About this WINE
Qupe
Bob Lindquist turned a one time hobby into a full-time job when armed with a small bank loan he established Qupe Vineyards at Santa Maria in Santa Barbara Country. Today he produces 20,000 cases a year with all the wines being made at the same winery as those of Au Bon Climat.
He produces 3 different bottlings of Syrah - Central Coast, Los Olivos (blended with 40% Mourvedre) and Bien Nacido. Lindquist specialises in Rhone-style wines but aslo produces superb Chardonnay. The Bien Nacido Cuvee is a deliciously rich and aromatic blend of two-thirds Chardonnay and one-third Viognier.
In 2015 Bob Lindquist received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhone Rangers organisation. Only the third to receive it, the other two being our other Californian friends – Randall Grahm (Bonny Doon) and Bob Haas (Tablas Creek).
Syrah/Shiraz
A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.
It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.
South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.
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Description
Always an incredibly reliable blend, and one which accounts for almost half of the total red wine production of Qupé. The grapes are drawn from 12 different vineyard locations, covering a full spectrum from warm to cool, and each contributes something different to the final blend. From the warmer sites come rich, blackberry aromas and soft, supple texture in the mouth, while the cooler sites imbue the wine with a smoky, spicy, peppery character and fresh acidity. The whole is a harmonious, rewarding wine with juicy ripeness and an elegance and restraint which bears some of the hallmarks of the Northern Rhone.
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