SQN Vertical Tasting
Vin, Vino Wine, Palo Alto, CA and Prenuptial Celebration, Arcadia, CA
Tasted Thursday, July 19, 2007 - Saturday, July 21, 2007 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 557 views
Introduction
From the benefit of tasting 12 SQNs in a couple days (there was also another Boot being poured last night), my working hypothesis is that the whites are fairly enjoyable in their first year or so, but don't age well, in that the Chardonnay doesn't seem to mature harmoniously with the Rhone ingredients. While the Grenaches are okay, I'd never pay that sort of money for a California CdP blend when I could get three or more bottles of authentic, wonderful CdP for the same price. The Syrahs, on the other hand, are among California's best, and are, for me, where Manfred excels. I'd like to try more of the sweet wines before coming to a working conclusion on those, but based on the couple I've had, including Mr. K The Noble Man the other night, I'm not too impressed.
Flight 1 - Vin Vino Lineup (9 Notes)
Vin Vino Wines -- Silicon Valley’s most impressive winetasting venue on a daily basis, with a constantly changing lineup of high end wines, especially Burgundy and Rhones, offered SQN for a change tonight. This was a fun chance for those of us who haven’t been collecting these, but who get occasional SQenvy from reading others’ rave TNs, to check out recent releases, along with older versions for comparison. All were double splash decanted before being poured. The ’98 “Backward and Forward” was also opened, but deemed too oxidized to pour (I tried it and agreed).
Flight 2 - Anna and Sasha's Prenuptial Celebration (3 Notes)
So two nights later, amidst a lot of amazing wines at a friend's celebration of the pending marriage of his lovely daughter, another SQN Covert Fingers was poured. It was badly corked. Eventually, someone did the saran wrap bit in a decanter, which took out the TCA nose, and the wine we then tasted was a slightly weaker version of the bottle I had Thursday at Vin Vino. No one thought it tasted anything like Pinot. There was general consensus that it was more like an overripe Grenache-based wine than anything else.
Ah, but another one of the great wines our friend, Andy Grosz, opened was the '02 SQN Just for the Love of It. It had a rich and lovely Cote Rotie like nose, with additional notes of blackberry and blueberry, that also showed up on the gorgeous, broad, chocolatey palate. It had a long finish and I rated it 96+. It was not the best Syrah of the night though. That honor went to a rare Chris Ringland bottling--the '99 Rockford SVS Pressings Shiraz, of which only 50 cases a year are distributed through Rockford's Stonewall Club. It had an intoxicating black fruit, pepper and clove nose; with a palate of roasted fruit, deep layering, pepper and good acidity. 99 pts. Not the kind of Shiraz I usually associate with Chris Ringland; it seemed even more Northern Rhone-like than the top Torbrecks.
2004 Sine Qua Non The Rejuvenators 93 Points
USA, California
(7/19/2007)
Bright canary yellow color; lovely Roussane, sweet butter, marshmallow and honeysuckle nose; big, rich, concentrated Roussanne, stone fruit palate; medium-plus finish (54% Roussanne, 26% Viognier, 20% Chardonnay)
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2001 Sine Qua Non Albino 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast
(7/19/2007)
bright canary yellow color; almond, nuts and sea bream nose; tasty, tart and sweet lemon, nuts and minerals, still youthful, with Chard dominating the palate; medium-plus finish 91+ pts.
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2000 Sine Qua Non The Boot 91 Points
USA, California
(7/19/2007)
Bright canary yellow color; a little oxidized on the nose, with nuttiness; oily texture, sweet butter and hazelnut, with Chard dominating; medium-plus finish
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1999 Sine Qua Non Tarantella 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(7/19/2007)
Dark honey yellow color; hay, oak and resin nose; concentrated palate of clarified butter and lemon, monolithic though; medium finish
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2004 Sine Qua Non Pinot Noir Covert Fingers 87 Points
USA, California
(7/19/2007)
Red violet color; berry and brambley plum on nose; big, black fruit, fig, tar, Syrah palate, and hot toward long finish (undiscernable as Pinot, and just okay as Syrah)
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2004 Sine Qua Non Into the Dark 93 Points
USA, California, Central Coast
(7/19/2007)
Focused black fruit, berry and boysenberry nose; a little hot, concentrated, like a super rich Hommage a Jacques Perrin, with black fruit, fig, berry, tar and a little pepper; long finish
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1999 Sine Qua Non Icarus 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast
(7/19/2007)
Dark red color and slightly cloudy; concentrated berry, spice and oak nose; ripe cherry, dried cherry and strawberry with some earthiness on palate, good acidity; medium-plus finish 92+ pts.
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2004 Sine Qua Non Syrah Poker Face 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast
(7/19/2007)
Deep black red color; Cote Rotie style nose with bacon and vanilla oak; concentrated, tight yet, black fruit and graphite; long finish
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2003 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
(7/19/2007)
Bright medium orange color; tropical, honeyed, Mandarin orange and dried apricot nose; layered palate of apricot, honey and a touch of fresh lemon and lemon zest, but needs more acidity; long finish 92+ pts.
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