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Wine Type Vintage Name Variety Locale Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More...
Red

2003 Qupé Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard

 Santa Ynez Valley more
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4/28/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 91 points

Dark garnet red with 80% orange/20% pink rim, lots of sediment. Blackcurrant, stewed strawberry, prune, candied cherry, dried fig, tobacco, saddle, cedar, spices, honeycomb, tea leaves and earth. Full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high tannin, medium structure, medium-high alcohol and medium spicy finish. Bold, complex and explosive. Plenty of tertiary notes and tannins. Good bite on the palate.

Wine at prime or slightly past prime. It still had at least 10 years of life ahead of it if cellared properly. I would starting drinking them up before the fruits completely dried out.

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White

2017 Qupé Roussanne Hillside Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard

 Santa Maria Valley more
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4/23/2024 - snamnoum@gmail.com wrote: 90 points

Oak, peaches, and cream. This wine is a wild contrast of confectionery nose and lively palate.

Nose is dominated by wood, creamy malolactic acid that sits somewhere between yogurt and crème brûlée, and ripe white peach. Touch of brown butter and marzipan.

On the palate it’s viscous, verging on oily but with lots of linear drive from the acidity that keeps it fresh and grippy. Finish is long and complex. This one is a bit weird and I think the wood is just a touch out of balance but it’s tasty nonetheless.

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Red

2003 Qupé Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard

 Santa Barbara County more
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4/23/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 92 points

Dark garnet red with pink-orangey rim. Blackcurrant, cassis, stewed strawberry, incense, game, leather, cedar, fresh herbs and spices. Medium-full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high tannin, medium-high structure, medium-high alcohol and long finish. Complex, fresh and layered. Plenty of tertiary notes.

Acidity was on the high side and fruits and tannin were fading. Wine was at the tail end of prime or perhaps just past the prime. Nonetheless great value for what it was worth.

ADDENDUM: After 24 hours in the fridge, fruits had faded even more and residual sugar became more pronounced. Some Coca-Cola notes emerged, and almost tasted like flat Coca-Cola.

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Red

2002 Qupé Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard

 Santa Ynez Valley more
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4/19/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 93 points

Dark garnet red with orangey rim. Blackcurrant, dark cherry, raspberry, stewed strawberry, dark plum, menthol, dried herbs, spices, cedar, incense, sweaty saddle, crispy bacon, and honey. Full-bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high silky tannin, medium structure, medium-high alcohol and long nectar finish. Bold, complex, edgy and well-balanced. Residual sugar on the finishing palate.

In prime drinking window at time of writing. Probably only a few more years to go before downhill.

ADDENDUM: After 24 hours in fridge, wine still strong and opened. Dark fruits started to fade and seemed a little alcoholic.

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Red

2002 Qupé Syrah Alisos Vineyard

 Santa Maria Valley more
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4/17/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 94 points

Opaque garnet red with pink rim, lots of sediment. Accidentally pushed the cork inside with Ah-So cork opener. Cassis, blackcurrant, dark plum, dried prune, nectar, fig, mushroom, white truffle, tobacco, spices, menthol, cedar, mild game, and potting soil. Full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high silky tannin, medium structure, medium-high alcohol and long nectar finish. Still youthful and energetic. Tertiary notes had only begun to emerge.

Bold, complex, lush and well-balanced. Thick velvet palate with layers. Almost like drinking a mature Port with a reduced alcohol. In prime drinking window now, and should be able to last for another 10-20 years in cellar.

ADDENDUM: Like all Qupe that I bought recently, I left half a bottle in the fridge to see how it performed next day (18-24 hours). Unlike other bottles, this wine had faded and went slightly off balanced. So I would recommend to drink this bottle all within same evening.

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Red

2001 Qupé Syrah The Good Nacido Bien Nacido Vineyard Block X

 Santa Maria Valley more
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4/16/2024 - Vascular46 Likes this wine: 89 points

Deep ruby color, medium bodied red with some red fruit on the nose and palate. Some pepper on the finish. Not as powerful as most California Syrahs. Clearly at the end of it's drinking interval.

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White

2022 Qupé Marsanne

 Los Olivos District more
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4/14/2024 - henry_chinaski wrote: 88 points

Lean, mineral drive wine. Touch of untoasted wood. Doesn't have that waxy moutfeel or etheral floral notes I enjoy in Marsanne. Pleasant yet rather boring wine. 13% ABV

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Red

2001 Qupé Syrah

 Central Coast more
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4/13/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 90 points

Garnet red with watery pink-orange rim, lots of sediments. Black fruits, dark cherry, leather, spices, cedar, earth and earth. Medium bodied, medium-high acidity, medium tannin, medium structure, medium-high alcohol and medium finish. Mature, tired and approaching end of life. Needed to drink up as it had past the prime. (87 points)

ADDENDUM: I left half bottle in the fridge and drank it again next evening (20 hours since opening). Miraculously, the wine blossomed and rejuvenated. It still tasted like a cool climate syrah, but a very good one. I have updated the score to 90 points.

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Red

2005 Qupé Syrah Nielson Vineyard

 Santa Maria Valley more
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4/9/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 93 points

Dark garnet red with pink-orangey rim. Ripe black fruits, blackcurrant, cassis, nectar, cedar, tobacco, spices, mild animal, white truffles, dried herbs and nuts. Full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high tannin, medium structure, medium-high alcohol and long finish with residual sugar. Bold, powerful and well-balanced. Viscous palate almost like port. Slightly vegetal on nose after some breathing.

Uncorked at 5pm, drink at 8:30pm. I recommend to decant for 2-3 hours in advance.

This wine had decent tertiary notes but still relatively youthful in my opinion. This bottle would easily improve in cellar for another 10-15 years.

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White - Off-dry

1990 Qupé Chenin Blanc

 Santa Barbara County more
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9/21/1991 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 88 points

Derrald's Tasting (San Francisco, Ca.): Unpleasant nose, rich, viscous, fruit is almost buttery, nice wine.

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White

1990 Qupé Chardonnay

 Santa Maria Valley more
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9/21/1991 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 points

Derrald's Tasting (San Francisco, Ca.): Rich, viscous.

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Red

2016 Qupé Syrah Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard

 Edna Valley more
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4/6/2024 - wchrisw Does not like this wine: NR

Drank over 2 days. No noticeable change. Tasted like a simple table wine. I’d call it juicy. I didn’t recognize this as Syrah at all.

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Red

2020 Qupé Syrah

 Central Coast more
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4/6/2024 - Matteo1 wrote: 90 points

Smells like Rioja on the pop and pour with leather, blackberry and nutmeg. After only a few minutes lavender and blueberry aromas emerge. Definitely not rioja.
Full bodied but balanced with expressive blueberry, oaky tertiary notes and a chalky mouthfeel. Did become more jammy after a few hours but a delicious and versatile wine.
Central coast is a huge appellation and this syrah is more redolent of a higher elevation site or coastal sites rather than the flat agricultural land it is known for. This is widely available in California and is an absolute gem.

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Red

2001 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate

 Santa Maria Valley more
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3/27/2024 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 90 points

Bought on a whim off Winebid based on Qupe’s early reputation for producing long life wines.
Cork crumpled.
Upon opening we got dark fruits, mint, leather. With air mild tannins emerge and the fruit becomes more candied.
Earthy, but vibrant. More life than expected.
Clearly on the downside, but a surprising amount of fruit still exists. My guess is these will go a few more years from here.
Enjoyable and fun.

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Red

1997 Qupé Los Olivos Cuvée

 Santa Ynez Valley Red Rhone Blend more
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3/16/2024 - soyhead wrote: NR

brought out as a DRC ringer, as the gag goes, this is one that Rudy didnt get to (I think). hint of savory with loads of impressive fruit. really a mindboggling anomaly. More fruit than the '74 DRC RSV which it was tasted next to (though 20+ yrs younger so the comparison isnt entirely fair)

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White

2016 Qupé Roussanne Hillside Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard

 Santa Maria Valley more
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3/18/2024 - Jsdaxe Likes this wine: 89 points

Still good, but on its decline. Tastes like a well aged unoaked chard

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White

1990 Qupé Chardonnay

 Santa Maria Valley more
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3/20/1992 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 points

CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAY; 3/20/1992-3/27/1992 (Prima, Walnut Creek, Ca.): Great, pleasant, steely hard fruit on nose and palate, butter on finish.

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Red

2010 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate

 Santa Maria Valley more
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3/9/2024 - gediminasbielskus wrote: 86 points

Bottle was past it's prime. As I only had one it's hard to say if this is characteristic, but primarily it had sour red fruits with persistent acidity, a lack of togetherness on the palate. Easy enough to drink, but to me no benefit of waiting.

Probably a great wine 5 years ago.

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Red

2009 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate

 Santa Maria Valley more
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3/11/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 92 points

Dark ruby red with pink rim and a hint of orange. Blackcurrant, dark cherry, floral, oak, spices, dried lavender, white pepper, and mild animal. Full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high tannin, medium-high structure, medium-high alcohol and medium tannic finish. Complex, bold, energetic and tannic but well-balanced. Viscous texture almost like blood.

This bottle was enjoyable to drink now. I would cellar this for a more years to mellow out the tannin. Tertiary notes were barely emerging.
I would recommend to breathe for at least 3 hours if drinking within next few years.

ADDENDUM #1: I left half a bottle in the fridge. The next day, most of the tannins were tamed and wine texture was much smoother. On a separate note, I found this more expensive "Hillside Estate" version a little leaner and sharper than the regular Bien Nacido Vineyard, which was rounder and more balanced after 15-20 years of cellar time. So far, I preferred the regular Bien Nacido Vineyard over the Hillside Estate version.

ADDENDUM #2: I left 15% of bottle in the fridge. Drank it on 2nd evening (~50 hours) after open. Wine actually tasted even better. More integrated, well-balanced, smoother and silky than first two days. I think this wine needed to be treated like port in terms of preparation.

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Red

2000 Qupé Los Olivos Cuvée

 Santa Ynez Valley Red Rhone Blend more
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3/9/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 90 points

Garnet red with orange rim, decent amount of sediment. Blackcurrant, sour cherry, rhubarb, candied raspberry, tobacco, mild leather, wet forest, black truffles, dried herbs and dried flowers. Medium-high bodied, medium acidity, medium tannin, medium structure, medium-high alcohol and medium finish. Fully mature and complex. Wine had past its peaked and needed to drink up soon.

I opened at 3pm, and initially there were some black fruits but alcohol was quite high. After 3 hours of breathing (no decanting), fruits had faded and alcohol less salient due to wine opening up, full of tertiary aromas.

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Red

2013 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate

 Santa Maria Valley more
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9/21/2023 - nigelb Likes this wine: 91 points

Choose the right food! Give lots of air. Luscious, vibrant, gorgeous.

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Red

2002 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard

 Santa Maria Valley more
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3/2/2024 - GuanYu Likes this wine: 94 points

Medium dark ruby red with a mix of pink and orange rim. Black fruits, cassis, raspberry, strawberry, leather, tobacco, cedar, oak, fresh herbs, spices, black pepper, nuts and farmyard. Full bodied, medium-high acidity, medium-high tannin, medium-high structure, medium-high alcohol and long finish. Complex, layered, and refined. Velvety and viscous on the palate.

Wine tasted youthful and fresh despite the tertiary aromas. After 22 years, the rim was 90% pink and 10% orange. Good acidity, tannin and fruits meant plenty of aging potential ahead of it.

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Red

2012 Qupé Syrah Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard

 Edna Valley more
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2/27/2024 - Aravind Asok wrote: NR

Pop and pour, notes from 24 hrs open. On the nose: brambly red and black fruit, a touch of cola and savory herbs and a touch of char; this has outgrown its bacon-fat so to speak. On the palate: fantastic acidity, lighter-in-style, soft cola and blackberry. Attenuated tannin on the finish. Lovely, sad this is my final btl as this finally has some real secondary character. This btl had plenty of gas in the tank if you have any left.

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Red

2021 Qupé Syrah

 Central Coast more
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2/28/2024 - Carobou Likes this wine: NR

Sight: bloody garnet, slight rim, slow legs not very distinct

Nose: Capers, burnt cedar, sweet pork, black cherry

Palate: sparkles off the tongue a bit, quick tannic hit mellowed with brine, stone, Ranier cherries, hint of dutch chocolate, a little buttery coating

BBQ and tart cherry pie with an extra savory crust.

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Red

2014 Qupé A Modern Red

 Central Coast Red Blend more
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2/25/2024 - anjtutt wrote: 92 points

Garnet colour. Delicate spice nose. Still good fruit. At peak probably now

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  • Tasting notes: 2,483 notes on 349 wines

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