In addition to X-Block we have several other Blocks planted to Syrah,including Z-Block, better known as the Hillside Estate. Z-Block is testament to the Miller family’s commitment to being a custom farming operation and Bob’s powers of persuasion. In 1992 Bob somehow convinced the Bien Nacido team to invest in the infrastructure necessary to build roads, run water and do the land preparations necessary to plant 5 acres of Syrah, nestled into a bowl on the hilltop, hand selected by Bob. By 1994 we had fruit of amazing quality and concentration, and an additional 18 acres of fruit had been planted on the hillsides for other wineries. Today this section has one of Bob’s favorite views from the property, looking west-Northwest over the river bed valley that bumps up to Bien Nacido.

As the years have passed more and more hillside acreage has been planted both for Qupe and Au Bon Climat, but also for many other wineries. In 2010 Bien Nacido was named Vineyard of the Year by the California Fair association, not only because so many people work with the fruit, but because the quality of the fruit is so high, and the vineyard so diverse. At this point Bien Nacido has 16 varietals planted on the property, including Syrah, Chardonnay, Roussanne, Viognier, Pinot Noir,Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc Merlot, Refusco, and Nebbiollo just to name a few.

In addition to providing much of our fruit, Bien Nacido is home to our winery. We were fortunate enough to build our facility on the property in 1989.

There is so much that is special and unique about Bien Nacido it is hard to know when to stop. Ultimately though I think the thing that best describes the land is the wines that come from it. With the strict focus placed on quality, the vineyard team produces some of the best fruit California has to offer, and in the end wine is only as good as the fruit in it.

Thanks for reading and keep drinking good wine.

The other big event that happened was our Biodynamic tasting featuring our consultant Philippe Armenier. Philippe is not only a pioneer in Biodynamics he is himself a former winemaker so he very much understands what we are striving for with our grapes. Philippe spoke for about 2 hrs on the tenants and principals of Biodynamic farming, while we poured all 8 of the wines produced from the Sawyer Lindquist vineyard, including (drum roll please) the Pinot Noir, which was the only time we will pour the Pinot this year. If you’re interested there is still some available through the tasting room.

Onto new releases. So there are quite a few out, but I am going to focus my attention on two of my favorites. As some may know we were the first winery in Santa Barbara county to produce Viognier. We make our Bien Nacido Cuvee (%50 Chard/%50Viognier) every year, but our varietal Viognier only in specific vintages. So 2010 is out and it is rocking. Now this is not your Grandmama’s Viognier. Sure it’s got the perfume, peach, and apricot on the nose, but unique in its secondary notes of lime and cumquat. And the palate reflects the secondary notes beautifully. Light bodied, dry, and mineral with screaming acidity. This wine loves food. All kinds to boot. One of my favorite pairings is a mint,watermelon, goat cheese, and pine nut salad. I crack a little black pepper on the top and let the sweet watermelon do the rest.

The other wine I am totally digging right now is the 2009 Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard Syrah. Normally with our wines I am all about the spice in the wines, but with this vintage I am captivated by the Violet and floral components. Dusty sweet notes like bee pollen and lavender are the heady nose, but the palate definitely switches it up and goes in a much dryer direction with a cranberry, and dry cherry. Cedar box rounds out the finish. This  medium bodied Syrah has all the complexity and acidity necessary to make a classic vintage for us. I like to pair this Syrah with strong aromatic dishes like Spanish rice with Linguica, or herb rubbed Lamb. No matter what you put this up to you will be glad to have it.

And that about wraps it up for playing catch up. There’s lot’s more going on (like an event this Saturday at Global Gardens here in Los Olivos) but I’ll save all that for a later date. Keep an eye out for the next blog which will focus on the Bien Nacido vineyard and our history with them.

Thanks for reading, and keep drinking good wine.

Our 08 Purisima is a great example of the elegant Syrah this beautiful and esteemed vineyard produces.

The wine world is a small world. A really small world. As a result it always helps to be nice to people and keep your friends close. Fortunately for Qupé Bob is great at this. Heck we share a wine making space and wine making team with our friends from Au Bon Climat and have since 1989. Of course these kind of friendly relationships have benefits, a key one being fruit. Now to people outside of the agricultural industry umbrella this may seem like an odd perk, but to farmers and winemakers it’s life blood. When things like frost 2 years in a row and significant damage to the vineyards (60-90% in place) it really helps to know someone to help you keep your production up. Now Qupé has been really fortunate to evade the frost damage the Central Coast has suffered in the last 2 years, but you get the idea. We get by with a little help from our friends.

The Purisima oak tree is an easily identifiable element in the vineyard and featured prominently on there label.

One of our really close friends we work with is the Beckmen winery. If you’re not familiar with their wines you are missing out. The Beckmen’s started farming in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1994, with the purchase of a 16 acre plot near the town of Los Olivos. In 1996 they purchased 365 acres un-planted and named it Purisima Mt. Vineyard after the Purisima hills where the vineyard is located. Purisima Mt. has a very unique microclimate.  Late afternoon winds coming in from the Lompoc area up through the valleys helps to make this one of the coolest vineyard sites in the Los Olivos area, though Los Olivos is one of the warmer areas in Santa Barbara county. The South facing vineyard sits on a heavy bed of limestone, allowing for good ripening and great fruit expression paired with a very unique minerality. Early in 2000 Steve Beckmen (vineyard manager and at the time wine maker) began experimenting with Biodynamics. He started with a single block called Block 6, and over the course of the next 6 years switched the entire property over to Biodynamic farming.

Purisima has many slopes and faces for planting resulting in many distinct plots and adding to the varietal expression.

Qupés history with Purisima began in 2001 with our first vintage of Syrah and Grenache sourced from the property. We were so happy with the fruit that over the next 6 years we  made wine from both grapes every year. Due to the limited availability of the fruit this is one of our smallest production Syrah’s being somewhere between 75 and 150 cases depending on the vintage, but is often one of our favorites. The full fruit character is a dark brambly fruit like blueberry or blackberry with chocolaty notes. Hints of stone and forest floor add earthier elements and elegance to a wine that many winemakers would choose to push towards power with longer hang time and higher alcohol. Our 2008 vintage came in at 13.2% alcohol which will allow this wine to age gracefully for the next 6-8 years. We used 25% new oak 25% once used oak and 50% neutral oak to accent the chocolaty characteristic, and provide a soft round mouth feel while avoiding being “oaky” only 96 cases total were produced for this vintage.

In addition to providing us with fruit, the family has provided us with inspiration. Their decision to begin farming with Biodynamics, was heavily influential in our decision to do the same with our estate property. The quality and consistency that we saw in the fruit, the vineyards natural transition back to self reliance and self defense, and the positive impact on the farmers from farming in a more natural way all lead us to believe it was something we could and should do. We began our trek towards Biodynamic certification in 2002 when we purchased the Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard and haven’t looked back. Similarly to the Beckmen family’s approach at Purisima Mt., by doing less to the vineyard we allow the vineyard to express itself all the more. And in the end isn’t that the point, more terroir – less chemicals.

The last year we made Pinot Noir

It’s been 27 years since we made our first Pinot Noir, but we’re back to it so I thought I would give a little bit of background on our history with Pinot Noir, and a little bit about what we plan to do in the future. In 1982 we made our first vintage of wines, including a Pinot Noir-Blanc. It was a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that produced a pink wine and we kept it up for 3 vintages. In 84 we switched it up and called it Vin Gris. In 83 and 84 we produced Pinot Noir from the Sierra Madre vineyard, which is also where got our Chardonnay for those vintages. 83 was a nice cool vintage which yielded a very Burgundian style wine, and one that we still have some floating around in the library. At the end of the 84 vintage Bob asked himself a very serious question. He realized that in the early years of starting a winery focusing his efforts and doing less better was the best idea. So a decision had to be made, and Syrah it was.

           Leap forward 22 years to 2005 in the Edna Valley, and the Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard, where we planted 1/2 acre of Pinot Noir. Bob is older, wiser, and has a lot more help this time around so we feel much better about taking on the extra effort. In that first year some deer where kind enough to come through and eat the young plants setting us back a year. After restarting in the vineyard (and installing a deer fence) we got things running again and were able to harvest our first vintage in 2009 from the original 1/2 acre we began with. In 2007 we planted 2/3 of an acre more, which helped with the 2010 vintage. We were able to expand our production yielding 4 barrels (4 times as much as 2009). In 2011 we are hoping to get as much as 8 barrels. With the full acre and half in total production we are hoping to get as much 20 barrels or roughly 500 cases.

For our 2009 vintage, we harkened back to the 83 vintage, and went real traditional. We used whole cluster fermentation, foot stomping, and wild yeast fermentation. The resulting wine is lean and elegant, with high acidity and a beautiful cherry characteristic. Lot’s of spice and tea with mushroomy undertones make for a wine that will get more and more refined over time. This first vintage we are going to release the wine to our Wine Club Members only, with the remainder available in the tasting room. So if you are into rare and collectable this is it, age worthy Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara’s premium Syrah producer.

The colors of spring

All up and down Santa Barbara county things are starting to bloom. Our wild flowers are out in full, and the first signs of vine life started happening about 2 weeks ago. The weather has been rainy, followed by brief shots of very warm days (we had a 90+ day here in Los Olivos). This has been fantastic for all the mushroom hunters locally, and not all bad for us either. It seems to have scared away the less die hard from the tasting room, but all the lakes are full, everyone’s irrigation ponds are up to the top, and the grapes are awakening to a good drink. There has been a little bit of erosion damage at the conventionally farmed vineyard sites lacking ground cover and a few mudslides on the back roads but over all its simply kept the grass green while the wild flowers started showing up. Lot’s of yellows and purples now dot the green hills, and delicate littleleaves have started reaching towards the sky.

Now this isn’t true in all the vineyards, in fact the erratic weather has really helped to emphasize the difference in vineyard sites as well as varietal variation. In some of the warmer flat areas, say around Los Alamos, some of the earlier leafing varietals are already looking down right bushy, while in the cooler hillside sites and among late bloomers the vines are as bare as ever.

Stolpman Family vineyards Syrah hasn't woken up quite yet

This Marsanne, planted less than a mile away is green and growing.

Unfortunately very little can be discerned at this time about what the vintage holds for us. The next few weeks will really determine what if any challenges we face. Frost is always a concern for us here in Santa Barbara county. Our maritime influences bring lots of moisture to the area, and pushes temperatures down increasing our risk. Fortunately evening temperatures have not been dropping low enough that it has been a threat, but we have to be ever vigilant. The flip side is all the moisture paired with the heat, increases humidity which in turn increases the risk of fungus and mold. This typically isn’t an issue for us as our regular winds help to keep the vineyards dry. But stranger things have happened.

So what’s the best possible scenario? Impossible to say as it has never happened. Ideally we would start warming up (not getting hot) towards the end of the month, resulting in a long cool start to spring moving into summer. Longer time in the vineyard means better complexity, but can mean a risk of not getting full ripeness. So in the end all this is nervous speculation. We are standing in line, waiting to climb onto the roller coaster ride that is grape farming. We can see the potential for fun, but also hear all the screams as those before us round the hilltop, and start racing towards the next vintage.

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty “Hi Yo Silver!” The Lone Ranger. “Hi Yo Silver, away!” With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!- Lyrics to theme of the Lone Ranger Show set to the music of the William Tell Overture

So the time of year is upon us again when one of our favorite events rolls around. The Rhone Rangers are in their 14th year as an official organization, and much like Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) did for Zin, they have done a remarkable amount growing awareness of and passion for all things Rhone (mostly the grapes). But where did this daring and resourceful masked organization come from? How do they lead the fight for awareness and quality in the recent west? And more importantly who is Tonto in this group?

It was 1987 and a small group of intrepid, but busy wine makers toiled away under the warm California sun up and down the coast, trying to nurse the best quality out of the big 3 Rhone Varietals, Syrah, Grenache, and Roussanne. Other less prominent varietals were on there way, but with a 3 year wait list to get clones from France, and several thousand dollars to navigate the bureaucracy very few were in a position to bring more. Particularly at a time when the varietals hadn’t yet proven their marketability. Perhaps to share ideas (or woes) 20 producers got together in the bay area over a bite, and way to many bottles of wine. In attendance were producers from Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, and Santa Barbara-basically everywhere- as well as the ever animated Randall Graham of Bonny Doon. Randall being the amazing face man he is quickly found himself on the cover of Wine Spectator in a Lone Ranger outfit, representing the new “Rhone Rangers” movement in California (Wine Spectator 1989).

Among these Rangers was our very own Bob Lindquist. Over time the group slipped out of meeting regularly and into a bit of a “dark period” in the early 90′s, but rebounded in 97′ to reform as an official organization, with two chapters. Paso Robles is our home chapter, where we are pleased to share the title with amazing wineries such as Eberle and Zaca Mesa to name a few. Actually I name these two because our first syrah was made from Gary Eberle’s fruit, grown in Paso Robles at the Estrella River vineyard in 1982 and it was made at Zaca Mesa, so we got to show some love.

The organization also has members in Virginia, Michigan, and other East Coast destinations. They provide scholarship opportunities for Viticulture and Enology students, as well as hosting lectures and educational events for the public and trade. Additionally they have expanded their tastings from 3 a year to 5, making it some of our favorite events and a great way to get together with our friends and fellow pioneers to see the result of those initial ideas (and woes). So if you have a chance, get out to San Francisco this weekend. Tickets are still available. Check out details at www.rhonerangers.org, on facebook, and they even Tweet.

Sulfites are accused of causing headaches but don't

Several years ago (don’t hold it against me I can’t remember and Google failed me) Oprah, dedicated a show to food and preservatives.  Now normally I would be all about this, but during this particular show, she pulled an Oprah and created a new social association between sulfites and red wine that winemakers will be confronted with for the remainder of time.  Sure the questions and the negative reputation of sulfites has been around much longer than Oprah has, but the woman has a gift for starting wide spread awareness/panic. And that’s what it was; full blown panic.

Models the world over suddenly couldn’t drink red wine because of the effect sulfites could have on their hair and skin. Of course they had no concern for the effects of a Grey Goose Martini, what with them distilling out all the bad stuff. Bored house wives everywhere suddenly had a reason for those pesky headaches they always got, right after their box of wine with lunch. And the learning wine lover suddenly had a question that could put them on the ‘inside’ “Do you add sulfites? Oh I smell it on this syrah, I am very sensitive.”

Any wine containing more than 10 ppm has to include a sulfure warning

So for Central Coast wine makers everywhere, I am here to clear the air, and put out some facts about sulfites.  The first fact is that like all of science, what we know about sulfites is dramatically outweighed but what we don’t know. For instance did you know there is no scientific link between sulfites and headaches? Studies have been done on headaches and wine etc. but there is no way of isolating the reaction to sulfite from several other headache inducing elements to wine, (the most common by far being dehydration). Now the second leading cause of headache related to wine is allergies. In fact, sulfites are so minor an allergy that there is no reliable commercially available test for sulfite allergy. Histamines are a much more common cause of allergic reaction and naturally occur more heavily in reds than in white.

And here is my favorite fact. Due to spoilage related to bacteria and oxidation, more sulfites are commonly added to WHITES than reds. So please don’t ever walk into another tasting room and tell someone that you can’t drink red wine because of sulfites. You may have a stronger reaction to the affect of red wines than whites, but it is unrelated to sulfites. Now I know some of you out there are being thrown for a loop. I am not suggesting that there are not health affects to sulfites, or that you personally don’t have a reaction to wines of a certain style etc. I am simply suggesting that the chemical compounds in white and red wine are much more complex than just sulfites.

Sulfites are used to prevent against harmful bacteria in wine and dried fruit

If you are the self testing type and are really convinced you have an allergy to sulfites, a great way to find out is ask yourself if you have a reaction to dried fruit. Dried fruit is by far the highest concentration of sulfites (usually in the area of 16 mg per piece) anyone comes in contact with on a regular basis. Sausage has less than this in it. So if you can wolf down dried peaches and apricots, but get a headache every time you drink 16% alcohol Cabernet without water, think twice. You may be to blame, not the sulfites.

Steel Age Building for our Stone age Wines

Several years back, a British publication wrote to us asking for images of our stone age winery.  Now being from California we found it funny that anyone would assume that a stone age building existed here, but it brought up the fact that most people don’t know why we consider ourselves a Modern Stone Age Winery.

In the philosophical sense we take this stance in our wine making. We believe in tradition, and the lessons it can teach us.  We also believe in the old labor that is wine making, preferring to do manual punch downs and harvest by hand. We prefer, for the most part, our neutral French oak barrels, and more and more regularly are switching to using wild native yeasts for our fermentation. We use many open top fermenters, with whole cluster fermentation. In the beginning we even did some foot stomping. This old style of wine making is definitely more intense, but we feel it helps to express the true nature of the wines, and in that way take a little of us to you in a bottle.

Paige and Ethan

Historically, all of these practices, as well as a set of sheets helped to make us a Modern Stone Age Winery. We have always been a family winery, and in the beginning everything was done by hand, by family.  With open top fermenters (and children about) there is always the risk of flies, and other debris (G.I. Joe action figures) finding their way into the vat or bin, so a covering is used. Now if you have the money you can buy high tech fiber coverings that are more advanced than most of our computers. But since we are a family winery we instead chose to use a thrift store set of Flinstone’s sheets.  One hundredth the price, 3 times the story and the exact same usefulness.

Now one day during pressing, Bob was knee deep in a vat, with the sheets hanging off the side. Musing as you will when stomping 2 tons of fruit by foot, Bob looked around at the surroundings of the Zaca Mesa vineyards.  Stainless Steel vats and pumps. Destemmers, Crushers and Presses. All the experimenting and tools any winemaker at the time would ever want, and there he was sweating and swearing his way through his first vintage, the way the Romans would have 1000 years ago. The way they did it in the Stone Age.

Yabba Dabba Bob

A year later it was time to send out Seasons Greetings cards to the new supporters of the brand and Bob was confronted with what catchy slogan to put on the card.  Maybe it was just having finished a second harvest by hand, and stomping by foot.  Maybe it was looking at Paige, sitting on the floor, red hair up in a whale spout, using a stick to drum out a Zeppelin tune and looking very baby Pebbles. Maybe it was divine intervention, but that moment from a year before came to Bob in a flash.  Modern as wine making had become, we were still stone age at heart.  And the slogan “A Modern Stone Age Winery” was born.  The next year with the addition of printed boxes the deal was sealed.

The fabric of those sheets has found a way into the fabric of our winery, and there it has stayed.  Sure not everybody gets the joke, but that’s alright. Wine is about stories, inside jokes, and even more so about sharing them with friends over a good bottle. Ultimately without people and the experiences that come with them wine is just alcohol in a pretty bottle.

There was once a shoemaker, who worked very hard and was very honest: but still he could not earn enough to live upon; and at last all he had in the world was gone, save just leather enough to make one pair of shoes. Then he cut his leather out, all ready to make up the next day, meaning to rise early in the morning to his work. His conscience was clear and his heart light amidst all his troubles; so he went peaceably to bed, left all his cares to Heaven, and soon fell asleep. In the morning after he had said his prayers, he sat himself down to his work; when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes all ready made, upon the table. The good man knew not what to say or think at such an odd thing happening. He looked at the workmanship; there was not one false stitch in the whole job; all was so neat and true, that it was quite a masterpiece.

The Elves and the Shoemaker-The Brothers Grimm

Grapevine Dormancy

In the life cycle of a vine, dormancy is one of the most important stages.  This is the time where we are the elves to our vineyards’ shoemaker, working away while they sleep. Usually occurring between November and March in California, dormancy is the period during which grapevines appear to be unproductive, when in fact they are as alive as ever.  During this stage the grape stops exerting energy and sleeps.

Most of the time the vines look like they have died, but really this is a key time during which grapevines perform internal maintenance. In fact, for most varietals a minimum of 200 hrs of dormancy is necessary to ensure proper growth and vigor through the coming growing season.  Early ripening varietals (Pinot Noir, Tempranillo) often have even more dormancy hrs. The beginning of dormancy is the period during which pruning occurs (usually).  Pruning is one of the most vital tasks confronting a vineyard on a yearly basis.  There are almost as many ways of pruning and training a vine as there are varietals to prune and train.

A young Cordon Trained Vine after pruning

For instance, there is Overhead, Cordon, or Guizot training methods just to name a few.  You can even not train your vines. There is head, spur, and cane pruning, as well as techniques where you mix styles.  Training is the direction/position (or lack if you aren’t trellising) you point the vines along the trellis. Think of this as how we want it to grow. Pruning is the removal of a years growth in order to control the next years fruit production. Think of this as how much fruit we want it to grow. These decisions will greatly impact the resulting fruit set the coming year and for years into the future. In this way we have some”controls”. Rain, temperature, frost, and sunlight are all variables that have a substantial impact on our fruit, but these variables are completely out of our hands.

A spur pruned Syrah vine at Bien Nacido.

Typically we at Qupé use a cordon trained vine and spur pruning. Since we are very old school in our approach to wine making, we strive to always use whole clusters ( a technique I will discuss in the future) and that requires ripe cluster stems which are facilitated by these techniques; techniques we apply during dormancy. Don’t get me wrong, depending on the year pruning/training has to be done during the spring and summer months to facilitate ripening, but these are all reactive decisions.  Weather gives us something and we react. Dormancy is so important because it is our proactive time in the vineyard, where we get ahead. We work while they sleep so that when they wake we can set about making the finest wines in Santa Barbara county.

And he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.”

- The Kinks “Well Respected Man” Kwyet Kinks 1965

Check out a video with Bob's favorite song

Have you ever made a really bad decision that worked out for the best? One of those life changing decisions that shifts gears for you and puts you on a whole new path. How many of those were inspired by a British Rock and Roll group?  For anyone born in the 50′s or 60′s, a fairly substantial amount.  For us here at Qupe, it was the rock band The Kinks that got us into this mess.  Well The Kinks and Jim Clendenen…

It’s 1979 and Bob (our wine maker) is working at the only bottle shop in the sleepy little hamlet of Los Olivos, The Los Olivos Wine and Gift shop.  Wineries have begun to pop up all over Santa Barbara county but in comparison to what was happening in Napa, we were a long way off.  Which means our wine makers had an even longer vision that our neighbors to the North, that and a painful lust for wine.  Bob had befriended a long haired Central Coast figure name Jim, who was working on his second harvest as the assistant wine maker at Zaca Mesa.  Zaca Mesa was helping to lead the way in the wine revolution, by being very experimental in their vineyards and seeking to nurture great wine makers.  They had Cabernet, Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Chardonnay in there vineyards and Ken Brown in the cellar (Founder of Byron, as well as Ken Brown wines).

Like most young bearded men of the time, Jim and Bob are busy listening to rock music and sticking it to the man.  Lo and behold The Kinks (one of Bob’s favorites) are coming to the Santa Barbara County Bowl, and there is no way our dynamic duo is missing the show.  Six weeks before  the event Bob puts in a notice for his day off.  Now this meant that the boss had to work.  This wasn’t an issue until the week of, when it was suddenly remembered that dove hunting season started the same day.  Of course bird shooting boss trumps, rock listening bottle jockey.  What was a hardworking wino to do?

Enter Jim a.k.a devils advocate.  In Jim’s ever so persuasive fashion, he promises to put in the good word at Zaca Mesa for Bob, if he gets fired for missing his shift. The Kinks and a job in a winery! Too good to pass up.  The show was epic. Maybe it was the danger, or the new opportunity, or that slightly skunky smell in the air but whatever it was, it meant the winds were shifting. Predictably the next morning was less invigorating. Slightly hung over and more than a little concerned about having put his job on the line for a “promise” Bob faced the music. “Wahh Wahh” was the sound track. Unemployed, but set on the course of his decision, Bob waited to hear what Jim was going to be able pull off. Then the phone call came.  Urged by Jim, the primary owner of Zaca Mesa contacted Bob and offered him a position. Bob spent 4 vintages with Zaca Mesa, and used fruit from their new syrah vineyards for his first wines. By ’83 Bob was on his own and The Kinks had just released “State of Confusion”, things couldn’t be better.