Beschreibung:

SOMETHING INDISPENSIBLE = SINE QUA NON Property of a Metropolitan Fine Wine Aficionado Recently removed and transported by Christie's Wine Department direct to our westcoast warehouse from one of the city's finest professional storage facilities. The following lots comprise a near complete vertical of Manfred Krankel's brilliant wine making and artistic skill from 1994-2001. Tasting notes included originate from a dinner hosted by Rudy Kurniawan in 2001 featuring a complete vertical of Sine Qua Non. ST Simply put, Sine Qua Non, is the quintessential California cult wine. All the ingredients for stardom exist, limited production, heavy & unique bottle shapes and hand-made label art that evolves with each passing harvest. Sine Qua Non, SQN as some call it, is the brain child of Manfred Krankl, former managing partner of Campanille restaurant and former partner of La Brea Bakery, both Los Angeles gastronomic temples. Perhaps tiring of his "day job" Mr. Krankl approached Michael Havens of Havens Wine Cellars in 1992 to jointly create his first vinuous expression, Black and Blue . The first release was ridiculously microscopic and so limited there was barely a whisper of its existance in all of Los Angeles. It wasn't until SQN's 1996 release of the 1994 Queen of Spades that any significant buzz started up...and in no less than a year later merchants had to allocate their limited offerings to 1 bottle per client. If you've not heard about SQN I suppose no one could blame you, after all if you're not one of the 600 or so clients lucky enough to be on the winery's mailing list you'll probably have to get your allocations from commercial auctions. In the rare occasion when collectors do submit their selections to the gavel the offerings are typically a few bottles of this or that. The presentation before you comes from one of the few early adopters of this cult wine. His reward, rightly so, were decent allocation numbers. Rarely will you see at auction a near complete vertical, practically untouched from original allocation, and with as many bottles on offer as the one before you. Scott Torrence Sine Qua Non, Queen of Spades--Vintage 1994 Santa Barbara 100 Syrah; Bien Nacido Vineyard; 75 new barrel & 25 used; 100 cases produced Very singular nose and palate: barnyard and horsey, tobacco aromas and flavors persist. Extraction like nothing else offered from this vintage, from any producer! A powerful wine, perhaps at its peak. ST 5 bottles per lot