Sine Qua Non – Ultimate Cult Wine?

“SQN” for the verbally challenged among us…

Cult wines are born when the right combination of high quality and small production creates huge consumer demand. The wines from Sine Qua Non and owner/winemaker Manfred Krankl fit that bill to a “T”.

SQN was born in 1994 when Manfred began producing wines for a restaurant that he was involved in. Two years later his production was up to 2,000 cases and the wine legend was off and running. Today Manfred specializes in Rhone reds – Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre – as well as blended whites using Roussanne, Viognier and Chardonnay. Various sweet wines have also been made throughout the years along with a Pinot Noir that ended production in 2005.

Current production hovers around 3,500 cases, of which the majority is distributed to mailing list members and a few select restaurants and wine shops. The waiting list is unfortunately rather long, fed by annual glowing reviews from the likes of Robert Parker and the folks at Wine Spectator. If you stumble across a bottle you are likely looking at a healthy sum for procurement.

Another interesting note regarding the SQN wines…each year the various vintages have unique labels and names, as Manfred feels they are distinct wines and deserve such. Fanciful monikers such as Poker Face, Papa, Just For The Love Of It and Atlantis Fe 203 1B have adorned Syrah bottlings over the years.

Sine Qua Non… roughly translated to “something that cannot be done without”. Truly the king of the cult wines…