2015 Sine Qua Non, Eleven Confessions (3 x M Syrah, 3 x E Grenache),Six-Bottle Assortment Case
About this WINE
Sine Qua Non Winery
Sine Qua Non is a California cult winery known for its sought-after Rhône style wine blends, produced in very limited quantites. The winery is located in Ventura County within the Central Coast AVA.
Manfred Krankl and his wife Elaine established the winery in 1994. Sine Qua Non's winery has been described by Robert Parker as "a Mad Max- junkyard dog sort of winery in one of the ugliest sections of Ventura.", while according to Antonio Galloni (Wine Advocate Aug 2011) "the wines that emerge from this site are often profound. The sheer drive for perfection and attention to detail at Sine Qua Non is something I have rarely witnessed anywhere else in the world."
Sourcing fruit from a wide variety of growers from year to year as Krankl follows his preferences, results in the winery to make different wines in each vintage.
In collaboration with Austrian winemaker Alois Kracher Manfred and Elaine Krankl have also produced sweet wines under the label "Mr. K"
The red wines are based on the grape varieties of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and a whites made from Roussanne, Viognier and Chardonnay. Sine Qua Non used to produced a Pinot Noir until the 2005 vintage. In certain vintages, the winery has released a sweet white wine or a rosé wine.
Central Coast
Central Coast AVA is an all-encompassing appellation used for wines blended across several counties in the broader central coast viticultural region.
The associated counties (and their AVAs) are Alameda (Livermore Valley); Contra Costa; Monterey (Arroyo Seco, Carmel Valley, Chalone, San Lucas); San Benito (Cienega Valley, Lime Kiln Valley, Mount Harlan, Paicines); San Luis Obispo (Arroyo Grande, Edna Valley, Paso Robles, York Mountain); Santa Clara Valley (most of Santa Cruz Mountains, San Ysidro); and Santa Barbara (Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley).
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
This unique selection from the renowned Sine Qua Non winery brings together two special wines from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard. This mix case contains three bottles of each of the following:
2015 "M" Syrah, Eleven Confessions Vineyard - 99 points
This is a single-vineyard Syrah-dominant blend coming from the Eleven Confessions Estate vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills. It bears Manfred Krankl’s initial and a provocative self-portrait on the label. The blend is 90.6% Syrah, 4.4% Petite Syrah, 2.6% Grenache and 2.4% Viognier. Forty-three percent was fermented using whole clusters. It was aged for around 38 months in French oak, 66% new.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Syrah M starts off a little closed, slowly unfurling to show layer upon layer of savory notes: peppered salami, woodsmoke, marmite and black olives, beneath a profound core of preserved plums, blueberry coulis and Chinese five spice with fragrant touches of fenugreek, Sichuan pepper, crushed rocks and mossy bark. Exquisitely textured with firm, rounded tannins, the taut, full-bodied, muscular fruit is laced with seamless freshness, finishing with fantastic persistence. This is a Syrah for the long haul! 913 cases, 228 magnums and 30 double magnums were made. Drink 2021 - 2050
2015 "E" Grenache, Eleven Confessions Vineyard - 100 points
This is a single-vineyard Grenache-dominated, barrel-selection blend coming from the Eleven Confessions Estate vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills. It bears Elaine Krankl’s initial and a portrait Manfred made of Elaine on the label. The blend is 82% Grenache, 12% Syrah, 5% Petite Syrah and 1% Viognier, and 56% was fermented using whole clusters. It was aged for around 38 months in French oak, 28% new.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Grenache E slides beguilingly out of the glass with a powerfully evocative, earthy/meaty nose of wood smoke, grilled meats, fragrant soil, truffles and iron ore with a core of kirsch, blackberry pie, Black Forest cake and aniseed plus touches of wild sage, rose hip tea and Indian spices. The palate is full-bodied, surprisingly muscular and built like a brick house with an unbelievable structure of very fine, densely pixilated tannins supporting the generous, multi-faceted layers, finishing with epic length, jaw-dropping texture and tons of cerebral mineral and spice nuances. WOW! 900 cases, 228 magnums and 30 double magnums were made. Drink 2020 - 2035
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate (Jun 2019)
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