Sine Qua Non Wines
Sine Qua Non Wines – Named after a Latin phrase meaning “without which, nothing,” or “absolutely indispensable,” SQN wine gives each new bottle in each new vintage a new name, a new label and a new bottle shape – all of which reflects their unique approach to winemaking.
SQN wine doesn’t have a set method, recipe or style for the wines they make.
Rather, they see each year as a new experience and an opportunity to make a wine that reflects what nature has given.
SQN’s fearless creators, Manfred Krankl and his wife, Elaine, have a lofty but simple ambition: to create a wine that every wine lover will want.
SQN achieved its cult status quickly.
By 2008, just fourteen years after their founding in 1994, seven wines they produced had earned 100 points from Robert Parker.
Sine Qua Non wine focuses primarily on Rhône varietals (alongside non-Rhône-origin grapes such as Petit Manseng and Petite Sirah) and grows their wines in some of the best vineyards in California’s Central Coast.
Sunshine, top vineyard sites, mentorship from some of the best winemakers in the world and creative vision have become their hallmarks.
Selected Sine Qua Non Wines
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 specializes 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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