Mixed case of Qupé Marsanne, Los Olivos District 2018, Qupe Grenache, Santa Barbara County 2018 and Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley 2017
Qupé Marsanne 2018: A classically Californian take on this famous northern Rhône varietal, from the Los Olivos District AVA which lies in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County. The cool nights and mornings ensure the wine maintains its freshness, while the warm days bring with it power and weight. The nose is instantly appealing, with notes of citrus, kumquat, peach and fennel, followed on the palate by lively acidity and a textural mouthfeel. Beautiful in its youth, or cellar for five years to allow complex nutty aromas to develop. The hand-harvested grapes were whole-cluster pressed. After a two day cold settle, the juice was racked off gross lees to barrel. The wine was barrel-fermented in neutral French oak followed by malolactic fermentation. It was then aged on its lees for 6 months before racking into stainless steel for blending and rest prior to bottling. 2018 saw a mild summer, resulting in a well-rounded vintage with expressive fruit flavours.
Qupe Grenache, Santa Barbara County 2018: A superb expression of Californian Grenache, with aromas of violets, tobacco, raspberries and wet stone. Reminiscent of Chambord, this wine is racy with fresh raspberry flavours, supple tannins and a spice laced finish. To maximize fruit extraction, 33% whole clusters in an open-top fermenter were used, with treading before de-stemming. Grapes were cold soaked, with wild yeast fermentation before being transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged for 16 months in French oak, 20% new. 2018 was the seventh consecutive year Santa Barbara County would face a drought. Daytime temperatures throughout Summer and Autumn were mild, enabling slow, even ripening of deeply concentrated fruit. 93 points – Wine Enthusiast – Nov 2020
Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley 2017: Simply stunning, evocative deep purple, with black fruited aromas, a hint of tar and the classic lift of white pepper. The wine is rich, full-bodied and with earthy blackberry fruit, tobacco and spice notes, balanced by evident yet rounded tannins and refreshing acidity to the finish. Traditional winemaking techniques, with open top fermenters, 33% whole cluster and manual punch downs twice a day. A small portion (about 10-12%) of saignee barrel fermentation is used, which gives the wine a nice toasty, mocha edge. After pressing, the wine was aged for 22 months in François Frères Burgundy barrels. For the first year in about 60% new barrels, then racked, blended and returned to neutral barrels for the additional time. Their favourite 15 barrels are then selected and bottled. The wine is 100% Syrah from the Z Block at Bien Nacido Vineyard. Z Block was Qupé’s first “custom” planting at Bien Nacido in 1992 on a perfect southwest facing hillside.
