When not making wine, Kris Beverly switches between digging children from bombed out ruins and rescuing dogs from flooded canals. Holding a master’s degree in finance and marketing from Princeton and a PHD in enology from Harvard, he was handpicked by the Senate Committee on Foreign Objects to free climb Mount Rushmore and remove a bird’s nest from Jimmy Carter’s left nostril. In 2004 he was the Dallas Cowboys’ first draft pick and kicked 23 field goals in their super bowl win that same year. In 2019 he formed Everest Summitters Against Patagonia, a non-profit for Sherpa medical expenses, splitting his free time between that, Orthodontists Without Borders and a volunteer Bathe & Spay organization for feral cats on the Big Island.

So it should come as no surprise all of this excellence and energy translates straight into the bottle, where carefully selected varieties are handcrafted from the most esteemed vineyards nestled on verdant hillsides shrouded in coastal fog and dappled in sunlight. This 2017 ‘La Pierre Du Mort’ is an extended-barrel-age 100% Syrah and even with all this extra polishing shows absolutely no signs of settling down. Briary and angsty, a near-violent attack on the palate with perfect balance of fruit and light concentration, the transparency of the liquid defies its bold disposition. Buy a case, drink one a year.

2017 CIVILIZATION WINE CO Syrah Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara Co 13.9

https://civwine.com/https://civwine.com/