SINE QUA NON - Female - Grenache 2013
'This wine is accessible, sweet and subtle, elegant, happy and interesting. Yet it is well prepared for a long guard. The nose is expressive, almost flamboyant with aromas of chalk, damp earth, crushed berries, flowers, a hint of moss and ripe fruit. The tannins are soft, supple and long. '
Sine Qua Non is the wine-loving work of Manfred Krankl, one of the most renowned winegrowers in the world. Of Austrian origin, he emigrated to California in the 1980s. Beginning with odd jobs and opening restaurants, he settled in Ventura to make wine as a hobby at first. In view of the quality of his wines, his friends encouraged him to sell them, and he conceded it in 1994, starting with a hundred cases. Robert Parker is one of the first buyers and gives a score of 95/100, extraordinary for a first (then, he will give many 100/100, defining Manfred Krankl as "one of the most creative and multidimensional winemakers of the Earth").
Since then, Manfred Krankl and his wife Elaine have sold the restaurants to fully invest in their field. All the labels and names of the wines, no matter how eccentric, are imagined by Manfred, and they change every year: according to Manfred, his wines are never the same from year to year.
In 2004, he began to grow his own grapes, in order to gradually stop buying the grapes from other winegrowers, and thus leave behind grape varieties such as Pinot Noir, which made his legend, to focus on Rhone blends (Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne). With only 3,500 cases produced per year, it is extremely difficult to get an allowance, but Manfred Krankl does not plan to develop his estate further, preferring to make "a bottle of wine costing $ 3 million, rather than 3 million bottles costing a dollar ", not wanting to give up his other passions such as music, motorcycles or even art.
