Saturday, May 16, 2009

2007 Qupe Marsanne, Santa Ynez Valley, California

Bob Lundquist of Qupe has been making Marsanne since 1987 in the same style: picked a bit earlier to maintain bright acidity. Qupé is dedicated to producing handcrafted Rhône varietals and Chardonnay from California’s Central Coast. They employ traditional winemaking techniques to make wines that are true to type and speak of their vineyard sources. Their goal is to make wines with impeccable balance that can be enjoyed in their youth, yet because of the good acidity from cool vineyard sites can also benefit from ageing. They are committed to sourcing grapes from some of the best and most prestigious vineyards in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Aromas: honey, citrus, flowers, wet stone minerality
Body: medium to full
Color: yellow

From their website: This wine is 53% Marsanne from the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos, 18% Marsanne from the Demetria Vineyard just north of Los Olivos (what used to be Andrew Murray Vineyard), 17% Marsanne from the Purisima Mountain Vineyard and 12% Roussanne from the Stolpman Vineyard, both just west of Los Olivos. Ibarra-Young is organically farmed. Demetria and Purisima Mountain are both farmed biodynamically. All lots were whole cluster pressed, the juice settled and chilled for 48 hours and then put to neutral barrels for fermentation. The wines were aged in the same barrels for 5 months and went through complete malolactic.

Eat with: pastis scented steamed mussels, garlic, leeks, herbs, grilled bread

http://www.qupe.com/default.htm