2015 | Sine Qua Non | Entre Chien et Loup

Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a wonderfully satiny texture and incredible freshness, cutting through the dense tropical and stone fruit layers.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2015 Entre Chien et Loup is a blend of 44% Chardonnay, 40% Roussanne, 8% Petit Manseng and 8% Viognier coming 44% from Bien Nacido Vineyard, 30% from the Cumulus (Estate) Vineyard and 26% from the Eleven Confessions (Estate) Vineyard. No settling was done to the juices—they were fermented as 'dirty' as possible and, as usual, they were not racked. This wine was matured for around 19 months (bottled April 12, 2017), in: 19% concrete eggs, 20% stainless steel, 20% used barrels and 41% new French oak. It opens with a positively electric nose of ripe apricots, pink grapefruit and green mango with notions of candied ginger, honeycomb, allspice and baking bread. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a wonderfully satiny texture and incredible freshness, cutting through the dense tropical and stone fruit layers, finishing with epic length and many layers of savory and spice notions. By the way, I love the name of this wine and just wait until you see the label which, I’m happy to report, has already (somehow) been given the all-clear by the TTB. 811 cases were made.

• Vinous: The 2015 White Wine Lightmotif opens with a huge nose of apricot, peach pit, honey, chamomile and herbs. Ample and luscious on the palate, with tremendous depth, the 2015 is terrific today, even though it is still recovering from its recent bottling. I would give it a few years to settle down. The Sine Qua Non whites always need time in bottle, and that is very much the case here as well. In 2015, the low yields produced a white that is quite intense, even by Sine Qua Non standards.

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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