Decanted for one hour. Nose of ripe blackberry, smoked meat, dried herbs, anise and vanilla. Blackberry, gamey meat, dried herbs, mocha and anise on the palate. Very long, layered finish with excellent depth. Full bodied. Drinking beautifully! Served with hickory smoked, reverse seared rack of lamb and garlic herb butter.
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Decanted and poured immediately. Great aromatics. The Viognier and Roussanne have to be contributors there. Dark cherry, spice, pepper and savory with a kick of saline minerality on the finish. Intense and full without overpowering. Superb tonight but plenty of time left for this one.
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Very deep purple with nice viscosity deep chicory with hint of green pepper some tobacco spice to it. Nice rep peppercorn and the end. Nice tannins remaining. 5 or more years to go excellent vintage
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SQN Dinner (Jordan's Place - Chicago IL): Still ripe and fleshy, this seems to be at the point of just settling down. Certainly good, even if lacking the density and gravitas of the best from Manfred.
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Decanted for one hour. Nose of blackberry, gamey meat, spice, cedar and vanilla. Black fruit, gamey meat, cedar and spice on the palate. Very long, layered finish. Excellent depth. Full bodied. Served with rack of lamb and a mint sauce.
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No notes taken. This showed still quite youthful and exuberant. There is a lot of substance, the precision is high, the wine is expressive and intense, but too intense at this point. The level of ripeness is high but not too high. This will probably need another decade to flesh out and become more fine and elegant. 93/94 today for all the substance which doesn’t mean that once settled and mature, it cannot climb to much higher highs. We had this next to the Cayuse En Chamberlin 2011, which took it home easily, as the wine showed much more earthy and olive character, better balancing all the fruit there is while the SQN was still all about fruit.
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The Return to the Ledbury (The Ledbury, London): Our third time over 7 years that we have this wine and consistently in the 95-96 area. Proper SQn here , big and elevated across, levated as we always say but in balance and harmony with all parts of the wine blasting out at 110dbs but in one concrete effort. Even the massive alc does not stand out ( Unfort for others like Alban & Saxum it does and this remains the key difference for us between SQN and others)and blends well. Our note from 2015 says "As always the question given this was not blind tasted is, did we underrate because it's an SQN or did we rate higher because it's an SQN? But for a wine to create this questioning is a good thing" and it indeed once again we echo this comment. 96 and this will last another 20years no problems.
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Certainly a big, rich wine but it’s very well made and interesting. Lots of fruit, red and dark, and also some graphite and meaty notes. Double decanted and followed over three hours. This definitely picked up some vibrancy and complexity with air. Definitely in the drink window, but aging nice and slow so no rush.
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One hour slo-ox, 3 hour decant. Dark, almost black color, no evidence of browning. Nose of sweet dark fruit with multiple layers of nuance. Light red fruit, smoke, spice, leather, and bacon fat. More of the same on the palette with smooth, sweet integrated tannins. Hides its 15.2% alcohol well. Long, long finish. This wine is drinking well, firing on all cylinders and at it's apogee. Enjoy.
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Fruity nose, on the palate silky tannins, gorgeous dark fruit flavors, graphite, toasty aromas, dark chocolate and tobacco. A bit sweet on the finish and very long lasting.
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A very big hulk of a wine. Deep garnet color with a black interior. The nose bursts with dark berry fruit supported by charcoal. Not the least bit hot - actually quite the opposite. The nose is very welcoming in a bruiser sort of way. The palate is equally well done offering copious amounts of husky fruit that literally covers every millimeter of the palate. That said there is a leathery complexity and ample acidity to make this balanced in the most massive sense of the world. Not a drink regularly type of wine but for its style it is incrediblely impressive. Wow. I would love to drink this once a year - but no more. Happy 4th. (97)
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Purple color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of roasted meat, currants, plums and floral elements similar to violets. Flavors of black raspberries, berries, cherries and plums. Medium to tart acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink with some air or hold.
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Anything Goes (Zoom): Decanted 2 hours, poured/sealed in 5 individual jars and consumed via zoom 3 hours later. This wine is definitely a big syrah. Crazy dense, extracted, citric, floral, lilac, rich dense berries, tar, olive, and smoked meats. It manages to come across as balanced, and there's no noticeable alcohol.
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The Players: A great lineup for this tasting, which featured the following wines: 2013 Aubert Lauren Vineyard 1982 Leoville Poyferre 1996 Chateau Cos d'Estournel 1994 Dominus 2009 Bryant Family Vineyard 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter 2009 Suduiraut Sauternes
The Prep: All wines were poured into jars and transported, and consumed 2-4 hours later. The following wines had additional decant times: 1996 Cos d'Estournel - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars 2009 Bryant Family - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter - 2 hour decant before pouring into jars
Voting/Ranks: (Group) WOTN - 1994 Dominus #2 (Tie) - 1982 Leoville Poyferre #2 (Tie) - 1996 Cos d'Estournel (My Ranking) WOTN - 1994 Dominus #2 - 1982 Leoville Poyferre #3 - 1996 Cos d'Estournel #4 - 2009 Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet #5 - 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter Note: only 1 point separated the top wine from the Botton wine in this group (for me)
Wine Notes: 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter - This was a treat. Nose of perfumed lilac, stewed meat, eucalyptus, earth and a hint of mint. The palate showed layers of dried plums, dark cherry, lavender, creme de cassis with smoked meat, tobacco and chocolate lurking in the background. Finish was medium-long with velvety tannins gliding across the palate. This is already in my wheelhouse, but I believe it will continue to develop over the next 5-10 years. Easy 95 today, and a truly enjoyable treat!
Virtual Holiday Wine Tasting (Home): Very dark red/purple color. Decanted for 2 hours and poured into vessels at 2pm and into glasses at 4pm. Drank a glass over 2 hours. Blackberry liqueur, blackberry, scorched earth, smoked meats, aromatic floral and citric notes on the bold nose. The palate is dense and full, scorched earth, blackberry, glycerin, black plum, meaty and unctuous on a very velvety texture. This intensely fruity; an elixir of black and blue fruits.
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I really did not want to like this wine as much as I did. I am not particularly a fan of California syrah - they often are so “Hey - look at me!!” That said, this is the best syrah I’ve had from anywhere other than the Northern Rhône. Too expensive - I’ll enjoy my remaining ones and be done with SQN. But, this wine was a remarkable experience. An incredibly black wine - really black. Black, black, black. No sign of age around the rim, which barely thinned at all. Restrained on the nose - a gorgeous candied sweetness. My tasting buddy called it “hard candy” and I thought it was closer to black licorice but that hard candy was a good descriptor. My father loved a candy called horehound that was a slightly bitter/sweet licorice with some indescribable thickness to the flavor and that’s what this smelled like. It was a wine I did not want to drink because it smelled so good. In the mouth is quite the experience - hold it and move it around and it’s black and compellingly deep. Black cherry and/or black raspberry with a firm minerality, some salinity and this gorgeous bit of road tar. Near the end, there was a pepperiness that mingles with the black tariness in a way that just makes you want the wine to never end. The high alcohol was hidden until just the very tail end or if held in the mouth too long, warming the wine too much. We drank this at 64 when we started and that was a good temperature. Warmth is not this wine’s friend because of the alcohol. Overall, this is a stunning wine. An exceptional experience. Drank next to a 2010 Cayuse En Chamberlin. Quite the pre-Christmas wine celebration.
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See previous note. This has aged exceptionally well, showing more verve. Sumptuous and within the ideal drinking window, there’s dark coffee, blueberry, cold cuts, sous bois and chiseled stone. Full-bodied and offers so much complexity. Drink now - 2030.
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Big, high alcohol, highly extracted. Luscious, full flavors of raspberry and blackberry jam, smoked meat, spice cake, red licorice. Long satisfying finish, some tannin lurking but enjoyable with short decant.
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Tasted with a 2002 Marquis-Phillips Integrity, which was bigger and heavier, and with a 2013 Paul Hobbs, which had massive fruit and tannin. This was surprisingly round and much softer, excellent but not fantastic. I was surprised that a 10 year old SQN would not be much bigger, flavorful, and more bold than this. No need to age further. Ric
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Stunning wine. Amazing depth and purity of fruit with knock-out nose and 30 second finish. Just a joy to drink and great way to celebrate the new year!
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A special treat to taste this wine just a couple weeks later.. different source with slightly different results. In context, (this was presented in a syrah tasting) it was ripe, heavy, and a little monolithic. No one was complaining but several other bottles (Lillian, Roar) showed nearly as well or better at a fraction of the price. Put me in the camp that says SQN should be consumed in the first 10 years
Very well made wine with rich dark raspberry fruit. Despite it's richness and intensity, it's quite light on its feet which I appreciated. However, it failed to hold my interest and I got tired of drinking it after a glass. It just doesn't have the character of a Northern Rhone and lacks the diverse secondary notes that those wines possess. I can't argue with anyone who likes this wine more than me as it's just a matter of style preference.
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Showing really well at this point. Integrated and texturally full but soft, especially at 15.1% etoh. The thing I notice about the Sine Qua Non syrahs is that they manage to get fully ripe without the pruney, raisened character I find in solar vintage CNdP. This is all ripe raspberry and blackberry confit with red peppercorn spice on the finish. Ample acidity. Showing great but no rush here.
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Kleur: Diep ondoordringbaar donkerrood. Aroma / bouquet: Een groter contrast tussen deze wijn en de recentelijk door mij geproefde 'klassieke Bourgognes' is bijna niet denkbaar. Explosief bouquet. Donker en zoetig fruit, overrijpe zoete bramen en zwarte bessen. Kruidige indrukken van laurier, mint en menthol. Cederhout en sigarenkistjes-hout. Smaak / Afdronk: KABOOM! Een begin met een zachte zuurgraad, direct gevolgd door een mondvullende explosie van verleidelijke smaakindrukken. Donker fruit, verfijnd en prachtig geïntegreerd hout, zacht zoetige kruidigheid. Veel van alles maar in een perfecte balans en harmonie. Boordevol briljant gerijpte en boterzachte, zoet-droppige tannines. Bizar lange afdronk die tot het laatste moment de essentie van de wijn weergeeft... Algemeen / potentieel: Fantastische harmonie tussen geur en smaak! Prachtige, indrukwekkende, complexe en qua mondgevoel, geur en smaak fantastisch bevredigende wijn! 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 18 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 95/100
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Color: Deeply impenetrable dark red. Aroma / bouquet: A greater contrast between this wine and the 'classic Burgundy' I recently tasted is almost unthinkable. Explosive bouquet. Dark and sweetish fruit, overripe sweet blackberries and black currants. Spicy impressions of laurel, mint and menthol. Cedar wood and cigar boxes-wood. Taste / Aftertaste: KABOOM! A start with a mild acidity, immediately followed by a mouth-filling explosion of tempting taste impressions. Dark fruit, refined and beautifully integrated wood, soft sweetish spiciness. A lot of everything but in perfect balance and harmony. Full of brilliantly matured and butter-soft, sweet-drunk tannins. Bizarre long finish that reflects the essence of the wine right up to the last moment ... General / potential: Fantastic harmony between aroma and taste! Beautiful, impressive, complex and fantastically satisfying wine in terms of mouthfeel, aroma and taste! 50 + Color: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Taste / Finish: 18 + General / potential: 9 = 95/100
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This caught me a little bit off guard because I was expecting a very concentrated california-style one and to my surprise it had a lot of old-world aspects to it with a black olive aroma and a Dusty palate with dark fruit. This was probably wine of the night, big but enjoyable.
No notes due to a night of wonderful over consumption.
2nd SQN and didn’t disappoint. Excellent wine with deep flavor profile after 9 years of age. Would have been better on its own vs in this lineup. Great wine very enjoyable. 93+
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SQN & BBQ (The Krengels - Bannockburn IL): Magnum. Small glass, brief note from memory. Black plum and cherry with meaty character. Rich and powerful, just less balanced vs the Grenache.
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Decanted for 30 minutes. Aromas of blackberry, plum, smoked meat, vanilla and baking spice. Ripe black fruit, spice, cocoa, vanilla wafers and ripe tannins on the palate. Mouth coating and dense. Very long, layered finish. Full bodied. Pretty wine. Served with grilled marinated tuna steak.
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A few notches below my last bottle several years ago...solid nose of dark black and blue fruit with some floral notes, but not as much going on when tasted...medium finish...will decant the next one.
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Acker Auction - May 2019 (Zuma in NYC): The first of three wines where the most apt descriptor has to be 'rocket fuel'. This is not for the faint of heart. It coats the tongue and the palate and it's hard to imagine being able to fully appreciate some of the wines that came before this as well after this. It's lots of fruit. Fruit loops springs to mind. Sweet. There is something that doesn't seem quite right though - usually I think of SQNs as truly vibrant wines that just sing out of the glass at you and that wasn't the case here. Perhaps in a more muted or dumb phase?
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Well made wine, obviously. Very dark, almost black. It's extracted and concentrated. A touch of dark plum, hinting at prune, on the nose. Heck, not too bad for 15+ABV cali Syrah. Strong chalky base and a Rhone olive note says Syrah.
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Wow...this was a stunning wine. First off, this tasted very different from most SQN Syrahs I've had. If I had tasted this blind, it would unquestionably be identified as a rhone varietal wine, but I would have been certain this was grenache. I'm not sure if there was a higher percentage of grenache in this blend. Second, for those who claim SQN wines are heavy, jammy, fruit bombs, this wine was no, no, and no. From the start, the nose is full of grilled red and green peppers, Moroccan spices, peppery meat, charred rosemary. On the palate, the savory trend continued into a dazzling array of flavors that, quite honestly, I have difficulty articulating. The fruit was obviously there, but there was so much more. The Five Shooter is one of the most tasty, intellectual, and unique wines I've had in a while.
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Alpha Estate & Friends Dinner (Murano, London): 3 years since we tried this ( Papies 95) and continues to develop and deliver. The nose points straight to the style of wine big california syrah, Alban, SQN, Saxum. But the palate has that special SQN elevated balance , all parts of this orchestra are loud but also in harmony and balance. Big wine for sure but not heavy and with a charm and once again delicious. One can choose to hate it for what it stands but we prefer to just enjoy it and these non EBA SQNs remain for us a bit of a guilty pleasure. 96 and drink at will but time is on your side here.
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Deep purple color with a bouquet and flavor of blackberries, plums, and stale pepper, with the pepper of quite extraordinary intensity dominating the finish. Big wine with great depth and a long ending. Lovely match for the 2010 Dark Blossom Grenache. Great to drink both together. Not shared with such great food, but the beauty of the Emerald Coast more than compensated.
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Decanted for 1.5 hours, rebottled for ride to restaurant, then decanted for an additional 2 hours (tasted #4 of 5 wines). Blueberry fruit & black pepper. Big, still a bit tight. Last glass after opening/decanting for 6 hours was smoother, more fruit & less pepper. Wait on opening more. 94+
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Purple color with a bouquet and flavor of plums and blackberries. Good balance with tannins mostly integrated but short of perfect. Good depth with a long finish. May have benefited from longer decanting, but hard to say.
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Sine Qua Non dinner (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Incredibly youthful nose displaying crushed blackberry, blackberry jam, crushed pepper, smoke, baking spices and earth. Excellent concentration, nicely layered black fruit, silky and polished, good acidity, nicely integrated tannins and a long jammy black fruit driven finish. Although big and ripe, showing the nice Syrah typicity. Once again, not as opulent as the EBAS.
7th Annual Christmas dinner and cellar raid (Naperville, IL): Part of Christmas wine dinner and cellar raid and didn't take detailed notes. Opened up along with the Five Shooter Grenache. The Syrah blew it away along with every other wine on this night. This was the classic SQN that is right in it's sweet spot. Others preferred the 1985 La Chappelle but for others, including me this was the WOTN if not the WOTY.
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Drank at a local steakhouse with minimal decanting. Clear and ark garnet red in colour with a nose and flavours of dark berries and light peppery spices. Very well balanced on the tannins and acidity and overall a great bottle of wine tonight.
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Meaty, peppery, high toned cherry, tree stem and cassis for a complicating. This continued to evolve over the course of the evening. Wonderful texture in the mouth. Decanted 12 hours and consumed over 4.
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Wow this is a big wine, but it is a gorgeous wine. Right now it is youthful Syrah without a lot of secondary characteristics. The texture is profound but not heavy. There is acid to balance the fruit. A masterpiece for this style. (97)
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Wow. This is pretty amazing. It is so tight and closed, that I hesitate to evaluate it, yet it is also delicious, and one can sense where this may go. This was opened with a 2005 Cayuse Cailloux and a 2002 Bionic Frog -- those two were really really good -- this was amazing. (Thank you to Nick and Libby!). Decanted, and now a few hours later. This is still really tight - a tight nose of smoke, charred meat, forest fire, and tight tart fruits. Lovely weight in the mouth -- nice dark fruit, giving way to savory smoky meats, violets. This is a brooding dark wine, and absolutely captivating. The finish is tremendous -- long and steady. I guess this does not get 100 at the moment because there is so much hiding underneath. But I do hope I get to try this again in 5-10 years.
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Drinking even better than it did back in April. Previous notes are the same. A little smoother and a little more depth it seemed. Went down very easy. Came off a little old world, like a "cleaner" Cornas.
Drink now with a splash decant, or hold for a few years with confidence. Not necessarily a long term drinker. 96 points tops for me.
I believe it is possible to enjoy Syrah from California and France. There is a big difference between this and the Juge from a couple of days ago - this one has a huge frame, dark fruit, and spice. I kind of liked it.
This was opened at a local restaurant and poured without decanting. It was clear and deep red in colour. The nose was filled with cherries and slightly overripe grapes. When tasting this wine I found flavours of cherries mixed with dark berries. For a syrah, the spice levels were quite low but very enjoyable. Both the tannins and acidity on this wine were also lower that I would have thought and the finish was extremely long. This wine was really in a great space tonight.
Duke's La Jolla, 4/16/16 (Duke's Restaurant, La Jolla, California): 15.2% alcohol. Decanted 1 hour. Inky garnet black. Huge, opulent bouquet of dense black fruit, barbecue, anise, fennel, mincemeat, eucalyptus, camphor, dark mint chocolate. Similar on the palate, full body and then some, rich, powerful, without alcoholic heat. This wine seems open and approachable, and it is not clear whether it will improve substantially with additional aging.
PnP with notes of ripe (reductive) plum, saline, amarena fabbri wild black cherry, ripe cranberry, hot brick, terra cotta, worn leather, brush, and a hint of vanilla. Fanned out nicely over the course of a few hours, taking on a cedar aftertaste by hour three.
Impeccable tannin management and noteworthy balance. Not as deep and rich as I had anticipated (or wanted), but still had incredible layered complexity that evolved over three total hours in the decanter. It was almost like a purple berry fruit-driven version of a Cayuse (which I often identify with red berry fruit); somewhat like a Donelan Obsidian Syrah, but with layers upon layers of tiered flavors. This wine also had the saline quality akin to many of the Washington Syrahs (Cayuse, Reynvaan, Horsepower).
Drinking just fine now on a PnP; in fact I wouldn't even recommend more than a splash decant. This felt like it would only go a few more years before it starts to lose some of its intensity and core flavors. I would drink now and over the next few years for maximum consumption.
A solid 96, primarily for its multitude of flavors and amazing balance.
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This was decanted for 30 minutes prior to drinking at a local steakhouse. The wine was clear and garnet red in colour with a slight bit of brown thrown it. The wine had a strong nose of dark cherries. When tasting the wine, these cherries were mixed with a small hint of caramel and some (very light for a syrah) spices. The acidity and tannins were also quite light and overall this wine was a stunner tonight.
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Deep color. Intense nose of red fruit, oak and vanilla. Full body, with mouth coating fruit and oak. Very long finish. This is definitely in the house style, but was more elegant than the other Sine Qua Non I had the chance to taste.
Phenomenal wine. Still a baby with lots of life ahead of it but already drinking nicely today. This is the ultimate balance between California forward fruit with the elegance and nuance of an old world wine. Surprisingly light on its feet despite the alcohol content. No hint of heat.
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Part of a wine tasting at my house. Final wine of the night as a bit of a curve ball and easily the best of the evening ahead of a Leoville Las Cases and La Conseillante. First wine in a while that's literally made me was 'wow' after the first sip. Deep purple. Amazing purity of fruit on the finish.
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First off, its got nose, take another sip, promises are made, leather, dark fruit, touch of dirty dream girl. First sip, love SQN, just a little sip, palate is blitzed with a flavor attack, than left high and dry, I'm thinking all other wines suck. Another sip, little California girl is doing the leg wrap, I'm in. Yes, flavors are clean and distinct, like a polished Vincent on a display stand, to many details, so many delites squeezed into a small taste. Left to rest while I are dinner, I'm back taking another sip. Perfect balance, each sip just delivers, than vanishes, wow this is fun. As good as this is, I'm holding back on the score, she is not going all the way yet.
Decanted for like 30 minutes and enjoyed this over a good hour and a half. Quite on the restrained side for an SQN and is now in that place that we usually observe in SQNs that we call amplified balance, all amplified but all components in balance with one another. Solid fruit as expected, lovely depth of flavour and really at the start of its drinking window. We will wait at least another 5 yrs for the bottle we have sleeping in our cellar. 94-95
As always the question given this was not blind tasted is, did we underrate because it's an SQN and did we rate higher because it's an SQN? But for a wine to create this questioning is a good thing.
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Sine Qua Non's on a Saturday afternoon (Loretta Paganini School fo Cooking): Really good, but I and most of us, liked the Grenache better. Inky purple. The nose has black raspberries, vanilla, coffee, blue berries and charred wood. Great texture. Very tight on the palate. Lots of jammy black raspberry fruit. There is a lot of depth here.Tight layering that promises a nice complexity with age/air. Also some blueberries and spice. Smoother on the finish. Great wine, needs time.
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Dark dark wine, darkest of the Sarah's on the table. Nose of Jammu purple berries and some alcohol. Lively in the mouth, coming together but still a bit hi toned jammy Fun to drink , prbly be a little better with another year or two under its belt
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Still incredibly young. Double decanted in the morning, and then decanted for about 45 minutes before pouring. Still was a little tight, but a truly glorious wine. Was really singing an hour later for the last sips.
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Wow! It's hard not to love this wine! Deepest purple black, trace of black raspberry Campino candy (read: creamy dark fruit) on the powerful nose, huge taste, mouth coating, blue and black meaty fruit (blueberry, mulberry, beef jerky), great balancing acid, deeply buried tannins, super long and smooth finish. Strangely reminded me of a Tignanello in a very good year for some reason. Just amazing! Now I just have to wait for several more years on the mailing list. Oh, well...
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Not my bottle and not my style, but nice to try it. Big fruit, white pepper, but could use more acid. For me, a curiosity. Interestingly enough,the next night, after being left on the counter, it had softened, and while the same components were there, they didn't whack me on the head. The high alcohol, however, is a problem for me.
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Classic SQN nose, full body, chewy tannins, Asian spice, cream, strawberry and black cherry. Some meat is in the background but the fruit is the winner, great balance as usual, drink now.
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A day of lots of SQN and a few more!; 12/7/2014-12/9/2014 (Loretta Paganini School of Cooking and the Woods of Newbury): Wow. Great showing. Best nose of the tasting. Deep. Black raspberries, black licorice, iodine, violets, black pepper, blue berries it just gets deeper and deeper and more complex. The palate is amazing as well if tighter and not as complex as the nose. Black raspberries, dark chocolate, charred wood. Lush texture. Juicy acidity. Long finish. Just beautiful.
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Sunday Night Sine Qua Non Dinner (RPM Steak - Chicago IL): Came across as very powerful with great potential, even if backward today and even slightly too jammy. No question on the quality of raw materials here. Preferred the Five Shooter Grenache in next glass. I typically find these wines start hitting their stride at 5+ years, so expect this really shine a year+ from now.
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Kenyan coffee, blueberry, anise, resin, white pepper and roasted duck. Long and unctuous, with layers of flavor. Concentration and finesse at the same time, like one would expect. A body-builder style, that glides like Izhtak Perlman on many occasions. I would love to try this goddess in ten years time. A long and noir finish. This is without a doubt of Manfred's "house style". Drink 2016 - 2028.
All the best, Manfred.
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Three flights of awesome (My house): Herbs, curry, classical central coast notes in the nose, licorice, and on the elegant side for now for a SQN shiraz, but this is due to the cool year and it will add weight with some more time in the bottle. SQN nearly always delivers...
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This was the baby of the evening. Rambunctious in caparison to the 92 Diamond Creek Lake, 74 Heitz Martha's and 74 Gaja Barbaresco. Massive wine with lots of structure. Meaty with tons of ripe hanging black fruit. Full and weighty, this was the perfect wine to end a fantastic birthday dinner.
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Double decanted off its sediment about three hours before dinner. Loads of black fruit, along with kirsch and meat qualities. Black fruit turns to blue fruit on the palate. Black raspberry, blackberry liqueur and violet tones.
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Ahhh back to form. Great nose of beef, blackberries and plums. No BBQ yet, which I love and comes with time. Full and mouth coating and a big hit at the table. Amazing wine.
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Expected a fruit bomb like the 2008 Alban Reva. The SQN is, however, more elegant and more complex. Delightful fruit with a wealth of additional flavors, always accompanied by a delicate smokiness. Still very young and a long decanting absolutely necessary.
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This is good stuff. Decanted for 3 hours and consumed over another hour. Drank side-by-side with 2005 Alban Reva Syrah and preferred this SQN. It is young, but very sexy (and not just the label). Big round purple notes. Large, heavy wine, but still manages to be well balanced. Has not fully developed secondary notes yet. If opening soon, suggest a long decant. With more air or more time in the bottle, expect this to be 94-95.
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Immediately redolent of raspberry coulis; deep purple; voluptuous texture of raspberry sherbet, pepper, pine tar, and acacia... Mouthwatering acidity and firm, sweet tannin- The finish lingers for over a minute. A very complete wine... P.s. Coravined leaving 60%.
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Inky in color, with layer after layer of fat, ripe, lush, luscious, sweet, dark berries, jam, earth, licorice and fresh ground esperesso beans. This is no shy sister of a wine. It's a big, bold, bad ass bottle of Syrah that is about as hedonistic as it gets.
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Send-off in Style (Bourbon Steak, DC): Decanted 8 hours, and definitely needed it, but still too young. Leftovers with 24 hours of air on them were better.
Smells like SQN! Black and blue fruit, bacon, chocolate, briney oyster. Huge wine but as always, this is well balanced and carries it own weight gracefully. Will leave future bottles alone for a few more years though...
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I must be having an off night. Nice nose of blackberries, beef and cinnamon. The palate is a bit softer than that few bottles and the fruit somewhat hidden. Notes of beef and black licorice. Good, not great and not like the last few bottles.
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With a couple of fellow wine lovers in the mix, I told myself that I would open this if I was feeling festive...I didn't stand a chance. Popped and splash decanted...open for business. Pepper/spice, dark fruits, smooth and rich...plus a great label to boot. Lots of smiles.
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Tasted at Hedonism Wines in London. This wine is so think and viscous, it's like swirling syrup in the glass. Dark purples and violets cascade down the sides of the glass after aeration. Beautiful. But wow, what a huge huge wine! It's a bit of a fruit bomb for me, but I can see how some people would love this wine. Huge blueberries and dark fruits mixed with herbal and spicy notes. Nice, typical syrah pepper and asian spices... This wine is massive. It needs years and years in the bottle in my opinion to give it that 95+ score. Still, such a pleasure to try it!
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drank at bistro db moderne in miami. this bottle was consistent with the previous note. double decanted 3 hours before dinner. (bottle to vintauri into decanter -2 hours - then aerering funnel back into bottle. this isn't a food friendly wine, whichi isn't a bad thing, it's just too massive. but it sure is great. unctious, thick, viscous, boysenberry.
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Colgin, SQN, SHS, Saxum, Bevan, DP ++++ (GHT): Wow. This is an amazing wine. I am sure some won't like this style, but if you do, this rocks. Black raspberries, blueberries, a bit of dark chocolate, smoke and black pepper. It is drinking well right now. It is a huge wine, but with a rich velvety texture that drinks well. I don't know if this will shut down, but it is unctuous and open now. Long finish. I get the argument that these may be too big for some food, but at this point, there is so much flavor, I had no issues.
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Minneapolis Wine Spectator Offline - Washington Reds (Birch’s, Long Lake, MN): 85% Syrah, 5% Grenache, 5% Roussanne, 3% Petite Sirah and 2% Viognier. 22 months in French oak, 59% new. Double decanted prior to bringing to restaurant. What a contrast after tasting through several balanced Washington red blends. This is a full throttle, in your face wine at first, which morphs into a smooth body and long, lingering finish. It gets your attention but doesn't strangle you with it. Powerful aromatics, leading to a massive wine with attractive black pepper/spice and layers of intense flavor. This went very well with my lamb risotto dinner, although I probably didn't spend as much time with it as I should have -- just too enjoyable to drink.
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Decanted for 1 hour and drank over the following 2 hours. Very forward nose of sweet black fruit, black pepper, and some floral notes. Great depth and texture on the wine. Wonderful purity and the word viscosity comes to mind. The just glides off the tongue with a long layered finish.
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Right off the bat, the SQN nose invites you in, this time its packing. Scent of leather holster perhaps. Of course it goes down faster than , bla bla bla, insert going down joke here. Super smooth, all the spice and everything nice. Nose is opening up more, so fresh, better than bacon. Flavors are many, its appetizer, main course and desert in every mouthful. Or if your really reserved, think black coffee made with rose water with a drop of dark berry. The close is residue from a piece of just sweet dark buttered toast.
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Hells yes. This is what SQN should always taste like in my mind. Best of their wines in my book to date! Open for an hour or two in the bottle. From the moment it was poured it had that kinda inky quality - not too shiny, dull in an attractive way. The nose was absolutely stunning to say the very least. In your face funky creamy, meaty and leathery boysenberries, blueberries and dark cherries. The density and complexity on this is something you rarely find in wine. I have had some great Syrah in my days but this absolutely is one of the top three. Up there with Cayuse Armada and '03 Alban Reva that I've previously tasted. The palate goes on for days. Absolutely stunning. Purple flowers, gray and white pepper, smoked bacon fat. I can go on and on. Every whiff I'm taken back by the amount of extraction without being too overwhelming in the least. This is worth every penny even at secondary market pricing. There, I said it. Get a bottle and with a proper decant you can drink it today. I say that with confidence.
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amazing nose of plums, dark berries and meat. the palate is big and slick at the same time. loads of changing flavors with game meats, mint, berries and baking spices. long and delicious
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Drank at a local restaurant with no decanting. Very deep purple with a nose of black fruits. Lots of blueberries in the glass along with a nice balance of tannins and acidity. Although high in alcohol content, there was no burn. This wine was drinking nicely tonight.
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Definitely a disappointment at this young age. Didn't have that bold nose and tongue coating texture that made me fall in love with SQN. Maybe some major years in the cellar will allow this wine to develop into a delicious big wine like its brothers and sisters but for now I won't be buying anymore though I am very curious about the Grenache...
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Gorgeous expressive yet restrained nose of black fruits, dark chocolate, exotic spice and white pepper. Palate is richly fruited and so silky smooth. All of the stuffing is presented in a very restrained - relatively speaking - manner. Palate echoes the nose. Over the course of 4-5 hours this gets more smooth and long. Even as it warms up to room temp no signs of alcohol. Showing well young - as most SQN does in my book.
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Birthday Celebration (Chicago, IL): Tasting. While i like my SQN Syrah shortly after release, I find it takes a year or three to really show its potential, but this is showing nice black fruit with sweet baking spice, floral charm, everything well supported now by lots of energy and textures. A bit sweet at the end , but i expect that will soften.
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First SQN ever. This is not an elegant wine but it does manage to keep its explosive characteristics bound together. Slight pepper, a bit of asphalt and pure blackberry. These need a bit of time to come together.
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Not as good as previous vintages, but still a classic SQN profile, good fruit and length. Still young so it's best years are probably a few years away.
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Day one I poured 250ml of this wine in a decanter and put a cork in the bottle saving the remainder. 1st glass was reserved, deep purple and scents of black pepper and dried meat with dark hanging black berry tones. Midpallet is heavy, focused and surprisngly silky. Delicious all around.
Day two- 250ml in a decanter again. The wine filled out a bit and put on some weight. More pepper and spice notes in the glass. Tannins were a bit chalky. Wanted more but she saw me drinking this and "wanted a glass of red". A glass of red! Arrrr.
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This was drank at home without decanting and it originally suffered from that fact. It was a very bright purple with garnet red colour. Right out of the bottle, it was slightly cloudy as well but this cleared up after 1 hour of decanting. I got lots of tobacco and toast on the nose along with some pepper and bacon. In the glass there where lots of chocolate flavours along with cherries. The tannins were quite strong and the acidity levels were a bit hot but levelling out with time. Try one of these now if available and then put them away for at least a year to see if they fatten up some more.
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Pop and pour, just arrived. Dark purple to rim. Dark berries, smoke and spice on the nose. Lush rich palate feel with tons of ripe fruit and decent balancing acids and tannins, but still a wine to drink on its own. Great concentration and purity, long finish. Outstanding.
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85% Syrah,5% Grenache,3% Petite Sirah,5% Roussanne,2% Viognier......First thing I noticed is how smooth and creamy this is....might have been the high acid Pierre Peters BdB before hand......this is classic SQN in pure balance......silky smooth dark liqueured berries, white flower/acacia florals, charcoal/cherry tree dust, smoked Asian spice. I think the Roussanne and Viognier really cream and floral this thing up nicely! Little pepper, hot asphalt, bing cherry pie round out this KILLER tasting wine. LOVE the feel! Glad to have 5 more to follow along the next 5 or so years.
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3/31/2024 - hoservin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for one hour. Nose of ripe blackberry, smoked meat, dried herbs, anise and vanilla. Blackberry, gamey meat, dried herbs, mocha and anise on the palate. Very long, layered finish with excellent depth. Full bodied. Drinking beautifully! Served with hickory smoked, reverse seared rack of lamb and garlic herb butter.
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2/14/2024 - tantotinto wrote: 97 Points
Decanted and poured immediately. Great aromatics. The Viognier and Roussanne have to be contributors there. Dark cherry, spice, pepper and savory with a kick of saline minerality on the finish. Intense and full without overpowering. Superb tonight but plenty of time left for this one.
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8/26/2023 - jcstip wrote: 97 Points
Very deep purple with nice viscosity deep chicory with hint of green pepper some tobacco spice to it. Nice rep peppercorn and the end. Nice tannins remaining. 5 or more years to go excellent vintage
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4/16/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
SQN Dinner (Jordan's Place - Chicago IL): Still ripe and fleshy, this seems to be at the point of just settling down. Certainly good, even if lacking the density and gravitas of the best from Manfred.
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1/21/2023 - hoservin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for one hour. Nose of blackberry, gamey meat, spice, cedar and vanilla. Black fruit, gamey meat, cedar and spice on the palate. Very long, layered finish. Excellent depth. Full bodied. Served with rack of lamb and a mint sauce.
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1/15/2023 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points
No notes taken. This showed still quite youthful and exuberant. There is a lot of substance, the precision is high, the wine is expressive and intense, but too intense at this point. The level of ripeness is high but not too high. This will probably need another decade to flesh out and become more fine and elegant. 93/94 today for all the substance which doesn’t mean that once settled and mature, it cannot climb to much higher highs. We had this next to the Cayuse En Chamberlin 2011, which took it home easily, as the wine showed much more earthy and olive character, better balancing all the fruit there is while the SQN was still all about fruit.
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11/28/2022 - ravbik wrote: 96 Points
Complex, ripe spicy . So many layers . Meaty and some mild iron
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9/22/2022 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
The Return to the Ledbury (The Ledbury, London): Our third time over 7 years that we have this wine and consistently in the 95-96 area. Proper SQn here , big and elevated across, levated as we always say but in balance and harmony with all parts of the wine blasting out at 110dbs but in one concrete effort. Even the massive alc does not stand out ( Unfort for others like Alban & Saxum it does and this remains the key difference for us between SQN and others)and blends well. Our note from 2015 says "As always the question given this was not blind tasted is, did we underrate because it's an SQN or did we rate higher because it's an SQN? But for a wine to create this questioning is a good thing" and it indeed once again we echo this comment. 96 and this will last another 20years no problems.
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7/1/2022 - jag323 wrote: 97 Points
Delicious, drinking beautifully. Paired well with NY Strip. Super dark, great depth of flavor.
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6/10/2022 - B Paul wrote:
Certainly a big, rich wine but it’s very well made and interesting. Lots of fruit, red and dark, and also some graphite and meaty notes. Double decanted and followed over three hours. This definitely picked up some vibrancy and complexity with air. Definitely in the drink window, but aging nice and slow so no rush.
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2/13/2022 - Geoff Likes this wine: 97 Points
One hour slo-ox, 3 hour decant. Dark, almost black color, no evidence of browning. Nose of sweet dark fruit with multiple layers of nuance. Light red fruit, smoke, spice, leather, and bacon fat. More of the same on the palette with smooth, sweet integrated tannins. Hides its 15.2% alcohol well. Long, long finish. This wine is drinking well, firing on all cylinders and at it's apogee. Enjoy.
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2/12/2022 - pheck Likes this wine: 99 Points
Fruity nose, on the palate silky tannins, gorgeous dark fruit flavors, graphite, toasty aromas, dark chocolate and tobacco. A bit sweet on the finish and very long lasting.
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11/7/2021 - Backdoctor wrote: 95 Points
delicious wine, another great SQN. Great with my burger at Kitchen
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7/5/2021 - dbkitc wrote: 97 Points
A very big hulk of a wine. Deep garnet color with a black interior. The nose bursts with dark berry fruit supported by charcoal. Not the least bit hot - actually quite the opposite. The nose is very welcoming in a bruiser sort of way. The palate is equally well done offering copious amounts of husky fruit that literally covers every millimeter of the palate. That said there is a leathery complexity and ample acidity to make this balanced in the most massive sense of the world. Not a drink regularly type of wine but for its style it is incrediblely impressive. Wow. I would love to drink this once a year - but no more. Happy 4th. (97)
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5/20/2021 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
This is a huge wine Amarone-esque in proportions.
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5/6/2021 - Niagara wrote: 92 Points
one of the few SQNs that didn't absolutely blow my hair back. Still good.
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2/24/2021 - wineismylife wrote: 94 Points
WIML94
Tasted non blind.
Purple color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of roasted meat, currants, plums and floral elements similar to violets. Flavors of black raspberries, berries, cherries and plums. Medium to tart acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink with some air or hold.
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12/27/2020 - galewskj wrote: 94 Points
Anything Goes (Zoom): Decanted 2 hours, poured/sealed in 5 individual jars and consumed via zoom 3 hours later. This wine is definitely a big syrah. Crazy dense, extracted, citric, floral, lilac, rich dense berries, tar, olive, and smoked meats. It manages to come across as balanced, and there's no noticeable alcohol.
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12/27/2020 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Zooming Along with Anything Goes!: Zooming along with Anything Goes
The Players: A great lineup for this tasting, which featured the following wines:
2013 Aubert Lauren Vineyard
1982 Leoville Poyferre
1996 Chateau Cos d'Estournel
1994 Dominus
2009 Bryant Family Vineyard
2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter
2009 Suduiraut Sauternes
The Prep:
All wines were poured into jars and transported, and consumed 2-4 hours later. The following wines had additional decant times:
1996 Cos d'Estournel - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars
2009 Bryant Family - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars
2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter - 2 hour decant before pouring into jars
Voting/Ranks:
(Group)
WOTN - 1994 Dominus
#2 (Tie) - 1982 Leoville Poyferre
#2 (Tie) - 1996 Cos d'Estournel
(My Ranking)
WOTN - 1994 Dominus
#2 - 1982 Leoville Poyferre
#3 - 1996 Cos d'Estournel
#4 - 2009 Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet
#5 - 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter
Note: only 1 point separated the top wine from the Botton wine in this group (for me)
Wine Notes:
2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter - This was a treat. Nose of perfumed lilac, stewed meat, eucalyptus, earth and a hint of mint. The palate showed layers of dried plums, dark cherry, lavender, creme de cassis with smoked meat, tobacco and chocolate lurking in the background. Finish was medium-long with velvety tannins gliding across the palate. This is already in my wheelhouse, but I believe it will continue to develop over the next 5-10 years. Easy 95 today, and a truly enjoyable treat!
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12/27/2020 - rocknroller wrote: 93 Points
Virtual Holiday Wine Tasting (Home): Very dark red/purple color. Decanted for 2 hours and poured into vessels at 2pm and into glasses at 4pm. Drank a glass over 2 hours. Blackberry liqueur, blackberry, scorched earth, smoked meats, aromatic floral and citric notes on the bold nose. The palate is dense and full, scorched earth, blackberry, glycerin, black plum, meaty and unctuous on a very velvety texture. This intensely fruity; an elixir of black and blue fruits.
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12/21/2020 - randyjc wrote: 98 Points
I really did not want to like this wine as much as I did. I am not particularly a fan of California syrah - they often are so “Hey - look at me!!” That said, this is the best syrah I’ve had from anywhere other than the Northern Rhône. Too expensive - I’ll enjoy my remaining ones and be done with SQN. But, this wine was a remarkable experience.
An incredibly black wine - really black. Black, black, black. No sign of age around the rim, which barely thinned at all.
Restrained on the nose - a gorgeous candied sweetness. My tasting buddy called it “hard candy” and I thought it was closer to black licorice but that hard candy was a good descriptor. My father loved a candy called horehound that was a slightly bitter/sweet licorice with some indescribable thickness to the flavor and that’s what this smelled like. It was a wine I did not want to drink because it smelled so good.
In the mouth is quite the experience - hold it and move it around and it’s black and compellingly deep. Black cherry and/or black raspberry with a firm minerality, some salinity and this gorgeous bit of road tar. Near the end, there was a pepperiness that mingles with the black tariness in a way that just makes you want the wine to never end. The high alcohol was hidden until just the very tail end or if held in the mouth too long, warming the wine too much. We drank this at 64 when we started and that was a good temperature. Warmth is not this wine’s friend because of the alcohol. Overall, this is a stunning wine. An exceptional experience. Drank next to a 2010 Cayuse En Chamberlin. Quite the pre-Christmas wine celebration.
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11/30/2020 - brianngibson wrote: 96 Points
Black cherry, mint, menthol, meat, violet. Intense and multi-layered. New flavors emerge even after leaving the palate with a long finish.
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11/25/2020 - Matt Scott wrote: 95 Points
See previous note. This has aged exceptionally well, showing more verve. Sumptuous and within the ideal drinking window, there’s dark coffee, blueberry, cold cuts, sous bois and chiseled stone. Full-bodied and offers so much complexity. Drink now - 2030.
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11/3/2020 - DnL Cellars Likes this wine:
Election 2020 - decided to pop a Five Shooter and watch the world burn. Will update as the night goes on.
Pop and pour, meat leaps out of the glass even at cellar temp. It's going to be a long and delicious night
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9/19/2020 - Stonger the Better Likes this wine: 97 Points
What a terrific bottle. Powerful yet smooth. Vintage Syrah from the Krankl’s. You won’t be disappointed.
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7/4/2020 - MLwine Likes this wine: 96 Points
Smooth, rich, balanced, with terrific secondary notes. Delicious.
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5/11/2020 - Minnesota wrote: 93 Points
With each successive bottle less impressive, in particular for its price. Not bad, simply does not sing.
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5/1/2020 - Quiet Lion wrote: flawed
Pop and pour. Contaminated with brett. Underneath, nice viscosity and silky dark fruit. Drinkable but won't rate.
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4/23/2020 - dclaggett Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big, high alcohol, highly extracted. Luscious, full flavors of raspberry and blackberry jam, smoked meat, spice cake, red licorice. Long satisfying finish, some tannin lurking but enjoyable with short decant.
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4/11/2020 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted with a 2002 Marquis-Phillips Integrity, which was bigger and heavier, and with a 2013 Paul Hobbs, which had massive fruit and tannin. This was surprisingly round and much softer, excellent but not fantastic. I was surprised that a 10 year old SQN would not be much bigger, flavorful, and more bold than this. No need to age further.
Ric
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2/2/2020 - Jdwinedrinker wrote:
Sound bottle but not exciting. Not a fan
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12/31/2019 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 98 Points
Stunning wine. Amazing depth and purity of fruit with knock-out nose and 30 second finish. Just a joy to drink and great way to celebrate the new year!
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12/7/2019 - jviz wrote: 94 Points
A special treat to taste this wine just a couple weeks later.. different source with slightly different results. In context, (this was presented in a syrah tasting) it was ripe, heavy, and a little monolithic. No one was complaining but several other bottles (Lillian, Roar) showed nearly as well or better at a fraction of the price. Put me in the camp that says SQN should be consumed in the first 10 years
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11/29/2019 - dream Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very well made wine with rich dark raspberry fruit. Despite it's richness and intensity, it's quite light on its feet which I appreciated. However, it failed to hold my interest and I got tired of drinking it after a glass. It just doesn't have the character of a Northern Rhone and lacks the diverse secondary notes that those wines possess. I can't argue with anyone who likes this wine more than me as it's just a matter of style preference.
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11/23/2019 - jviz Likes this wine: 96 Points
Showing really well at this point. Integrated and texturally full but soft, especially at 15.1% etoh. The thing I notice about the Sine Qua Non syrahs is that they manage to get fully ripe without the pruney, raisened character I find in solar vintage CNdP. This is all ripe raspberry and blackberry confit with red peppercorn spice on the finish. Ample acidity. Showing great but no rush here.
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11/16/2019 - WildeMeeuw Likes this wine: 95 Points
Kleur: Diep ondoordringbaar donkerrood. Aroma / bouquet: Een groter contrast tussen deze wijn en de recentelijk door mij geproefde 'klassieke Bourgognes' is bijna niet denkbaar. Explosief bouquet. Donker en zoetig fruit, overrijpe zoete bramen en zwarte bessen. Kruidige indrukken van laurier, mint en menthol. Cederhout en sigarenkistjes-hout. Smaak / Afdronk: KABOOM! Een begin met een zachte zuurgraad, direct gevolgd door een mondvullende explosie van verleidelijke smaakindrukken. Donker fruit, verfijnd en prachtig geïntegreerd hout, zacht zoetige kruidigheid. Veel van alles maar in een perfecte balans en harmonie. Boordevol briljant gerijpte en boterzachte, zoet-droppige tannines. Bizar lange afdronk die tot het laatste moment de essentie van de wijn weergeeft... Algemeen / potentieel: Fantastische harmonie tussen geur en smaak! Prachtige, indrukwekkende, complexe en qua mondgevoel, geur en smaak fantastisch bevredigende wijn! 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 18 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 95/100
Google Translate:
Color: Deeply impenetrable dark red. Aroma / bouquet: A greater contrast between this wine and the 'classic Burgundy' I recently tasted is almost unthinkable. Explosive bouquet. Dark and sweetish fruit, overripe sweet blackberries and black currants. Spicy impressions of laurel, mint and menthol. Cedar wood and cigar boxes-wood. Taste / Aftertaste: KABOOM! A start with a mild acidity, immediately followed by a mouth-filling explosion of tempting taste impressions. Dark fruit, refined and beautifully integrated wood, soft sweetish spiciness. A lot of everything but in perfect balance and harmony. Full of brilliantly matured and butter-soft, sweet-drunk tannins. Bizarre long finish that reflects the essence of the wine right up to the last moment ... General / potential: Fantastic harmony between aroma and taste! Beautiful, impressive, complex and fantastically satisfying wine in terms of mouthfeel, aroma and taste! 50 + Color: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Taste / Finish: 18 + General / potential: 9 = 95/100
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10/28/2019 - Minnesota wrote: 95 Points
As lovely as one drunk year ago. Too bad my palate 'off' due to cold.
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9/22/2019 - brigcampbell wrote:
This caught me a little bit off guard because I was expecting a very concentrated california-style one and to my surprise it had a lot of old-world aspects to it with a black olive aroma and a Dusty palate with dark fruit. This was probably wine of the night, big but enjoyable.
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9/1/2019 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 93 Points
No notes due to a night of wonderful over consumption.
2nd SQN and didn’t disappoint. Excellent wine with deep flavor profile after 9 years of age. Would have been better on its own vs in this lineup. Great wine very enjoyable. 93+
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8/17/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
SQN & BBQ (The Krengels - Bannockburn IL): Magnum. Small glass, brief note from memory. Black plum and cherry with meaty character. Rich and powerful, just less balanced vs the Grenache.
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8/11/2019 - hoservin Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 30 minutes. Aromas of blackberry, plum, smoked meat, vanilla and baking spice. Ripe black fruit, spice, cocoa, vanilla wafers and ripe tannins on the palate. Mouth coating and dense. Very long, layered finish. Full bodied. Pretty wine. Served with grilled marinated tuna steak.
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8/2/2019 - Maphill01 wrote:
Nose of black olive. Blackberries, leather, smoke and cigar. Smooth, mouth coating tannins, long finish.
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7/27/2019 - hanasowner wrote: 94 Points
A few notches below my last bottle several years ago...solid nose of dark black and blue fruit with some floral notes, but not as much going on when tasted...medium finish...will decant the next one.
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5/15/2019 - MC2 Wines wrote:
Acker Auction - May 2019 (Zuma in NYC): The first of three wines where the most apt descriptor has to be 'rocket fuel'. This is not for the faint of heart. It coats the tongue and the palate and it's hard to imagine being able to fully appreciate some of the wines that came before this as well after this. It's lots of fruit. Fruit loops springs to mind. Sweet. There is something that doesn't seem quite right though - usually I think of SQNs as truly vibrant wines that just sing out of the glass at you and that wasn't the case here. Perhaps in a more muted or dumb phase?
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3/31/2019 - brigcampbell wrote:
Well made wine, obviously. Very dark, almost black. It's extracted and concentrated. A touch of dark plum, hinting at prune, on the nose. Heck, not too bad for 15+ABV cali Syrah. Strong chalky base and a Rhone olive note says Syrah.
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2/23/2019 - Beezc Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark berries and spice. Drinking well now but could go longer.
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1/17/2019 - Jonathan T Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wow...this was a stunning wine. First off, this tasted very different from most SQN Syrahs I've had. If I had tasted this blind, it would unquestionably be identified as a rhone varietal wine, but I would have been certain this was grenache. I'm not sure if there was a higher percentage of grenache in this blend. Second, for those who claim SQN wines are heavy, jammy, fruit bombs, this wine was no, no, and no. From the start, the nose is full of grilled red and green peppers, Moroccan spices, peppery meat, charred rosemary. On the palate, the savory trend continued into a dazzling array of flavors that, quite honestly, I have difficulty articulating. The fruit was obviously there, but there was so much more. The Five Shooter is one of the most tasty, intellectual, and unique wines I've had in a while.
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11/3/2018 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
Alpha Estate & Friends Dinner (Murano, London): 3 years since we tried this ( Papies 95) and continues to develop and deliver.
The nose points straight to the style of wine big california syrah, Alban, SQN, Saxum. But the palate has that special SQN elevated balance , all parts of this orchestra are loud but also in harmony and balance. Big wine for sure but not heavy and with a charm and once again delicious. One can choose to hate it for what it stands but we prefer to just enjoy it and these non EBA SQNs remain for us a bit of a guilty pleasure. 96 and drink at will but time is on your side here.
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10/8/2018 - Minnesota wrote: 96 Points
One of the most enjoyable SQNs, along with B20, consumed in many years.
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9/18/2018 - tcosgriff Likes this wine: 97 Points
Deep purple color with a bouquet and flavor of blackberries, plums, and stale pepper, with the pepper of quite extraordinary intensity dominating the finish. Big wine with great depth and a long ending.
Lovely match for the 2010 Dark Blossom Grenache. Great to drink both together. Not shared with such great food, but the beauty of the Emerald Coast more than compensated.
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8/30/2018 - patwjr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 1.5 hours, rebottled for ride to restaurant, then decanted for an additional 2 hours (tasted #4 of 5 wines). Blueberry fruit & black pepper. Big, still a bit tight. Last glass after opening/decanting for 6 hours was smoother, more fruit & less pepper. Wait on opening more. 94+
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4/7/2018 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Smells like Grenache.
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2/2/2018 - tcosgriff Likes this wine: 94 Points
Purple color with a bouquet and flavor of plums and blackberries. Good balance with tannins mostly integrated but short of perfect. Good depth with a long finish. May have benefited from longer decanting, but hard to say.
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1/26/2018 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
Sine Qua Non dinner (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Incredibly youthful nose displaying crushed blackberry, blackberry jam, crushed pepper, smoke, baking spices and earth. Excellent concentration, nicely layered black fruit, silky and polished, good acidity, nicely integrated tannins and a long jammy black fruit driven finish. Although big and ripe, showing the nice Syrah typicity. Once again, not as opulent as the EBAS.
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12/9/2017 - bablues wrote: 99 Points
7th Annual Christmas dinner and cellar raid (Naperville, IL): Part of Christmas wine dinner and cellar raid and didn't take detailed notes. Opened up along with the Five Shooter Grenache. The Syrah blew it away along with every other wine on this night. This was the classic SQN that is right in it's sweet spot. Others preferred the 1985 La Chappelle but for others, including me this was the WOTN if not the WOTY.
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11/10/2017 - Rosengoo wrote: 95 Points
Drank at a local steakhouse with minimal decanting. Clear and ark garnet red in colour with a nose and flavours of dark berries and light peppery spices. Very well balanced on the tannins and acidity and overall a great bottle of wine tonight.
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10/20/2017 - Pquaker wrote: 94 Points
Nice fragrance, very nice follow through. Initially thin, probably better as it ages to more supple richness. Drinking nicely now but let it age.
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7/28/2017 - bubbachumps wrote: 94 Points
Meaty, peppery, high toned cherry, tree stem and cassis for a complicating. This continued to evolve over the course of the evening. Wonderful texture in the mouth. Decanted 12 hours and consumed over 4.
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6/15/2017 - dbkitc wrote: 97 Points
Wow this is a big wine, but it is a gorgeous wine. Right now it is youthful Syrah without a lot of secondary characteristics. The texture is profound but not heavy. There is acid to balance the fruit. A masterpiece for this style. (97)
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4/29/2017 - leadpencil wrote: 97 Points
Full bodied. Blackberry, slate, limestone, black pepper
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2/3/2017 - Ron Slye wrote: 98 Points
Wow. This is pretty amazing. It is so tight and closed, that I hesitate to evaluate it, yet it is also delicious, and one can sense where this may go. This was opened with a 2005 Cayuse Cailloux and a 2002 Bionic Frog -- those two were really really good -- this was amazing. (Thank you to Nick and Libby!). Decanted, and now a few hours later. This is still really tight - a tight nose of smoke, charred meat, forest fire, and tight tart fruits. Lovely weight in the mouth -- nice dark fruit, giving way to savory smoky meats, violets. This is a brooding dark wine, and absolutely captivating. The finish is tremendous -- long and steady. I guess this does not get 100 at the moment because there is so much hiding underneath. But I do hope I get to try this again in 5-10 years.
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1/11/2017 - nywine68 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Elegant. Not over the top at all, just very nice balance
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11/25/2016 - csimm wrote: 96 Points
Drinking even better than it did back in April. Previous notes are the same. A little smoother and a little more depth it seemed. Went down very easy. Came off a little old world, like a "cleaner" Cornas.
Drink now with a splash decant, or hold for a few years with confidence. Not necessarily a long term drinker. 96 points tops for me.
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9/21/2016 - krister wrote: 93 Points
Young, sweet but with the fresh acidity to make it fine to drink now, as usual with Krankl.
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6/26/2016 - Diane (LI) wrote:
I believe it is possible to enjoy Syrah from California and France. There is a big difference between this and the Juge from a couple of days ago - this one has a huge frame, dark fruit, and spice. I kind of liked it.
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4/30/2016 - Rosengoo wrote: 96 Points
This was opened at a local restaurant and poured without decanting. It was clear and deep red in colour. The nose was filled with cherries and slightly overripe grapes. When tasting this wine I found flavours of cherries mixed with dark berries. For a syrah, the spice levels were quite low but very enjoyable. Both the tannins and acidity on this wine were also lower that I would have thought and the finish was extremely long. This wine was really in a great space tonight.
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4/16/2016 - Javachip wrote: 96 Points
Duke's La Jolla, 4/16/16 (Duke's Restaurant, La Jolla, California): 15.2% alcohol. Decanted 1 hour. Inky garnet black. Huge, opulent bouquet of dense black fruit, barbecue, anise, fennel, mincemeat, eucalyptus, camphor, dark mint chocolate. Similar on the palate, full body and then some, rich, powerful, without alcoholic heat. This wine seems open and approachable, and it is not clear whether it will improve substantially with additional aging.
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4/1/2016 - csimm wrote: 96 Points
PnP with notes of ripe (reductive) plum, saline, amarena fabbri wild black cherry, ripe cranberry, hot brick, terra cotta, worn leather, brush, and a hint of vanilla. Fanned out nicely over the course of a few hours, taking on a cedar aftertaste by hour three.
Impeccable tannin management and noteworthy balance. Not as deep and rich as I had anticipated (or wanted), but still had incredible layered complexity that evolved over three total hours in the decanter. It was almost like a purple berry fruit-driven version of a Cayuse (which I often identify with red berry fruit); somewhat like a Donelan Obsidian Syrah, but with layers upon layers of tiered flavors. This wine also had the saline quality akin to many of the Washington Syrahs (Cayuse, Reynvaan, Horsepower).
Drinking just fine now on a PnP; in fact I wouldn't even recommend more than a splash decant. This felt like it would only go a few more years before it starts to lose some of its intensity and core flavors. I would drink now and over the next few years for maximum consumption.
A solid 96, primarily for its multitude of flavors and amazing balance.
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3/19/2016 - Rosengoo wrote: 95 Points
This was decanted for 30 minutes prior to drinking at a local steakhouse. The wine was clear and garnet red in colour with a slight bit of brown thrown it. The wine had a strong nose of dark cherries. When tasting the wine, these cherries were mixed with a small hint of caramel and some (very light for a syrah) spices. The acidity and tannins were also quite light and overall this wine was a stunner tonight.
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3/10/2016 - jfpwine Likes this wine: 96 Points
Deep color. Intense nose of red fruit, oak and vanilla. Full body, with mouth coating fruit and oak. Very long finish. This is definitely in the house style, but was more elegant than the other Sine Qua Non I had the chance to taste.
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2/18/2016 - nywine68 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Phenomenal wine. Still a baby with lots of life ahead of it but already drinking nicely today. This is the ultimate balance between California forward fruit with the elegance and nuance of an old world wine. Surprisingly light on its feet despite the alcohol content. No hint of heat.
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2/1/2016 - jamie24 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Part of a wine tasting at my house. Final wine of the night as a bit of a curve ball and easily the best of the evening ahead of a Leoville Las Cases and La Conseillante. First wine in a while that's literally made me was 'wow' after the first sip. Deep purple. Amazing purity of fruit on the finish.
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1/15/2016 - shadow wrote: 99 Points
First off, its got nose, take another sip, promises are made, leather, dark fruit, touch of dirty dream girl.
First sip, love SQN, just a little sip, palate is blitzed with a flavor attack, than left high and dry, I'm thinking all other wines suck.
Another sip, little California girl is doing the leg wrap, I'm in.
Yes, flavors are clean and distinct, like a polished Vincent on a display stand, to many details, so many delites squeezed into a small taste.
Left to rest while I are dinner, I'm back taking another sip.
Perfect balance, each sip just delivers, than vanishes, wow this is fun.
As good as this is, I'm holding back on the score, she is not going all the way yet.
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12/29/2015 - B Paul wrote: 94 Points
Probably could use just a bit more bottle age. 94+
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12/27/2015 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for like 30 minutes and enjoyed this over a good hour and a half. Quite on the restrained side for an SQN and is now in that place that we usually observe in SQNs that we call amplified balance, all amplified but all components in balance with one another. Solid fruit as expected, lovely depth of flavour and really at the start of its drinking window. We will wait at least another 5 yrs for the bottle we have sleeping in our cellar. 94-95
As always the question given this was not blind tasted is, did we underrate because it's an SQN and did we rate higher because it's an SQN? But for a wine to create this questioning is a good thing.
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12/12/2015 - robertek wrote: 94 Points
Fantastic nose although initially a little unbalanced on the palate. I will keep this for another 2-5 years before the next one.
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9/26/2015 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 95 Points
Sine Qua Non's on a Saturday afternoon (Loretta Paganini School fo Cooking): Really good, but I and most of us, liked the Grenache better. Inky purple. The nose has black raspberries, vanilla, coffee, blue berries and charred wood. Great texture. Very tight on the palate. Lots of jammy black raspberry fruit. There is a lot of depth here.Tight layering that promises a nice complexity with age/air. Also some blueberries and spice. Smoother on the finish. Great wine, needs time.
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8/23/2015 - reichken wrote: 92 Points
Dark dark wine, darkest of the Sarah's on the table. Nose of Jammu purple berries and some alcohol. Lively in the mouth, coming together but still a bit hi toned jammy Fun to drink , prbly be a little better with another year or two under its belt
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8/22/2015 - tcarter Likes this wine: 95 Points
Still incredibly young. Double decanted in the morning, and then decanted for about 45 minutes before pouring. Still was a little tight, but a truly glorious wine. Was really singing an hour later for the last sips.
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5/16/2015 - kfrench150 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wow! It's hard not to love this wine! Deepest purple black, trace of black raspberry Campino candy (read: creamy dark fruit) on the powerful nose, huge taste, mouth coating, blue and black meaty fruit (blueberry, mulberry, beef jerky), great balancing acid, deeply buried tannins, super long and smooth finish. Strangely reminded me of a Tignanello in a very good year for some reason. Just amazing! Now I just have to wait for several more years on the mailing list. Oh, well...
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2/14/2015 - Diane (LI) wrote:
Not my bottle and not my style, but nice to try it. Big fruit, white pepper, but could use more acid. For me, a curiosity.
Interestingly enough,the next night, after being left on the counter, it had softened, and while the same components were there, they didn't whack me on the head. The high alcohol, however, is a problem for me.
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2/5/2015 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Purple
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1/24/2015 - pakabear Likes this wine: 96 Points
Classic SQN nose, full body, chewy tannins, Asian spice, cream, strawberry and black cherry. Some meat is in the background but the fruit is the winner, great balance as usual, drink now.
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12/7/2014 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 99 Points
A day of lots of SQN and a few more!; 12/7/2014-12/9/2014 (Loretta Paganini School of Cooking and the Woods of Newbury): Wow. Great showing. Best nose of the tasting. Deep. Black raspberries, black licorice, iodine, violets, black pepper, blue berries it just gets deeper and deeper and more complex. The palate is amazing as well if tighter and not as complex as the nose. Black raspberries, dark chocolate, charred wood. Lush texture. Juicy acidity. Long finish. Just beautiful.
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11/2/2014 - Knicksfan wrote: 96 Points
Spectacular syrah. Beautiful from nose to tongue to throat. Wow.
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10/15/2014 - Vinophiliac559 wrote: 93 Points
92-93+ pts; Very good wine, not quite where I expected it to be at the price point. Needs a lot more time in the cellar.
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10/12/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Sunday Night Sine Qua Non Dinner (RPM Steak - Chicago IL): Came across as very powerful with great potential, even if backward today and even slightly too jammy. No question on the quality of raw materials here. Preferred the Five Shooter Grenache in next glass. I typically find these wines start hitting their stride at 5+ years, so expect this really shine a year+ from now.
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10/3/2014 - Matt Scott Likes this wine: 94 Points
Consumed back in March...
Kenyan coffee, blueberry, anise, resin, white pepper and roasted duck. Long and unctuous, with layers of flavor. Concentration and finesse at the same time, like one would expect. A body-builder style, that glides like Izhtak Perlman on many occasions. I would love to try this goddess in ten years time. A long and noir finish. This is without a doubt of Manfred's "house style". Drink 2016 - 2028.
All the best, Manfred.
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9/30/2014 - bonedocnine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Mmmmmmmmmm.
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9/13/2014 - G_H Likes this wine: 93 Points
Three flights of awesome (My house): Herbs, curry, classical central coast notes in the nose, licorice, and on the elegant side for now for a SQN shiraz, but this is due to the cool year and it will add weight with some more time in the bottle. SQN nearly always delivers...
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9/7/2014 - scott w Likes this wine:
My first SQN and wow was this fantastic, massive yes, deep and layered yes, balanced yes...what a fun drink.
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9/6/2014 - Thirsty1 Likes this wine:
This was the baby of the evening. Rambunctious in caparison to the 92 Diamond Creek Lake, 74 Heitz Martha's and 74 Gaja Barbaresco. Massive wine with lots of structure. Meaty with tons of ripe hanging black fruit. Full and weighty, this was the perfect wine to end a fantastic birthday dinner.
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8/9/2014 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
Double decanted off its sediment about three hours before dinner. Loads of black fruit, along with kirsch and meat qualities. Black fruit turns to blue fruit on the palate. Black raspberry, blackberry liqueur and violet tones.
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8/7/2014 - Uglypinga Likes this wine:
Ahhh back to form. Great nose of beef, blackberries and plums. No BBQ yet, which I love and comes with time. Full and mouth coating and a big hit at the table. Amazing wine.
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4/2/2014 - jctra Likes this wine: 98 Points
Expected a fruit bomb like the 2008 Alban Reva. The SQN is, however, more elegant and more complex. Delightful fruit with a wealth of additional flavors, always accompanied by a delicate smokiness. Still very young and a long decanting absolutely necessary.
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3/29/2014 - ageverett wrote: 93 Points
This is good stuff. Decanted for 3 hours and consumed over another hour. Drank side-by-side with 2005 Alban Reva Syrah and preferred this SQN. It is young, but very sexy (and not just the label). Big round purple notes. Large, heavy wine, but still manages to be well balanced. Has not fully developed secondary notes yet. If opening soon, suggest a long decant. With more air or more time in the bottle, expect this to be 94-95.
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3/16/2014 - jonnyoro wrote: 98 Points
Immediately redolent of raspberry coulis; deep purple; voluptuous texture of raspberry sherbet, pepper, pine tar, and acacia... Mouthwatering acidity and firm, sweet tannin- The finish lingers for over a minute. A very complete wine... P.s. Coravined leaving 60%.
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2/8/2014 - mcsnooty wrote:
Great wine
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2/5/2014 - tcarter Likes this wine: 95 Points
Double decanted in the morning, then let it slow ox in the uncorked bottle all day. Was singing 12 hours later for dinner.
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2/3/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Inky in color, with layer after layer of fat, ripe, lush, luscious, sweet, dark berries, jam, earth, licorice and fresh ground esperesso beans. This is no shy sister of a wine. It's a big, bold, bad ass bottle of Syrah that is about as hedonistic as it gets.
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1/17/2014 - wineberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Send-off in Style (Bourbon Steak, DC): Decanted 8 hours, and definitely needed it, but still too young. Leftovers with 24 hours of air on them were better.
Smells like SQN! Black and blue fruit, bacon, chocolate, briney oyster. Huge wine but as always, this is well balanced and carries it own weight gracefully. Will leave future bottles alone for a few more years though...
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12/16/2013 - Uglypinga Likes this wine:
I must be having an off night. Nice nose of blackberries, beef and cinnamon. The palate is a bit softer than that few bottles and the fruit somewhat hidden. Notes of beef and black licorice. Good, not great and not like the last few bottles.
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12/14/2013 - hanasowner wrote: 98 Points
With a couple of fellow wine lovers in the mix, I told myself that I would open this if I was feeling festive...I didn't stand a chance. Popped and splash decanted...open for business. Pepper/spice, dark fruits, smooth and rich...plus a great label to boot. Lots of smiles.
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12/9/2013 - CManthei Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted at Hedonism Wines in London. This wine is so think and viscous, it's like swirling syrup in the glass. Dark purples and violets cascade down the sides of the glass after aeration. Beautiful. But wow, what a huge huge wine! It's a bit of a fruit bomb for me, but I can see how some people would love this wine. Huge blueberries and dark fruits mixed with herbal and spicy notes. Nice, typical syrah pepper and asian spices... This wine is massive. It needs years and years in the bottle in my opinion to give it that 95+ score. Still, such a pleasure to try it!
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11/13/2013 - Thirsty1 Likes this wine:
drank at bistro db moderne in miami. this bottle was consistent with the previous note. double decanted 3 hours before dinner. (bottle to vintauri into decanter -2 hours - then aerering funnel back into bottle. this isn't a food friendly wine, whichi isn't a bad thing, it's just too massive. but it sure is great. unctious, thick, viscous, boysenberry.
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11/8/2013 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 97 Points
Colgin, SQN, SHS, Saxum, Bevan, DP ++++ (GHT): Wow. This is an amazing wine. I am sure some won't like this style, but if you do, this rocks. Black raspberries, blueberries, a bit of dark chocolate, smoke and black pepper. It is drinking well right now. It is a huge wine, but with a rich velvety texture that drinks well. I don't know if this will shut down, but it is unctuous and open now. Long finish. I get the argument that these may be too big for some food, but at this point, there is so much flavor, I had no issues.
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11/6/2013 - jwolniak wrote: 92 Points
Sine Qua Non Tasting - Domaine Wine Storage Chicago - Nov 2013 (Domaine Wine Storage - Chicago): Nose has some game and I like it. Lots of spice coming through the front to hit the mid, finishes from the mid with some darker fruit. A very nice syrah, better label.
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11/6/2013 - tooch wrote:
Sine Qua Non Night @ Domaine (Domaine Wine Storage - Chicago, IL): Smokey sausage nose, with dark fruits, and lots of oak. Reminds me of some of the modern Cote Rotie and/or Hermitage producers. Tons of polish, has an almost artificial feel to it. Dunno.
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9/13/2013 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Minneapolis Wine Spectator Offline - Washington Reds (Birch’s, Long Lake, MN): 85% Syrah, 5% Grenache, 5% Roussanne, 3% Petite Sirah and 2% Viognier. 22 months in French oak, 59% new.
Double decanted prior to bringing to restaurant.
What a contrast after tasting through several balanced Washington red blends. This is a full throttle, in your face wine at first, which morphs into a smooth body and long, lingering finish. It gets your attention but doesn't strangle you with it. Powerful aromatics, leading to a massive wine with attractive black pepper/spice and layers of intense flavor.
This went very well with my lamb risotto dinner, although I probably didn't spend as much time with it as I should have -- just too enjoyable to drink.
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8/25/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for 1 hour and drank over the following 2 hours. Very forward nose of sweet black fruit, black pepper, and some floral notes. Great depth and texture on the wine. Wonderful purity and the word viscosity comes to mind. The just glides off the tongue with a long layered finish.
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8/21/2013 - shadow wrote: 98 Points
Right off the bat, the SQN nose invites you in, this time its packing.
Scent of leather holster perhaps.
Of course it goes down faster than , bla bla bla, insert going down joke here.
Super smooth, all the spice and everything nice.
Nose is opening up more, so fresh, better than bacon.
Flavors are many, its appetizer, main course and desert in every mouthful.
Or if your really reserved, think black coffee made with rose water with a drop of dark berry.
The close is residue from a piece of just sweet dark buttered toast.
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8/17/2013 - beezer6 wrote: 98 Points
Hells yes. This is what SQN should always taste like in my mind. Best of their wines in my book to date!
Open for an hour or two in the bottle. From the moment it was poured it had that kinda inky quality - not too shiny, dull in an attractive way. The nose was absolutely stunning to say the very least. In your face funky creamy, meaty and leathery boysenberries, blueberries and dark cherries. The density and complexity on this is something you rarely find in wine. I have had some great Syrah in my days but this absolutely is one of the top three. Up there with Cayuse Armada and '03 Alban Reva that I've previously tasted. The palate goes on for days. Absolutely stunning. Purple flowers, gray and white pepper, smoked bacon fat. I can go on and on. Every whiff I'm taken back by the amount of extraction without being too overwhelming in the least. This is worth every penny even at secondary market pricing. There, I said it. Get a bottle and with a proper decant you can drink it today. I say that with confidence.
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7/30/2013 - Knicksfan wrote: 95 Points
Wow. If its this good P&P I can hardly believe what this is going to turn into. Powerful fruit, all the stuff is inlace except my patience.
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7/13/2013 - Uglypinga wrote:
amazing nose of plums, dark berries and meat. the palate is big and slick at the same time. loads of changing flavors with game meats, mint, berries and baking spices. long and delicious
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6/26/2013 - Rosengoo wrote: 93 Points
Drank at a local restaurant with no decanting. Very deep purple with a nose of black fruits. Lots of blueberries in the glass along with a nice balance of tannins and acidity. Although high in alcohol content, there was no burn. This wine was drinking nicely tonight.
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6/26/2013 - S R U D I N Likes this wine: 92 Points
Definitely a disappointment at this young age. Didn't have that bold nose and tongue coating texture that made me fall in love with SQN. Maybe some major years in the cellar will allow this wine to develop into a delicious big wine like its brothers and sisters but for now I won't be buying anymore though I am very curious about the Grenache...
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5/26/2013 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
Gorgeous expressive yet restrained nose of black fruits, dark chocolate, exotic spice and white pepper. Palate is richly fruited and so silky smooth. All of the stuffing is presented in a very restrained - relatively speaking - manner. Palate echoes the nose. Over the course of 4-5 hours this gets more smooth and long. Even as it warms up to room temp no signs of alcohol. Showing well young - as most SQN does in my book.
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5/24/2013 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Birthday Celebration (Chicago, IL): Tasting. While i like my SQN Syrah shortly after release, I find it takes a year or three to really show its potential, but this is showing nice black fruit with sweet baking spice, floral charm, everything well supported now by lots of energy and textures. A bit sweet at the end , but i expect that will soften.
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5/15/2013 - fisk15 wrote: 92 Points
First SQN ever. This is not an elegant wine but it does manage to keep its explosive characteristics bound together. Slight pepper, a bit of asphalt and pure blackberry. These need a bit of time to come together.
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5/11/2013 - pakabear Likes this wine: 94 Points
Not as good as previous vintages, but still a classic SQN profile, good fruit and length. Still young so it's best years are probably a few years away.
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5/8/2013 - Thirsty1 Likes this wine:
Day one
I poured 250ml of this wine in a decanter and put a cork in the bottle saving the remainder. 1st glass was reserved, deep purple and scents of black pepper and dried meat with dark hanging black berry tones. Midpallet is heavy, focused and surprisngly silky. Delicious all around.
Day two-
250ml in a decanter again. The wine filled out a bit and put on some weight. More pepper and spice notes in the glass. Tannins were a bit chalky. Wanted more but she saw me drinking this and "wanted a glass of red". A glass of red! Arrrr.
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4/25/2013 - G_H Likes this wine: 92 Points
Interesting, you can clearly sense the cold year. Give it another year because now its painfully young...
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4/15/2013 - Rosengoo wrote: 92 Points
This was drank at home without decanting and it originally suffered from that fact. It was a very bright purple with garnet red colour. Right out of the bottle, it was slightly cloudy as well but this cleared up after 1 hour of decanting. I got lots of tobacco and toast on the nose along with some pepper and bacon. In the glass there where lots of chocolate flavours along with cherries. The tannins were quite strong and the acidity levels were a bit hot but levelling out with time. Try one of these now if available and then put them away for at least a year to see if they fatten up some more.
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3/24/2013 - bubbachumps wrote: 95 Points
Agree with buzz, amazing texture to this wine. Nose of spice and dark fruits, of course quite primary right now, but absolutely delicious!
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3/23/2013 - dbg wrote:
Pop and pour, just arrived. Dark purple to rim. Dark berries, smoke and spice on the nose. Lush rich palate feel with tons of ripe fruit and decent balancing acids and tannins, but still a wine to drink on its own. Great concentration and purity, long finish. Outstanding.
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3/20/2013 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine: 95 Points
85% Syrah,5% Grenache,3% Petite Sirah,5% Roussanne,2% Viognier......First thing I noticed is how smooth and creamy this is....might have been the high acid Pierre Peters BdB before hand......this is classic SQN in pure balance......silky smooth dark liqueured berries, white flower/acacia florals, charcoal/cherry tree dust, smoked Asian spice. I think the Roussanne and Viognier really cream and floral this thing up nicely! Little pepper, hot asphalt, bing cherry pie round out this KILLER tasting wine. LOVE the feel! Glad to have 5 more to follow along the next 5 or so years.
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