WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR 2011

Manfred Krankl

I could easily write a book about Manfred Krankl, his life, his visions, his vineyards, his art works, and his wines. He is one of the most amazing vignerons of California, and just about everything he does, is special.

He ws born in Austria, but moved to California in 1980 (and he doesn't sound like Arnold at all!) and later opened up the Le Campanile restaurant in Los Angeles, and the La Brea Bakery company, which he sold for 20 million dollars in 2001.
Wine was always part of his life, but it wasn't until 1992 before he produced his first own wine, the 1992 Black and Blue together with Napa Valley winemaker Michael Havens. There was also a small production of wines for his restaurant Le Campanile. Two years later, in 1994, he established his own label Sine Qua Non. The idea was to produce small batches of great wines out of Syrah and Grenache. The production was, and still is, very limited and after just a few years, Manfred Krankl and his Sine Qua Non wines had become well known among wine collectors.

"I didn't have any formal education in growing vines or making wine, I learned it by trying, and now I'm too old for it anyway", he says.

He is one of the most detailed oriented wine makers of California, hence the perfection in his wines, that are huge and packed with super ripe and strictly sorted grapes. Even though he didn't had any vineyards on his own until he planted the now 8.90 hectare Eleven Confession Vineyard in the southern part of the cool Santa Rita Hills, he have always spent a lot of time in the vineyards.

He was lucky already in his first vintage (1994, unfortunately not tasted here) by being able to purchase grapes from famous vineyards like Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard. Over the years, new great vineyard sites has been added to the program, like the great Whitehawk Vineyard in Los Alamos. Manfred did always farm the same blocks in each vineyard, hence the even quality over the vintages.

Today Manfred and his wife Elaine Krankl owns  24.10 hectares of vines in three vineyard sites. His first vineyard is Eleven Confession in Santa Rita Hills, a cool valley where he primarily grows Syrah and Grenache, but also some Roussanne and Viognier (which often is blended into the syrah wines).
In 2004 he planted various grape varieties, mostly Syrah and Grenache, but also Petite Sirah, Touriga Nacional, Mourvèdre, Roussanne and Petit Manseng in his beautiful estate in Oak View in the much warmer Ventura County. Today there are three blocks and a total of 12.3 hectares in this Cumulus Vineyard, plus the brand new state of the art winery he moved into for the 2011 harvest.

"Although much bigger and much better planned and easy to work in, it felt a bit unusual and strange after all the years in my old garage winery in Ventura", Manfred says.  

Another vineyard, the now called The Third Twin Vineyard, was added to his estate program in 2010, a total of 6.10 hectares of Syrah and Grenache in Los Alamos close to Whitehawk Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard just north of Santa Rita Hills. The ranch covers 120 hectares, and according to Manfred, there are several slopes to be planted in the future. With this, he may be one hundred percent estate grown within a few years from now. As of 2011, the only grapes he purchase is the ones from Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley.

The hype around Manfred Krankl mostly comes from the great wines, made in a ripe but still so elegant and extremely well balanced style, and in so small quantities they have been subject for second hand sales at top dollars. One may have to pay a few hundred dollars up toll 500-700 dollars for a bottle!
Another hype around Sine Qua Non is of course the names and labels of the wines. Each wine carries a unique name ("Why give all your children the same name?", Manfred ask you when you ask him about this), and an artistic label, made by Manfred himself. This have not only created a sort of collecting phenomenon, but also inspired other wine producers to do the same. The difference is that Manfred Krankl is a true artist, in that sense Sine Qua Non is one of the most unique wineries of this planet!
 

The style of his Syrah and Grenache wines is ripe, typical Californian in most ways, yet one may mistake his wines for being the exclusive "La-La's" of Guigal (particularly La Landonne or the more lush La Mouline in warmer vintages). The Sine Qua Non wines are not for those who seeks light bodied wines with high acidity and more terroir than fruit and body.

 
The wines are crafted from highly ripe grapes, they are mostly destemmed (sometimes by hand) but certain lots are whole cluster fermented in small open top fermenters with manual pigage, or in small cement eggs. Maceration is long, and the ageing takes place in mostly French oak barrels (225 and 500 liters), of which a great proportion are new. Ageing stretches over 18-22 months, until the wines are ready to blend and bottle.   To Manfred, the blending process is the most crucial. All barrels are blind tasted over a number of weeks or even months, and then small trials are made until he and his winemaker have decided how to make the blend.

I have been fortunate to follow the Sine Qua Non wines for more than a decade, I taste them regularly and I have also visited Sine Qua Non and tasted with Manfred a numerous of times. By all means, he is one of the most careful, detailed oriented and uncompromising winemakers in California. Therefore I'm proud and happy to appoint Manfred Krankl as the Winemaker of the Year 2011. 

 

Vertical of Syrah from Sine-Qua-Non 2008-1995

(all wines tasted in one vertical tasting in 2011)  

2008 B-20 / 95-96 p                

This vintage is a blend of 92 percent Syrah, six percent Grenache and the rest Viognier, and grapes are sourced from the estate vineyards Eleven Confession (all Grenache plus some Syrah) in Santa Rita Hills and Cumulus Vineyards in Ventura County, as well as from Bien Nacido Vineyard (last vintage) in Santa Maria Valley and Whitehawk Vineyard in Los Alamos. They were harvested from 24.0 to 28.4 Brix, and 97 percent av the grapes were destemmed before they were fermented. The wines was then kept in French oak barrels, around 40 percent new and the rest up to four years old, up to 26 months. In this vintage, the alcohol level reached 15.4 percent. A total of 7 920 bottles and 180 magnums were made.
”This was the first of four consecutive vintages, and we didn’t harvest until November 24”, Manfred says. The extra long hang time resulted in a high phenol ripeness, but not overly high sugars, therefore Manfred was vary happy about this harvest. ”However, it will take some years before it start to show it true potential”, he adds. 

Like all young wines from Sine Qua Non, this is compact and full of flavors, and even though there’s abundant of richness of blackberries, blueberries, dark cherries and even toffee, there’s something quite elegant over the nose. It’s not as impressive as some other vintages shown at this stage, but it’s rather av kind fresh elegance to it. Plus, I must say, some sweet and slightly spicy oak notes. On the palate it’s full bodied and rich, initially with some warmth from the alcohol, but giving it half an hour in a decanter, a more elegant structure reveals, and then the alcohol seems to soften a bit. Again, it’s not a powerful wine in that sense warmer and riper vintages are, still there’s a serious structure of tannins to balance the ripe fruit and make the finish totally dry. There’s a fine silky texture and a long finish, but also a youthful wildness that lead me to the conclusion that this wine needs several years in the bottle before it reach its very best balance and drinkability. And patience is always rewarding when it comes to the wines from Sine Qua Non.
Drink it over the next 5-18 years

2007 Labels / 96-97 p

In this vintage, the blend was made up by 89 percent Syrah, seven percent Grenache and the rest Viognier. Grapes were predominately harvested in the two estate vineyards Eleven Confession in Santa Rita Hills and Cumulus Vineyard in Ventura County, but 17 percent of all Syrah came from Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, en the same amount from the great Whitehawk Vineyard in Los Alamos. The wine spent 22 months in French oak barrels, of which 65 percent were new. The alcohol level is 15.3 percent.
”I really like the 2006 vintage, my wines are rich without being exuberant or too concentrated”, Manfred says.

If 2006 Raven was a bit difficult to judge at this young stage, the 2007 Labels is in the same position. They are also quite similar, with a mind blowing richness with abundant of perfectly ripe fruit flavors, yet so restrained and structured. It sounds like a contradiction, but that’s the way these wines are. The nose offers super ripe blueberries, almost like the finest confiture as well as crème de cassis, and it’s mostly about all those charming primary aromas.
With some aeration, some complexity showed, but it took almost 5-6 hours in the decanter before the wine really opened up and showed white pepper, violets and some sweet and spicy notes from the barrels. On the palate it’s ripe, voluptuous, there’s a slight bitterness from the oak and perhaps also from the stems, but it’s almost totally covered up by the richness. Overall it’s an impressive wine that’s far too young to even taste today. I’ll keep my bottles at least three to four more years before I touch them – Labels is a wine for the future.
Drink it over the next 5-20 years

2006 Raven / 97 p

The Raven is made of 93 percent Syrah, five percent Grenache and just two percent Viognier, most of the grapes from the estste vineyard Eleven Confession in Santa Rita Hills. The wine spent 21 months in almost all new French oak barrels, but some of them were larger, 600 liters. This very good vintage, the alcohol reached 15.3 percent.

From a stylistic point of view, Manfred think of 2006 Raven as something inbetween 2002 Papa and 2004 Poker Face, without being as concentrated as the latter.
It’s always hard to find the most elegant nuances in a young powerful wine like Raven, but already in at just one sniff, the greatness in it reveals. And that’s what I very often find in the wines from Sine Qua Non, an unlike most winemakers, Manfred has the talent to craft huge wines and blend them in a way where the richeness and concentration doesn’t end up in overwhelming wines. He is the master in maximizing power and new expensive oak barrels and still stay in balance.
Again aeration is nessicary for this young wine, and then a very fine note of white pepper and ink as well as a slight vegetal fragrance (from the stems) and notes of violts and aloe vera rises throught the compact fruit. On the palate, it's full bodied with an almost viscous texture, packed with ripe fruit and still so rich in its primary fruit flavors that I recommend a few more years of bottle age before it's opened. The tannins are important but well in balance, therefore almost silky. Complexity is not in my tasting notes of today, but I guess it will come in the coming years.
Drink it over the next 5-20 years

2005 Atlantis 1 Fe₂O₃ / 97-98 p

In this vintage, the blend was made of 93 percent Syrah (around 40 percent from Eleven Confession, almost 30 percent from Whitehawk Vineyard, some 20 percent from Alban Vineyard in Edna Valley, and the rest from Bien Nacido Vineyard), five percent Grenache from Eleven Confession and just two percent Viognier. Around 25 percent of the clusters were kept whole under the fermentation, and the maceration stretched over 17 days. Two thirds new French oak were used, the rest was used French but also a few American oak barrels. The ageing lasted for 22 months. Alcohol level reached 15.7 percent.
This was the first vintage Manfred decided to use three different labels for his wines. ”It is great fun to see how surprised people are when they unwrap the paper the bottles are wrapped in”, he says and laughs.

Although this wine is just a baby, one can clearly see the greatness in it. It’s packed with ripe, slightly sweetish and dense dark fruit flavors (cherries, blueberries and cassis), but there’s also cooler scents of crushed white pepper as well as a spicy touch of the stems, and a touch of new oak. The concentration is obvious, but even though the aromas and flavors are so intense, the wine is actually quite closed. This is more obvious when decanting the wine and one realize that it takes more than 5 hours in the decanter before it really starts to open up.
Man, this wine is really impressive, and its glycerol and silky fruitiness covers the huge but perfectly ripe tannic structure, hence giving the wine an almost velvety texture. At this youthful stage, there’s also a slight spiciness and bitterness from the stems, but that’s just fine.
Overall, there’s so much energy in the wine and taste seems to linger for minutes. As in so many wines from Sine Qua Non, it’s so impressive and good to drink already now. Knowing these wines from several tastings and vertical tastings like this one, I know that the real greatness will show with some more bottle age. The foresight for the most complex taste stretches at least 10-15 years from now. It may well be one of the classic vintages from Sine Qua Non.
Drink it over the next 5-18 years

2004 Poker Face / 98-99 p

In this warm vintage, 96 percent of the blend was Syrah, a third of that from the cooler Eleven Confession Vineyard in Santa Rita Hills and the rest from Whitehawk Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Alban Vineyard. The 2.5 percent of Mourvèdre that added spiciness in the blend was sourced from Alta Mesa Vineyard, and the rest is 1.5 percent of Viognier. As always, all varieties and all vineyard blocks were vinified and kept separately throughout the 27 months of ageing in almost 90 percent new French oak (this vintage, 17 barrels made the cut into Poker Face). Alcohol level is 15.5 percent.

As the other young wines, this is almost opaque, unredeemed and massive fruit in a style which, oddly enough, also offers great elegance. Perhaps it is the small nuances of violets that makes the dark sweet cherry fruit so easygoing and, which I like so much, moves the focus from the youthful vanilla and smoky scents from the oak barrels. The nose is really remarkable.
The flavor is as concentrated of seductive cherry, sloe and raspberry fruit with the same elegant fragrance of violets and licorice, and both tannins and acidity gives the wine a serious backbone that promises a slowly evolving life that probably extends until 2025, at the very least. However, already today the superlatives are many, especially the remarkable balance between sheer power and seductive flavors, but with time more complexity will rise out of the dense primary fruit. The fresh acidity, which is so well integrated and balanced in the rich fruit, should not be underestimated - it will help giving the wine a long life. Poker Face is a great wine!

Drink it over the next 5-20 years

2003 Papa / 96 p

This lovely wine is made of 97 percent Syrah, two percent Mourvèdre and one percent Grenache. Grapes were sourced from Whitehawk Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Alban Vineyard, the warmer Shadow Canyon Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County and Alta Mesa Vineyard, and for the first time also from the (now) 8.90 hectare estate vineyard Eleven Confession, planted in 2001 on a plateau above Arita Hills Vineyard (owned by Lafond Winery) in the southern part of Santa Rita Hills. The wine was matured in 90 percent new French oak barrels for 27 months, and as all wines from Sine Qua Non it was bottles without fining or filtration.
”I named this wine in honor of Matias Krankl, my dad, a very ordinary man who grew up in Czech Republic under poor circumstances – he left school after six years to work hard as an apprentice at a shoemaker, thereafter he worked even harder in the coal mines before he got a much safer job as a driver”, Manfred tells. ”Then he married a young and fantastic woman, and 22 years old, he became my father”, he adds.

Dense, youthfully purple and almost opaque, and almost equally massive in its aromas. When you try through the vintages from Sine Qua Non, you realize that Manfred Krankl is masterful in balancing the oak flavors, but in the younger vintages some sweetness, vanilla, slightly roasted and spicy oak flavors will be noted in the sweet and dense fruit. The concentration is huge with loads of ripe and lush fruit, and perfectly pure, in young vintages typically dark cherries, blueberries and blackberries as well as a dash of wild raspberries and a deliciously spicy violet note. Although the taste is so concentrated, full of ripe fruit, alcohol and glycerol to a very silky texture, there is enough of acidity, minerals and tannins to give the taste a great energy. It is not nearly mature and at its peak, not even five hours of decanting is enough to open up all the flavors. Two to three years of maturing would help.

Drink it over the next 2-18 years

2002 Just For The Love Of It / 99-100 p

This is one the best syrahs ever from Sine Qua Non, including the longer aged versions. It was made of 96 percent Syrah and two percent each of Grenache and Viognier. All grapes were sourced from Alban Vineyard in Edna Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, Stolpman Vineyard and White Hawk Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley and just a little from Shadow Canyon Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County. Around 90 percent of the barrels were brand new, and all French. Alcohol level is 15.2 percent.
The name symbolizes the true passion and love for wine that so many – but not all – people show. ”The ones who live their lives from the heart”, Manfred says.

It has always been something special about this wine. When I tried a number of components from barrels at Sine Qua Non in 2003, I realized that Manfred Krankl with this vintage had placed himself on a level among the world's biggest stars. All barrel samples we tasted was outstanding, but Manfred said they lacked that greatness he looks for, and that he achieves by blending different grape varieties, batches of different vinification and from various vineyards. I thought of it then, by tasting several great components, as the finest wine made ​​in the modest shed in downtown Ventura.
The wine is young, still purple, deep and intense, and the nose is rich with a deliciously sweet yet tangy and fresh note of cherries, wild raspberries and strawberries, it is so rich, fruity and deep, as well as earthy and complex, that it almost resembles an astounding cuvée of the best parcelles in Chambertin Grand Cru, added the finest flavor that can come from a pure wine of Grenache. The taste is rich and almost explosive, yet so elegant and vivid in its fruit saturated and tangy style. The oak is perfectly well balanced. Again, I'm impressed by the magnificent balance between pure power and elegance that Manfred is so skilled in capturing.
There is really only one reason not to drink this wine today, and that is that it actually has the potential to evolve for many more years to come.
Drink it over the next 10-15 years

2001 Midnight Oil / 97-98 p

A blend of 96 percent Syrah, 2.5 percent Grenache and 1.5 percent Viognier from Bien Nacido Vineyard, Stolpman Vineyard, Alban Vineyard and Whitehawk Vineyard. Vinification is the same as for the other vintages with around 90 percent of the barrens new. Alcohol level this great vintage didn’t jump over 15 percent, it was ”just” 14.9 percent. The production this year was 950 cases of six bottles.

Ten years old, still young and totally vital! The aroma is open and intense, well stuffed with sun ripe dark berries, blueberries and plums, but also with a really nice touch of lavender and licorice. Compared to the older vintages, one may find traces of the oak barrels in which the wine was brought up, but not more than a shadow of vanilla and grilled bacon (that note disappears after half an hour in the decanter, and instead all focus is set on the magnificent fruit). The flavor is equally intense and deliciously fruity, still quite marked by its tannins and good acidity, which gives a vibrant energy. This oil is one of the finest lubricants Manfred Krankl has given his wine quenching crowd of supporters. Despite the youth, it's absolutely good to drink now, but with a few more years of ageing the balance will be a little more polished, and life from that date extends at least 15 years.

Drink it over the next 15 years

2000 In Flagrante / 96-98 p

In this millennium vintage the Syrah fraction was the lowest of Sine Qua Non wines ever, it was only 88 percent. The rest was ten percent Grenache and two percent Viognier. Grapes came from Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Whitehawk Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley. The juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and was then transferred into French barrels, only 72 percent new, for malolactic fermentation and 19 months of ageing. Again alcohol level stopped at 14.9 percent. A total of 725 cases of six were made of In Flagrante.

Deep, dark purple and still young, but with some deposit which reveals the wine wasn't filtered before bottling. The nose is dense, exuberant and massive with both cool scented and sun ripe and sweet fruit flavors, added with notes of liquorices and lavender, and even if the wine is young and so concentrated, there is also a more earthy hue that adds complexity. The body is still rich with somehow viscous fruit, glycerol and alcohol sweetness, and it took almost two hours of decanting before the aromas and flavors met each other in perfect harmony.
The wine is still young and unredeemed, but with aeration it opened up to a greater complexity with notes of air dried meet, charcuteries and white pepper, yet with the fruit in dominance. If absolute power and stylish elegance manage to find each other, they tend end up in a wine of this caliber. A few hours of aeration in a decanter is recommended, but rather should wine be mature in the bottle for a more few years.
Drink it over the next 10 years

1999 The Marauder / 97 p

One hundred percent Syrah, that’s the deal for the Marauder, and this is the only single Syrah wine made here at Sine Qua Non, ever. Around 40 percent of the grapes came from Alban Vineyard, 36 percent from Bien Nacido Vineyard and 24 percent from Stolpman Vineyard. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks and the wine was then transferred into brand new French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and 17 months of ageing on its lees. ”My racking regime is all depending on each barrel, some barrels will remain unracked, some will be racked one time, others two or even three times”, Manfred says. Alcohol level is 14.9 percent. Only 1 998 bottles was made!

At first this was wine was a bit shy, although the dark and still slightly youthful purple color gives the impression that the wine still should be considered to be a young wine (except the fine sediment that revealed some bottle age). The nose is just lovely, after just some aeration absolutely delicious with both primary fruit aromas (sweet black currants, cherries and sun ripe blackberries) and more complex earthy, spicy and floral (violets) notes. To this, a fine acidity and a good grip of firm but ripe and to a certain extent also matured tannins are added.
Like so many 1999s, this wine shows that the vintage wine is superb and still not yet near to step into full maturity. One or two addition years in the cellar is a good thing, primarily to polish the tannins a bit more, and it will keep well until shortly after its twentieth anniversary.

Drink it over the next 10 years

1998 E-raised / 96-97 p

In this vintage, the cuvée was made of approximately 95 percent Syrah, five percent of Grenache and just a splash of Viognier. The grapes came from Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard. The wine was aged in all new French oak barrels for around 20 months, and it was bottled without fining or filtration. In this cooler El Niño vintage, alcohol only reached 14.0 percent.
E? Well, that’s Elaine, Manfred’s charming wife. ”Without whom Sine Qua Non wouldn’t have been flying”, Manfred says.

Thanks to the cool growing season of 1998, this wine has a lively acidity that creates a beautiful and life giving structure. The fruit is brighter, still raspberry like and floral, and in fact almost unrelieved which gives the wine a great elegance, and makes it a little different than most vintages in the lineup. A delicious spicy note of fennel and liquorices root adds complexity. Due to the lighter body, some alcohol warmth is noted, but overall the wine is very elegant and lively. As in all vintages with just some age, the feeling of oak almost non-existent, and with aeration the red fruit flavors was lifted. In the aftertaste it offers an even sweeter, more lush and refined flavor of wild raspberries. Purely in terms of aromas, the E-raised could be seen as a hybrid between high quality burgundies and stylish wine of Grenache from southern France. The 1998 vintage is generally described as weak, or even bad for red wines in California, but in this particular case the wine has developed into a elegant, aromatic and well structured wine!
Drink it over the next 6-8 years

1997 Imposter McCoy / 93 p

Again, Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard were the source of the 95 percent of Syrah and five percent of Grenache that made up this vintage. Yields was very small this vintage, and the production was around 2 900 bottles. Alcohol level is 14.9 percent.

This vintage is usually hailed as excellent and even phenomenal in Napa Valley and Sonoma, but down in Santa Barbara 1997 was one of the most difficult vintages in living memory. As in northern California it was hot, and the yields was unusually large, resulting in wines that are both a bit lighter and more fast maturing. This is evident in this wine, which certainly starts great with fine primary fruit aromas, and it even opened up a bit in the glass with some air, however it started to fade a little after a while - and even if the wine landed at a level that in other contexts might be described as really good, 1997 is one of the few weaker cards in the line up from Sine Qua Non. The fruit is a bit sweet, reminiscent of cherry liqueur with notes of blueberries and blackberries, much like a wine from Priorat in Spain, but with air it starts to dry out and thus that roughness becomes somewhat more austere than the other wines. Yet there has enough interesting flavors to the wine to be really good. There are similarities with the great wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which has reached a kind of lap time in their lives. Drink now and until 2015, or something like that.

Drink it over the next 8 years

1996 Against The Wall / 97 p

”This was a very tuff year for us, we really felt we were pushed against the wall, hence the name of this wine”, Manfred says. It is a blend of 92 percent Syrah from Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard, and eight percent Grenache from Stolpman Vineyard. After fermentation, as always with the indigenous yeast, the wine was racked into new French and (some) American oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and ageing for 19 months.  Alcohol level is 14.5 percent. The production this year was 3 576 bottles.

The color reveals a slight nuance of maturity, still it is quite dense and yet with a deep, almost purple core. The nose is equally intense, developed in a way that many wine tasters usually describe as Bordeaux like, but there is still a sufficient power and youthful intensity in the fruit, which is both dark and a bit primary sweetish. This leads to the conclusion that this vintage has more to offer in the coming years. Nuances of fennel and licorice adds some complexity. Tannins are vital but mature and almost silky, thanks to the quite rich and slightly sweet fruit flavors and lively acidity, the aftertaste lingers for a minute or so, contributing to  finesse. This is an extremely elegant wine which initially felt almost grenache like in its seductive fruit flavors, but with aeration it develops into a greater finesse. Although a very good wine indeed, I don't believe it will evolve into something much more complex with further ageing.

Drink it over the next 4-5 years

1995 The Other Hand / 94 p

During the 90s, a lot of things changed in California. One thing was the transition from more classic styled wines into riper and fuller bodied wines with higher alcohol. Therefore, I’m not surprised to see that the 1995 vintage from Sine Qua Non only have 13.5 percent alcohol. The blend this year, the second vintage for Sine Qua Non, was 94 percent Syrah and six percent Grenache from Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard. The wine was aged in 70 percent new barrels, alls French, for 18 months. A total of 2 100 bottles was made and they was sold in cases of five with one bottle of the grenache.

The color still shows small traces of purple, almost as if the wine is young. The nose is great, intense rather than powerful and still fruit driven with notes of both sweeter dark berries and aromatic red fruits. With some air a more mature side starts to show, with complex secondary and earthy aromas of sous bois, cedar tree and tobacco. An almost fennel like spiciness and a floral nuance is still there to create excitement. The taste is medium full with dark fruit flavors and notes of violets, the tannins are ripe but still adds some resistance in the rich and slightly viscous mouth feeling, but giving the wine more aeration the age starts to show in the aftertaste, which now begins to show some signs of drying out. I'd love to find another bottle so drink again, then just decanted prior to serving it, just because it is so complex.
Drink it over the next 4-5 years

Four vintages of Syrah from Zaca Mesa

Zaca Mesa Winery is a classic, a Rhône Ranger with a long and well established reputation. Yet they seem to be overshadowed by more recent producers, not because one is better or worse than the other, rather a common fact in California that newly established wineries are more interesting. To me, that’s a very strange mentality, especially in United States where history, as I’m told over and over again on my trips around California, is a missing part of the wine culture. So, when there is a history, why not be proud of it? Why not look back in the recent past, and check out how well certain wines age?
This is what I do on a regular basis, vertical tasting will tell you a lot of the quality and consistency of a winery or a particular wine. Today I revisited Zaca Mesa to taste some older vintages of their prestige wine, the Syrah.

Four vintages, all good ones, were tasted and the overall impression is that the wine has been very consistent over the years. There are some changes from the 1996 vintage to the 2008, such as a slightly different proportion of Viognier (from 20 percent in the 1996 vintage, to just a few percent in the more recent vintages). Also the grapes have been sourced from different blocks in the vineyard. Another detail differs, the alcohol. As in most wines in California, alcohol level has increased since mid 90s, in this case from 13.5 percent to 14.5. This is a quite common change in alcohol level in California during this period.
The overall impression is that the Syrah from Zaca Mesa Winery evolves very slowly, and to a very complex wine, and that’s good news to anyone who drinks their wines within days or even hours after purchase, which unfortunately is the most common, in United States as elsewhere.

2008 Syrah / 90-92 p
This is the current vintage, and it is of course young, riper and richer than the other I tasted. Since the vintage was short of Viognier, this wine is made exclusively of Syrah, at least almost. Instead of adding Viognier grapes, there was a co fermentation with the skins from Viognier, so I wasn’t too surprised to find a quite floral and spicy note from Viognier. Besides that, the fruit is ripe and dark scented, and the earthy and spicy notes, not very different from what the French calls garrigue, are quite evident. On the palate it is rich and almost full bodied, intense and quite silky, still the tannins are youthful and firm, and there’s also a good but not overly lively acidity. This is a very good wine, a bit riper than most of the vintages I have tasted from Zaca Mesa, but it is very well balanced.
Serving it today, it should be decanted at least 30-45 minutes before serving it. Based on the fine evolution of the older vintages, some more years of bottle age would be a better choice.
Drink it 2012-2028

2001 Syrah / 92 p
The 2001 vintage was considered to be great all over California. This wine is just another example of that, and the wine is impressive. I was so surprised to find see, that this wine is ten years old. There’s still a lot of primary fruit aromas of dark and sweetish berries here, but the spicy notes of liquorice and garrigue (just a little of that) and also of charcuteries adds the type of complexity one wish to see in a great syrah with age (or in this case, just some age). On the palate it’s still quite youthful, there’s still some primary fruit sweetness and the tannins are still young and firm, and overall it is reminiscent of the 1999 vintage, although this 2001 is bit more concentrated with riper fruit.
Even though it’s ten years old, it still benefits from some more years in bottle, or at least half an hour of decanting, and of course to be poured in a big glass and served with a hearty dish of grilled beef or with venison.
Drink it 2011-2021

1999 Syrah / 92 p
As in the 2001 vintage, there’s just a few percent of Viognier in this blend, still that addition is notable. The vintage itself is great, and the wine is a very good example of the vintage. Although the wine has kept some primary fruit aromas, it’s more to it than fruit. This is a very complex wine that offers fine notes of sweet tobacco, sous bois, dried French herbs, and charcuteries, and overall the nose is very well balanced. It’s medium intense on the palate, rich in flavor but totally dry in a way that’s more closed rather than on its way to dry out, because there god length to it. It is surpisingly fresh to be twelve years old, and it’s absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to follow it in the glass more than ten minutes, but over that short time, it opened up a bit. I would have loved to follow it over an hour in a decanter.
Drink it 2011-2019

1996 Syrah / 90 p
Fifteen years old but not old, I wrote in my notebook. This is lighter wine the the younger ones, and both the vintage and the fact that this wine consists of 20 percent Viognier, explains that pretty well. If the younger wines could be described as being bluish in the fruit, this one is more to red fruits. The yellow scented tropical fruit notes from Viognier are gone by now, but there’s a fine spiciness and very elegant secondary aromas here, but, no oxidation at all. I have recently tasted a lot of “great 1996 cabernets from famous wineries in Napa Valley” that wasn’t as fresh and well kept as this syrah! Tannins are still there to give the wine a good structure, but they are mature and almost velvety. This lovely wine surprised me, it’s elegant rather than full bodied and rich, and that’s this wine’s greatest assets.
It’s no hurry to drink the last bottles of this wine, but I doubt it will gain more complexity from further ageing.
Drink it 2011-2016

2008 Patrina Syrah from Alban Vineyards

Since my first encounters with his wines in the early 1990s, John Alban has made remarkable progress in his viticulture and winemaking. There is no doubt that he is one of the most talented winemakers in Central Coast, and he is crafting some exceptional wines of Syrah from his own vineyards in the cool Edna Valley.
In the early years his bottlings of Syrah from the Reva and Lorraine vineyards was fantastic, and over the years they have gained more power, depths and structure. Following his intuition and the path of prominent wine producers such as Guigal in the Rhône Valley and Sine Qua Non in Ventura Couny south of Santa Barbara, he started to mature these vineyards selection and the ultra premium Seymour's, in oak for 38-42 months from the 2004 vintage. This was a smart move, I'm not the only one who felt the wines could take it, and that the extra ageing gave them a fine texture and mouthfeel.
The problem was that it took longer to get the wines on the market, and that prices went up. So, John wanted to make another Syrah, estate grown of course, but made to be a little bit lighter, with only 20-24 months of barrel ageing, and as important - less expensive. With the 2008 vintage, he made his inaugural vintage of that wine, the Patrina Syrah. And it's very good

2008 Patrina Syrah / 93 p
At first, it was a bit rough with loads of dark scented, ripe and sweet fruit flavors with smoky, slightly bitter and to be honest, not too elegant oak characteristics. Also, on the palate, the stated 14.7 percent of alcohol was definitely there, especially with its warmth in the long aftertaste, and the tannins as well as the oak bitterness, was a bit oversized. So I let the wine sit in the decanter for another four hours, of course with a revisit every hour to see how it evolved. Almost nothing happened. So I poured the wine back in the bottle, and let it stand next to my desk for two days! Then, suddenly, the wine was just stunning. I know the wines from John Alban need time, even though they are showy at once – but in this case I was overwhelmed by the transformation from roughness to pure power and finesse at the same time. This was my first experience with this wine, six month ago.
Now, it's much more calm, although it still needs one to two hours in the decanter. The color is dark, almost opaque, and the nose is concentraded with ripe, dark scented fruit, somehgow sweetish but not cooked. Now, two days later, the oak is just sweet – there’s no bitterness at all, tannins have soften, and the wine is much more silky, still sweetish and intense, and there’s a lovely blackberry fruit flavor with fine notes of wild raspberries. Only snall notes of the smoky oak is still here, but now it’s much more integrated, therefore more enjoyable. Based on the long aeration, there are reasons to believe this wine can age well for many more years. This is not a shye wine – serve it to steaks, braised meet, or other tasty dishes.
Drink it 2012-2023

2009s from Rhys Vineyard

Rhys Vineyards is, together with Ridge Vineyards and Mount Eden Vineyards, the stars of the Santa Cruz Mountain appellation. The company was founded by Kevin Harvey, who in 1995 planted a tine vineyard with Pinot Noir on his property and a few years later started to make some wines in his garage. The first commercial vintage was 2003, and since then production has increased over the years. In 2006 Jeff Brinkman was hired as winemaker. In 2009 a brand new winery and wine cellar was built on the Skyline Vineyard property, at one of highest peaks of the mountain. All wines are small lot fermented (there are 80 one ton open top fermenters in stainless steel and nine in French oak) and kept in French oak barrels in the caves.
Altogether Rhys Vineyards owns 18.20 hectares of vineyards in Santa Cruz Mountains and below in the San Mateo appellation, but they also planted around 10.00 hectares with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on high slopes in the deep end of the Anderson Valley appellation in Mendocino. That vineyard will bear fruit in 2013, or 2014.
Production is small, around 4 000 cases per year, and almost everything is sold through the winery’s mailing list.

2009 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard / 94 p

The Apline Vineyard, planted in 2001 to 2003 at 380 to 450 meters elevation in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is a cool site with a thin, stony and well drained sandstone and slate soil with traces of limestone. It’s no wonder why the wine have such a structure and fine mineral notes – it’s almost like a part of the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks. It isn’t. After a slow whole cluster pressing and settling of the juice, it’s completely fermented in French oak casks from François Frères (the oak at Rhys Vineyard is always air dried for four years), 25 percent new, in which the wine have spent 14 months, and even though the wine is fully malolactic, the acidity is fresh.

It’s a remarkable chardonnay, medium full bodied but still extremely elegant, with just a texture rather than flavor from the oak. The aftertaste is long, very elegant and absolutely dry. In many ways it reminded me of the wines of David Ramey, Mark Aubert and Steve Kistler. I kept the opened bottle and tasted it the day after, just to see how it developed with air, and as I expected, it tasted just fine, almost even dryer and more burgundian!

Drink it 2011-2017

2009 Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard / 92-93 p

Winemaker Jeff Brinkman crafts this wine in the same way, but with around 30 percent new oak here. The difference lies in the terroir, and it’s notable. “The vineyards are close to each other, just a few kilometers a part, but looking into the aspects of the soils, they are ten million years apart”, Jeff says. As in all vineyards of Rhys, this is stony and well drained, but of volcanic origin. The clones, which as for the previous wine, are the Old Wente and a selection from Hyde Vineyard, which is also of the Old Wente type, and they were planted in 2004 to 2006.

This wine is fuller than the Alpine Vineyard selection, not too much but still notable, with the same intensity and texture and – although at the moment a bit covered by the fruit – the acidity and mineral notes are more of less the same. Again, there’s a steely note in the wine that may fool you a fraction of it was fermented in steel, but again that’s not the case. The oak, or at least what I suspect is the oak, is somehow a bit spicier in this wine. Also this wine kept very well in the open bottle until the day after. For both these wines I recommend decanting at least one hour before you serve them. I suggest a serving temperature of 12-14 degrees Celsius.

Drink it 2011-2017

2009 Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard / 92 p

The Family Farm vineyard lies below the other vineyards at lower altitude, approximately 120 meters, therefore within the quite rare appellation San Mateo AVA, rather than Santa Cruz Mountains (which is created for vineyards above 240 meters of altitude). The soil here is less rocky, clay loam and alluvial, and in combination with the slightly warmer climate here, the wine is richer, fuller, more fruit forward and less structured than the other wines in the linup. I was a bit sursprised when winemaker Jeff told me that this wine is whole cluster fermented, still there’s no signs of bitternet or greenness – the spicy and earthy notes from the stems only shows after some time in the glass. Instead it’s the ripe fruit flavor that hits you, dark cherries and even blackberries at first, with air some more light red fruit nuances, as well as a fine note of orange peel. It’s a rich and in that sense very Californian pinot with ripe tannins, still with a fine acidity and a lingerling, deliscious aftertaste.

Drink it 2011-2019

2009 Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard / 94-95 p

Again a 100 percent whole cluster fermented pinot, but this one with a much more aromatic, intense and less spicy nose. At first, it seems to be more concentrated, with a dark fruit body reminiscent of blackberries and dark cherries. The oak, 50 percent new in this case and of the same type as for all wines here – four year air dried oak from the François Frères cooperage company in Saint-Romain in Burgundy – is extremely well integrated, almost invisible. The spicy and earthy notes from the stems, shows only after 30 minutes of aeration, but then only very little.

The mayor difference from the Family Farm bottling is the structure. The 1.20 hectare Skyline Vineyard is situated at an altitude of around 700 meters in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where temperatures are lower and the growing conditions much more extreme. The soil is thin and based of sandstone, limestone and mudstone (a type of lime and clay soil), which gives the wine a serious structure and minerality, that gives energy to the taste and lingers for a minute on the tongue. By the way, another great asset of the wine is the low alcohol – not even noted in the taste. It’s only 12.7 percent! “If I would have been a French winemaker in Burgundy, I guess I should have chaptalized the juice”, winemaker Jeff says.

Drink it 2011-2022

2009 Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard / 93-95 p

Just one sniff on the wine and you’re stuck! It’s so different from the previous presented wines. It has a fantastic nose, bright and extremely intense, loads of both dark and light red cherries, sweet and sour, a floral touch and the typical aromatics derived from the stems, in this case 65 percent of the cluster wasn’t destemmed. Again, the oak (60 percent new) is extremely well integrated – bravo! On the palate, it is medium bodied, a bit more shy and closed that expected, but with good intensity and fine mid-palate and with marked tannins and a lively minerality that, at least today, gives a kind of closed impression. I’d give this wine another year or two in the bottle to let the structure soften a bit, and when that happens, the wine will be even more seductive and elegant.

Winemaker Jeff Brinkman was kind enough to open a bottle of the 2006 Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard (95-96 p) to show me how the wine develops over time, and is was a stunning bottle of wine. On the nose, it reminded me of the cherry notes in the grand crus of Morey-Saint-Denis, and the body, earthy notes, structure and minerality of the grand crus of southern Gevrey-Chambertin – but with a much more Californian type of richness.

To me, the Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard may be one of the finest bottling from Rhys Vineyards.

Drink it 2013-2022

2009 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard / 94-95 p

Another outstanding wine! If I have been served this wine completely blind, I believe my first guess would have gone to a slightly warmer vintage in the northern Rhône valley. Color is dark, almost opaque, and the nose is very dense, dark berry scented with loads of blackberries, plums and dark cherries, but also with that typical peppery and meaty note from Syrah grown in marginal climates. And the Horseshow Ranch is one of those cooler vineyards in California which can produce very Rhône like syrahs. It’s surprising how elegant this wine is, and knowing is have a 100 percent stem inclusion, there are no notes of greenness, bitterness or earthiness from the stems – only after 20 minutes in the glass, small signs of that shows, which throws you back in the northern Rhône again. In this wine, only 10 percent of the barrels were new, Jeff doesn’t like oak in his syrahs, again something that gives this wine a more rhônish personality. It’s a remarkable wine, and I can only dream of tasting this a decade from now. Then I’d put a thousand dollars on it as great St-Joseph or Cornas.

It’s recommended to decant this wine at least one hour before serving it.

Drink it 2013-2027

2005 Syrah from Zaca Mesa Winery

Already in 1978, Syrah was planted for the first time in the vineyards of the young Zaca Mesa Winery in Santa Ynez Valley. Zaca Mesa was founded in 1972 and vineyards were planted the year after. At that time, Syrah was a rare grape – less than 20 hectares of it existed and pioneers were Joseph Phelps Vineyards in Napa Valley and Gary Eberle in Paso Robles. Little did they know that Syrah 30 years later would be the fifth most planted red grape in California (7 641 hectares in 2008, of which 567 hectares lies within Santa Barbara County). Although winemerchants and wine growers says it’s difficult to sell wines of Syrah, is highly popular amongst so called “Rhône Rangers”, and quality can sometimes be very good to outstanding. It’s no doubt that Santa Ynez Valley is a great region for Syrah, and at Zaca Mesa Winery, they now farm nine different clones on 36.40 hectares of this fine grape.
It wasn’t until the early 90s that the new owners, twin brothers John and Lou Cushman, realized that they should focus on the Rhône varietals. They replanted most of their vineyards with Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache, Mourvèdre and more Syrah (they still have some 1.41 hectares of Syrah in the original Black Bear Block), and that was the rebirth of Zaca Mesa Winery. Today they produces some 35 000 cases per year, of which 10 000 cases is made from Syrah.

2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah / 90 p
Up to four percent of Viognier is normally co-fermented with Syrah in this fine wine. All grapes comes from their own vineyards - at Zaca Mesa Winery, no grapes are bought in – and they are normally harvested (by hand) in mid October. Vinfication was traditional, with total destemming and fermentation in small open top fermenters followed by malolactic fermentation and 18 months of ageing in small French oak barrels, of which 25 percent were new. It’s something very French over this wine, and I really like it, but not for just that reason. If offers a dark and quite intense fruit with ripe and sweet scented blueberries, blackberries as well as a dash of black currants, but what gives it that French attitude, is the spicy notes of licorice, the floral parfumes of violets and apricots (from the Viognier) and the complex addition of charcuteries and dried meat. You may well consider small notes of Brettanomyces, or at least some earthiness reminiscent of that, but if so, it’s at the level that makes the wine a just bit more interesting.
On the palate, it is medium bodied, ripe and quite rich, yet elegant and classic. Tannins are important, but ripe and therefore well suited for the good but not fresh acidity and the slightly sweetish fruit, and everything seems to hold up quite well in the long finish. Since I’ve been trying and drinking the syrahs från Zaca Mesa for almost 15 years now, I knew that this wine would develope very well with decanting, so I gave it a good hour before I retasted it, and another two hours before serving it on California wine seminar. It’s still young, but I wouldn’t mind having a case in my cellar for the coming years. It will develop into something more complex over the years.
Drink it 2011-2019