Sine Qua Non Syrah California the Inaugural Eleven Confessions 2003

  Sine Qua Non is the California cult wine created by Austrian winemaker Manfred Krankl and wife Elaine. These highly in-demand wines, which consistently received near perfect scores from critic Robert Parker, can fetch upwards of $500 a bottle and can only be had through their über exclusive mailing list or via auction. The wines are Rhone style blends in red and white, kept to a small production of 3,500 cases a year. The name is Latin for “without which not” or more fittingly to fans, “something that cannot be done without.” The “winery” (not open to the public) is a warehouse in Ventura, California, originally founded during Krankl’s stint as owner of restaurant Campanile, for which the first wines were produced in 1994. The first wines were produced from fruit sourced in various locations in California and other including Oregon, but he now grows most of his own grapes in small vineyards in Ojai Valley and Sta Rita Hills.    One of the unique elements of these wines is that since Krankl believes each vintage tells its own story, the name of the wines change with each vintage, as do the self-designed labels and even bottle shapes. Some of the original wines were Pinot Noir, which he no longer produces, the last one in 2005 called “Over and Out.” Now the wines are predominately Rhone blends, with names such as “Whisperin E” (named for wife Elaine), “Pagan Poetry Rosé,” “Poker Face,” and “Mr. K The Noble Man” (dessert wines produced with Austrian colleague Alois Kracher).  Read less