SINE QUA NON

2019 Distenta I Syrah | Ventura, California 750ml

83.6% Syrah, 6.2% Grenache, 5.2% Petite Sirah, 3.0% Mourvedre and 2.0% Whites (Petite Manseng & Muscat)

This Syrah is an otherworldly and terrifically woven composition...it was fermented with 33% whole clusters. That's a mildly high quantity for our typical Syrah regime. 43% of the barrels used to raise this treasure were NEW and all of them French. The rest were USED, but none older than 3 years... Quite terrific. Very, very dark color...almost shockingly so. Super lush and creamy and caressing and silky/velvety to the extreme. And very SYRAH-like. Nothing should change in this cuvee. It is in a fantastic place. Maybe the best non-Eleven Confessions Syrah we have ever made. I absolutely love it!!!!
The last two sentences count the most. First off, I can't stand braggarts and secondly I think - I hope anyway, that I am my own toughest critic. And if I were to slip, E would be there to get me in line. No questions about it. | Manfred Krankl for Sine Qua Non

...brilliant, and certainly one of the Syrah of the vintage. Sporting a vivid ruby, almost opaque hue, it offers awesome, textbook Syrah notes of assorted red and blackberry fruits, bacon fat, smoked meat, and an incredible floral character that develops with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it's a more elegant, restrained Sine Qua Non revealing flawless balance, beautiful freshness and elegance, silky tannins, and one heck of a finish. Still a baby that needs a lengthy decant if drinking any time soon (this bottle showed best on the second day, at which point it was drunk), it will benefit from a solid 4-5 years of bottle age and cruise for two decades after that. | 98+ points, Jeb Dunnuck for jebdunnuck.com