fruit produced by our un-trellised, free-standing, head trained vines. Like the Purisima Mountain Grenache, this wine is fermented with 33% stem inclusion and ages in 500L neutral French oak puncheon but for a slightly longer period. Combining Block Eight, our original head-trained, own-rooted Grenache, and Block One, our newest free-standing block grown on the limestone slopes of PMV, this Grenache is our most structured and age-worthy of our limited production Grenache wines.
Our portfolio of Grenache wines is designed to suit all types of pallets and occasions. Starting with the Santa Ynez Valley Grenache and finishing with the Libre, our Grenache portfolio evolves from wines that are more fruit forward and less tannic wines to cellar worthy, critically acclaimed wines that offer more structure and nuance. Try some of our Grenache today and understand why we’re such big fans.