Sine Qua Non Mr K Noble Man TBA Chardonnay Half 2005
HED2693
37.5 cl
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98 Robert Parker
I don’t know whether it’s catching on or not, but there is a school of nonsense going around that somehow low yields are overrated. Of course, farmers who treat their vineyards like industrial plants, and wineries who do not control vineyards, or have accountants running the bottom line, are the usual suspects making this specious argument. From my perspective, thirty years of experience have always suggested that vineyards with the lowest yields tend to produce the most interesting wines. Sine Qua Non has emerged as one of the world’s greatest wineries over the last decade, and low yields are part of the reason. Yields for their white wine varietals have gone from .91 tons per acre in 2003, to their most generous yield of 1.86 tons per acre in 2005. Their red varietal yields have increased from a scary, financially disastrous .32 tons per acre for the 2003 Grenache, to a whopping 2.11 tons per acre in 2005. In 2007, yields averaged 1.28 tons per acre for the white varietals, 1.31 tons per acre for Grenache, and 1.52 tons per acre for Syrah. (I did not taste the 2007 SQN wines, but other Central Coast 2007s I did taste suggest this will be a great vintage for this region.) When tasting wines such as Sine Qua Non, these statistics mean something because the Grenache is the finest in the New World, the Syrah begs to be compared with the greatest of France, California, and Australia, and the white wine blends assembled by Manfred Krankl are as sumptuous and complex as the world’s finest Chardonnays, eve
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Sine Qua Non
Art and Fine Wine Collide
The wines of Sine Qua Non need little introduction. Mould breaking, iconoclastic, visionary are just some of the descriptors invoked when critics and wine lovers discuss this unique winery. Based in Ventura, north of LA, the wines of Sine Qua Non regularly notch up perfect scores from critics while the waiting list for a direct allocation is well over ten years.
Founded by Manfred and Elaine Krankl in the early 1990s, the duo swiftly gained attention from wine lovers and critics for their superb Rhône blend wines, quirky labels and uncompromising approach in the vineyard and cellar. The winery has experimented with producing Oregon Pinot Noir, dessert wines and an array of quirky single varietal reds and whites, but generally revert to producing the wines for which they are most famous - Grenache and Syrah. The wines are generally big and bold, but those who like things cranked up to eleven should look no further than Manfred's "extended barrel ageing" program.