10/15/2026
Dear Friends of Sleight of Hand,
This is a very special bottle of w**e, for many reasons. Most importantly, it’s a tribute to my friend and mentor to many, Eric Dunham. Without Eric, there is no Sleight of Hand. I learned the art of w**emaking from Eric in 2000 when I went to work for Dunham Cellars. Those 2 years proved to be so valuable, and in many ways, helped to shape the w**es that we still make today at SOFH. The most important thing that I learned from Eric was to simply trust your instincts, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. And that’s much harder to teach than the “science” of viticulture and w**emaking. Somehow, someway, a lot of that stuck with me. I think it was because I FINALLY found something that I loved to do, and it was unfathomable to think that this was actually “work”.
We lost Eric in 2014, so that vintage we bottled a 100% Syrah from Les Collines Vineyard. At the time the w**e was called Force of Nature (we were forced to change the name because of, well, you know…Napa). Anyway, we released that 2014 inaugural vintage in 2017, and holy cow did it impress. W**e Advocate (94-97 points) and Vinous (94 points) LOVED it. We knew that we would only bottle this w**e when it deserved to be bottled as a single vineyard w**e. Every vintage is 100% whole cluster and aged in neutral large format puncheons. It’s one of the most powerful w**es that we bottle, and one that will surely age for at least 2 decades. Our next vintage was 2017, from Block 50 in Les Collines Vineyard, earning 95 points from Jeb Dunnuck. 2021? More of the same, 97 points from W**e Enthusiast, 96 points from both Owen Bargreen and Jeremy Young from Int’l W**e Report. You see where this w**e is going?
The 2023 vintage is simply a showstopper. It’s a powerhouse of a Syrah filled with vibrating energy, incredible structure, dense purple fruits, a burst of black cherries, along with black pepper and a savory, mineral tinged finish. Yet somehow, it carries a freshness you’d expect for a lighter red w**e. The tannins are very present, and this w**e deserves a decanting now and most likely over the next 5-7 years.
(More in comments below).
