December 4, 2021 - My 1st SQN and not the least since it comes from a cuvée that is no longer produced due to some obvious logistical problems, namely an Oregon Pinot Noir from Shea Vineyard which is then vinified 1500km further south at the iconic Manfred Krankle.
Cap fully soaked.
The nose is overflowing with richness, on black fruits, cranberry, plum, crushed strawberry and sandalwood.
With its 15.5% alcohol, we are far from the evanescent Burgundian Pinot. So what?
It's terribly tasty without ever being heavy with an underlying sweet acidity and a juice of enormous density. It's complex, sweet but powerful, both floral and spicy on the palate and with bright fruit sprinkled with blackcurrant liqueur. It's masterfully complex and yet I really like the so-called Cistercian Pinots. But here richness, complexity and freshness are present with a wine with an enormous and stratified texture where each facet has its place with pepper, sandalwood and raspberry in particular. It is reminiscent of a beautiful Syrah with an airy side that you can hardly believe for the alcoholic strength. Magnificent finish where raspberry and liquorice intermingle to explode over an enormous length.
A wine that surprised me with every sip. Kaleidoscopic, rich but airy, I loved it.
November 1, 2021 - Drink them if you have them. It still has life to it but really not more than 1 yr of 90+ life in my opinion. Gave it a 1 1/2 hr decant and drank it over 1 more hour. Cork was soft and came out in pieces but no sediment. Slight medicinal smell when opened but disappeared quickly. Still has some dark fruit up front, smooth on the tongue. It was a great opener before consuming a Dark Blossom Grenache.
March 6, 2021 - An eccentric but terrific Pinot Noir. Very fruity and powerful at the beginning, then become more and more complex. Smooth and balanced. Doesn’t like anything in Burgundy or other places where also have Pinot Noirs. This surprising taste is what we expect for the great Sine Qua Non, a new and nice experience.
January 1, 2021 - Not your typical Pinot at all, but that in itself makes this a terrific find.
Huge, bold wine that is drinking really well after a 3 hour decant. Lots of fruit but with a smooth finish and alcohol really well balanced. Hard to find but well worth a try!
December 4, 2020 - So...back in 2013 I opened my last bottle of this(750) because I noticed the cork had a fracture the whole length of the cork, and wine had seeped to the top. The wine was in fine shape, not a blockbuster, but not flawed. Manfred saw my post, and offered to replace it because of the 'faulty' cork. Awesome gesture...a big thanks to him! So I received the replacement bottle...and it was this MAGNUM! I think I remember him saying they ran out of the 750's so magnum it is! Shocked, and VERY appreciative!
Well now...the Omega has been in my cellar, in a mag rack for the last 7 years...and recently I noticed some drops of wine on a bottle below it. Damn...the Omega has a slow leak! Not a fractured cork like the 750, but I suspect a spongy cork that lost it's seal, as there was a faint stream of wine coating the cork on one side, to the top. No no Manfred...no need to send me another bottle...especially a 3L since you probably ran out of mags! ;-) The wine is just fine!
Open in bottle for 3hrs...dark cranberry with slight rose rim...ripe plum, cherry, tilled strawberry field, hay bale, sous bois, sandalwood nose. Still quite youthful in the mouth...yet there is that trace of heat that has always shown in this wine. Smooth and opulent wild berry fruits...some aged plum liqueur, sarsaparilla...really intense crancherry tart acidity rips through the ripe fruit...nice earth tones and crushed rock minerality...a big boy Pinot for sure, yet with transparency. What I like best here is the florals and spice! Sandalwood, white pepper, dried red licorice...kirsch liqueur, raspberry bush, smoked cherry wood. This wine is gaining and gaining as I type! Yet...as great as those flavors are in this wine, it doesn't have that SQN magic touch of balance, as that alc heat(15.5) still persists. Subtracts a little from the pleasure...but still extremely enjoyable non the less. Sad to see my last bottle go...as drinking Pinot Noir from the hands of MK, has gone the way of the dinosaurs to extinction. Wish he made more...
October 26, 2018 - Super interesting Like stinky cheese and aerated wine from a diesel barrel. Very acquired taste but super thoughtful and layered. Could love it or find it weird. Which it is. 90 - 93. Be weird and rejoice.
April 23, 2017 - Massive pinot, full throttle fruit. Showing minimal signs of its true age. Out of magnum.
April 23, 2017 - From magnum. Remarkably youthful and fresh for a heavy Pinot approaching 15 years of age. black fruit, raspberry, dark chocolate, wood spice, smoke. lots of oak on this, but not tired in the least.
February 15, 2017 - Sometimes you just have to open something, because reasons. Decanted for 30 minutes before service. In the glass, a faint hint of auburn at the rim, but other than that, no sign of age; dark, opaque crimson. On the nose, crushed raspberries, a slight reductive note, and hints of alcohol, which had me concerned - but on the palate, lush, rich, expansive, and ample fruit, pine, nutmeg, and secondary mineral notes, with a long finish. This is a big wine, skirting the edge of overblown, but for our tastes, it still worked. I'm not sure there is any improvement ahead, but I think the wine will be at this level for at least a couple more years.
January 6, 2017 - Totally adorable and a true star effort, the 2003 SQN Omega Pinot Noir reveals some of its very best sides tonight. The nose is super complex, hedonistic and the end-palate just continue to sing and make itself heard throughout the night... At first, the nose reveals classy wet forest floor, but also ample sun warm red fruits like morellos, boysenberries and of course the classical strawberries. But after some time in the glass - we are talking one hour or more - the nose shifts and expresses cigar box and rich cedar wood. There is no one not understanding the amount of luxurious and expensive oak going into this bottle. The palate is best described as voluptuous but it is also seamless, silky and actually rather elegant. The end-palate is pure magic, it just keeps on lingering in the mouth forever and talks to the taster from the glass even when left alone for a while. This certainly is one wonderful wine! (score is 95+)