Kamen, Writers Block Red Blend, 2022

Writer's Block is named for the vineyard right outside screenwriter Robert Kamen's office window, planted to Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah, the same trio that goes into the blend. Kamen, the writer behind The Karate Kid, Taken and The Fifth Element, bought his Sonoma mountain land in 1980 and farms it organically and biodynamically, 1,450 feet up on the Sonoma side of Mount Veeder in fractured volcanic rock. That high-elevation mountain fruit gives this red real depth and a mineral, stony backbone you don't get from valley-floor vines. It's a bold, structured crowd-pleaser with a genuinely good story behind it. Decant and pour with dinner.