2004 | Sine Qua Non | Ode To E Syrah

Inky purple color. Explosive, seductively perfumed aromas of blackberry, blueberry, candied licorice, fruitcake, olive and incense, with a slow-building smoked meat quality. Broad, fleshy and palate-encrusting, with potent flavors of blueberry, boysenberry and candied violet. Outsized and engorged with fruit, but eventually finishes with terrific energetic, peppery lift and thrust.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2004 Ode to E (Syrah) is an incredible blend of 94% Syrah, 4% Grenache and 2% Viognier, all from their estate Eleven Confessions Vineyard, that spent just under four years in oak. Boasting insane notes of creme de cassis, barbecued meats, licorice, exotic spices and singed cedar, this beauty flows onto the palate with a full-bodied, seamless, pure and incredibly layered profile that carries massive fruit and concentration, yet never seems heavy, overdone or puts a foot wrong. It’s the purity of fruit, as well as the overall seamlessness that puts this right up near top of the heap. Drinking perfectly now, it will continue to evolve gracefully for another decade or more. It’s incredible juice and I wish every wine lover could have a sip (or a big glass) of it.

• Jeb Dunnuck: Utterly mind blowing and showing a spectacularly pure, fresh array of black currant, licorice, mineral, and flowers was the 2004 Sine Qua Non Syrah Ode to E! I continued to go back to this over the evening and it was never short of perfection in a glass, possessing a seamless, weightless texture, perfect balance, and a blockbuster finish that showed the wine’s class and structure. At almost 8 years of age, this still has an almost barrel sample like quality and shows almost no evolution. It should continue to shine for another two decades and is a tour de force in wine!

Producer Information

Sine Qua Non is one of California's most famous wine producers. Based just north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, and with most of its vineyards in Santa Barbara, it eschews the usual image of top California wine as being only from Napa Valley. That is not the only thing eschewed at Sine Qua Non – the same wine is rarely made more than once, turning the idea of the American icon wine on its head. The cult winery specialises in Rhône grape varieties, with most of the red wines based on Syrah and Grenache. White wines are typically based on Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier and are also modelled after Rhône wines. While most of Sine Qua Non's vineyards are located in Santa Barbara, the home vineyard (and the winery) is located in Oak View. Many of the wines are labeled under the more generic California and Central Coast AVAs, rather than the specific AVAs the vineyards are located in, giving more freedom when it comes to blending. Sine Qua Non's first vintage was 1994, as Austrian-born winemaker Manfred Krankl released three barrels of Syrah as "Queen of Spades" with a label he had designed himself. Previously, Krankl had made wines with other winemakers – including the "Black and Blue" wine with Havens Cellars and several wines with John Alban of Alban Vineyards. After releasing Queen of Spades, Krankl sent a bottle to Robert Parker, who promptly gave the wine 95 points – then the highest he'd given any American wine based on a Rhône variety. The brand has become a cult favorite since its beginnings. Small volumes mean that demand has consistently outstripped supply and, like many top Californian producers, Sine Qua Non has employed a mailing list to sell wines directly to customers. The wines fetch top prices on the secondary market, often reaching more than $1000, and occasionally much higher: in 2014, a single bottle of Sine Qua Non rosé from the 1995 vintage fetched $42,780 at auction.

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