2009 Qupe Marsanne, Santa Ynez Valley

From Santa Ynez Valley, Qupe Marsanne is a 15% Roussanne, 70% Marsanne from Ibarra Young, 15% Marsanne from Pursime Mountain and 15% from Bien Nacida Vineyards. Fermented and aged in one year old Francois Frere French Oak barrels. Qupe is dedicated to produce hand-crafted Rhone Varietals and Chardonnays from California Central Coast. Their goal is to make wines with impeccable balance that can be enjoyed in their youth.

Robert “Bob” Lindquist first wine job was harvesting at the Fortino Winery where his enthusiasm and growing wine knowledge quickly got him promoted to assistant manager. Later he had an opportunity to manage a new tasting room in Ventura County, manage a retail wine shop in Los Olivos, owned by the Son of the owner of Zaca Mesa Winery, and a position as a tour guide in the winery. There were not many tourists in the early days so it gave Bob the time to spend in the cellar learning how to make wine under winemaker, Jim Clendenen, who became his mentor. A few years later, Bob started making the Qupe wines using Zaca Mesa’s facilities. A few years later he built a winery facility of his own and 20+ years later Bob continues to produce Qupe wines.

Wine is truly a family affair in the Lindquist household. Bob’s sons Ethan and Luke are both winemakers in their own rights and his daughter Paige manages the tasting room. Bob’s wife Louisa has her own label called Verdad, dedicated to Spanish varietals.

Qupe is an excellent choice for Chardonnay lovers who are looking for something different. Qupe Marsanne a classic, with a hint of green apple, pear and orange rind. Refreshing acidity with a balance of 12.6% alcohol, making this wine a great pairing with seafood.

About the Ibarra-Young Vineyard from the Qupe website:

The Ibarra-Young vineyard is a 14-acre vineyard located just south of Los Olivos in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley.  It is a category UC Davis Region II with cool overcast mornings turning warm during the day and cool at night, often with a 30 -40 degree day/night temperature difference. 

The vineyard was originally planted in 1971 by Charlotte Young and her vineyard manager Miguel Ibarra to 10 acres of cabernet sauvignon and was contracted to Firestone Vineyard. 

By 1979 that contract had expired and there was more demand for white grapes so Charlotte grafted over most of the vineyard to sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc.  Charlotte was thinking about tearing her vines out and Bob heard about this and offered to lease the vineyard and graft it over to Rhone varieties.   Between 1986 and 1989 the 10 acres were grafted over to 4 acres of Marsanne, 3 acres of Syrah, 1.75 acres of Mourvedre and 1.25 acres of Viognier . . . all on those original cabernet roots! 

Between 1996 and 2000, 4 more acres were planted to Albariño and Tempranillo for Louisa Sawyer Lindquist’s Spanish grape varietal project Verdad.  In 2009 another Spanish variety, Graziano, was added to the vineyard.

Since 1999 the vineyard has been farmed organically and is still farmed by Miguel Ibarra.  Miguel is now in his mid 70’s and every year threatens to retire and move back to Mexico, but thankfully he keeps coming back.  He knows each one of these vines and just has an incredible farming touch.

“Greenish straw. Aromas of green apple, citrus peel and licorice. Juicy, easygoing flavors of orange, orchard fruits and spices, with a touch of sweetness giving it immediate appeal. A brisk note of lemongrass lingers on the dusty finish.” Josh Reynolds

2008 La Diligence

2008 La Diligence

Vineyard: Stagecoach, Napa Ca.

Varietal: 100% Marsanne

Tasting Notes: Stone fruit, almond blossom, and citrus nose with honey, mineral, spiced pear notes on the palate. The wine is full bodied and complex.

Vineyard history: The 800 acre vineyard is located on the upper east hills of Napa Valley at about 1500 feet elevation. The vineyard is named after the famous 1800’s stagecoach trail which was used for travel between valleys before the invention of cars.

Winery Information: This wine is labeled under a brand that was created in partnership with Francois Villard and the Miner Family Vineyards, Gary Brookman - winemaker). 

Francois Villard is an up and coming famous vintner who primarily works in the Condrieu area of the Rhone Valley. His experience with the Rhone varietals has allowed this partnership with the Miner Family vineyards to make a wine of very high caliber. The wine showcases finesse and elegance the best of what the Marsanne varietal has to offer. 

Barrel Aging:  7 months in Burgundian Cooperage (40% new)

2006 Krupp Brothers, “Black Bart” Marsanne

Aromas: peach blossoms, honeysuckle, jasmine, honey, apricots, almonds
Body: full
Color: straw yellow

From the website: WINEMAKER: Nigel Kinsman joined the team at Krupp Brothers in October 2006. Nigel has earned many accolades and the respect of the wider Australian wine community by crafting complex and balanced wines at Hay Shed Hill in Margaret River, Western Australia. Prior to that, Nigel gained experience at several of Australia's top wineries and honed his skills with Italian varietals as winemaker for boutique Chianti winery Tolaini, under the guiding hand of winemaking consultant, Michel Roland. Nigel firmly believes that wines are "grown not made."

Krupp Brothers Marsanne comes from a gently sloping south-facing block at Stagecoach Vineyard, containing 2 excellent French Marsanne clones, 574 and a Tablas Creek field selection.

Tasting Notes: Straw yellow, brilliant clarity; Intense lifted nose, displaying a wonderful complexity of flavors—honey suckle, orange blossom, jasmine tea, almond kernels, fennel, lemon and freshly harvested honeycomb. The palate is full, polished and balanced with flavors of citrus, peach and apricots. The texture is succulent and creamy complemented by a steely minerality.

Eat with: beet & feta salad - olive oil & herb marinated feta, pickled vegetables, upland cress & yellow beet vinaigrette

2007 JC Cellars Marsanne, Preston Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

What can I say about Jeff Cohn that has not already been said? Genius winemaker, good friend, crazy guy, family man, passionate … the list goes on.

Aroma: ripe peaches
Color: golden yellow
Body: medium – full body

From their website: Renown for Rhône style wines, and hailed as one of the masters of zinfandel, JC Cellars founder and winemaker Jeff Cohn marries his passion for classic French style winemaking with a spirited Californian sense of innovation to craft elegant wines that showcase terroir.

Tasting Notes: Rich, with plenty of depth, this wine contains the element of ripe peaches at its center, but is balanced with minerality. Ripe stone fruit and citrus blossom waft placidly in the glass and a classic hint of bitter almond rounds out the creamy finish. Big and racy, its acidity avoids the heaviness that can be associated with Marsanne from warmer climates.

“Jeff Cohn, the owner-winemaker of JC Cellars in Oakland, California, is a Marsanne convert. He told me that, after traveling to France two years ago, “this majestic grape was no longer my inspiration, but my obsession.”

Returning from a recent trip to France, Cohn is just as smitten (“I feel like I’ve come from a revival meeting”). “Viognier is so fruity and obvious, Roussanne is pretty and full of finesse,” says Cohn, “but Marsanne is a grape of real sophistication. Tasting it forces you to ask the question: What is this wine showing me? And the answer is, of course, the vineyard. Few grapes are as transparent as Marsanne—the levels of stony flavor and mineral texture are just insane.” Excerpt from: Always the Bridesmaid, Marsanne, the ignored little sister of the Rhône whites, has good bones - By Jordan Mackay

Eat with: shellfish sausage; lobster, bay scallops & prawns, saffron tagliatelle & smoked pepper coulis

Website: www.jccellars.com

2007 Parmalee Hill "Darcy", Sonoma Valley

The heart of the Parmelee-Hill property sits on a knoll that faces the Sonoma Valley to the East and San Pablo Bay to the South. The climate is typical of coastal influenced areas. Morning fog retreats during warming midday hours. The warmth is commonly broken however by intense afternoon ocean winds that quickly drop the temperature. The fog sometimes retreats only as far as the Western hills until it blows back overhead fairly early in the afternoon. This type of climate tends to be self-restricting, resulting in naturally low-yielding vines producing fruit with intense flavor.

Aromas: perfume, floral, honeysuckle, citrus
Body: full
Color: pale gold

From their website: What a wonderful wine. This may be our finest accomplishment to date. Named after our daughter, Darcy Hill Merritt, who you will often see at tastings.

Winemaker comments: Rich and pale gold in color with green highlights. The nose is perfumey and floral with honeysuckle and a hint of lemon lime plus pear and stone fruit, slightly mineral or stony. A floral and lively palate, rich tropical fruit including nectarine and melon, full bodied, balanced, lush fruit finish. 125 cases produced.

Our fruit is hand-picked at night for better quality; Experienced crews are the backbone of the success at Parmelee-Hill. Nothing other than the cleanest, ripest fruit will make it from the field to the winery. We attempt to harvest as much as possible at night when the fruit is colder and is both truer in sugar content and more resistant to being battered and split during harvest. The boxes are stacked and hauled to the winery where they are dumped and sorted by hand. The end results are whole intact clusters that look much the same as when they were hanging on the vine.

We only crush about 10 tons of fruit for our own use. The largest lot crushed is 2.5 tons, and most lots are harvested in one ton increments. This technique is tough on the farmer (us) however allows Don to source fruit from different blocks to come up with the ultimate field blend for our finished product. We also now have the advantage of experimenting in the vineyard with different practices and tasting the end product to continue to try and increase the quality of the fruit we grow.

Eat with: goat cheese sampler, three selections of local & imported artisan goat cheese, seasonal fruit & baguette

http://www.sonomasyrah.com/

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