If You've Ever Wondered Where I Get My Inspiration From, Here's A Hint ~ My Beautiful Regal Star & The Idea Behind The Quality & Imagery Of SQN!

Are But A Few Major Points.

I drank most of my 2012s during the pandemic, I often had both bottles open in a span of 3-4 days and I played winemaker with one of my favorite brands. You only live once, time to ignite the sensations of moving at lightspeed while the flavors explode and penetrate your wine Psi Chi.

~ The Only SQN Wine Lab

BADASS DOUBLE 100 POINT ENSEMBLE

Jeb Dunnuck While With The Wine Advocate

2012 11 CONFESSIONS

Syrah Touche ~ 3 Bottles

Lastly, the utterly perfect 2012 Syrah Touche reminds me of a great vintage of Guigal’s Cote Rotie La Landonne. A blend of 93% Syrah, 5% Petite Sirah and 2% Viognier, all from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, it spent 40 months in 78% new French oak. Deep, concentrated, full-bodied and layered, with a multidimensional texture and to-die-for notes of camphor, cured meats, violets, smoke and assorted dark fruits, this beauty has fine, perfectly ripe tannin and blockbuster length. Give it 3-4 years and drink over the following two decades.

Grenache Rattrapante ~ 3 Bottles

A perfect wine any way you look at it, the 2012 Grenache Rattrapante comes all from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills and spent 33 months in 27% new French oak. My notes start - and end - with “Wow.” Giving up tons of black raspberries, peppery herbs, licorice, dried flowers and cured meats, it’s a massively concentrated, rich and layered Grenache that somehow manages to stay graceful, lively and fresh on the palate. There are roughly 800 cases of this elixir and any Grenache lover should do their best to latch onto a bottle (or two). It’s also worth noting that this cuvee saw 26% whole clusters, which is a small change from past vintages.

SHOWCASING WINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD, IN MANY LANGUAGES....

El Terroir Es Una Garnacha Especial!

The aromatics draw you in with a seduction you would surely confuse for a bottle of wine 5 times the price!

Grenache is my weakness, ok I have a few, but this particular one ~ she is beautiful!

~ The Wine Lab

95 The Wine Advocate

2016 DOMAINES LUPIER

EL TERROIR

The 2016 El Terroir comes from a selection of their organic and biodynamically farmed plots, fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured between 11 and 13 months, depending on the plot, in mostly used and mostly 500- and 600-liter oak barrels. They now only replace around 8% of the barrels each vintage, so they are quite well seasoned and neutral, and the wines don't have any oak aromas or flavors. It has crunchy fruit, red rather than black fruit, and the wine is super fresh. The oak is much better integrated than the initial vintages—it's transparent with the wine, and you feel the fresh fruit, the rain, the soil—as a result, the wine is relaxed, harmonious and has light. This is a more complete and deeper version of the 2013, with the freshness and acidity with long life ahead. The wines show incremental improvements year after year, and the 2016 has probably helped to obtain the most complete vintage to date. It's long, tasty, has fine chalky tannins and impressive balance. 

DEPENDS ON HOW YOU VIEW THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF THE ELEMENTS (Label Art)

Fire is an element that can stimulate growth, can sharpen your will to continue by recalibrating and refocusing. Once one is in a transitional flow, it's a very good idea to only focus on quality. Quality people, quality time, and most importantly quality wine. Allow this 2018 11 Confessions Syrah to engulf you in a state of elemental greatness.

~ The SQN Infused Lab

100 Points Jeb Dunnuck

2018 SINE QUA NON

11 CONFESSIONS SYRAH

The 2018 Syrah Eleven Confessions Vineyard is pure gold and Syrah doesn't get any better, no matter what region you're talking about. Incredible notes of ripe cherries, currants, ground black and white pepper, cured meats, and saddle leather all soar from the glass, and it's full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate. Opening up with time in the glass, it certainly offers pleasure today yet warrants 2-4 years of bottle age and will have two decades of overall longevity. Hats off to the Krankl family for another utterly magical wine.

MUSICAL INSPIRATION: Dr. Hook

When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman

I was inside my reserve room wondering what to promote, then this song came on and my mind raced to an SQN-fueled sensorial lapse in time ~ the feeling is endless!

You'll want to have the imprint left by the 2018 SQN 11 Confessions Grenache on repeat mode.

~ The SQN Lab

100 Points Jeb Dunnuck

2018 SQN GRENACHE

11 CONFESSIONS VINEYARD

The 2018 Grenache Eleven Confessions Vineyard comes all from the estate vineyard located on the eastern side of the Sta. Rita Hills and is even more Grenache-dominated, checking in at close to 84% Grenache with 9% Syrah, 6% Petite Sirah, and the rest Viognier. Aged a whopping 38 months in 52% new barrels, it has an insane bouquet of black raspberries, herbes de Provence, violets, mulled cherries, sandalwood, and new leather. As complex and nuanced as they come, this full-bodied beauty has awesome purity of fruit, a layered, balanced mouthfeel, sweet, fine-grained tannins, and a great, great finish. It's one of those wines that makes you run out of adjectives. One of the finest examples of Grenache to pass my lips, give it 2-3 years and enjoy over the following two decades.

WORDS & LETTERS ARE POWERFUL, WHEN THEY EMANATE FROM POSITIVITY, THEY ARE CELESTIAL

We've all written something that was fueled by the passion for someone we love. Perhaps you delivered it or simply projected it, either way, it added to the positive cosmos.

Paul Lato was here this past week and joined my wine-tasting panel, we shared connections that have led us all to this point in time. Appreciation for quality wine, time, and positive people was the focus!

Paul's Letters To Europe delivers.

~ The California Rhone Lab

96 Points Jeb Dunnuck

2019 PAUL LATO

LETTERS TO EUROPE

An even split of Grenache and Syrah from Bien Nacido and Larner Vineyards, the 2019 Letters to Europe offers a big, boisterous, Grenache-driven bouquet of raspberry and strawberry fruits supported by ground pepper, cured meats, and gamey nuances. Rich, full-bodied, and seamless on the palate, it's another rocking wine boasting incredible richness and depth while staying weightless, elegant, and seamless.

IT'S LIFESTYLE WINES & THEIR ALLURE, THAT'S ALL I CRAVE ~ WINES THAT ELEVATE THE SENSES

One of my Wine Lab panelists said the other day, "we can only consume X number of bottles, so we choose wisely". The 2020 Janasse Old Vine has stories of history in every ounce dating back more than 50 Years. An old-world wine that illustrates the best philosophies in modern-day world winemaking ~ the 2020 has a commanding presence that transcends regions and palates alike.

~ The Rhone Lab

97+ Jeb Dunnuck

2020 DOMAINE DE LA JANASSE

CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE

VIELLES VIGNES

Much more powerful and intense, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes comes more from the La Crau and La Janasse lieux-dits and is the usual blend of mostly Grenache with a touch of Syrah. Blackberries, graphite, scorched earth, pepper, and sappy garrigue all emerge on the nose, and it's full-bodied, has beautiful concentration, polished tannins, and a great finish. Nothing is out of place, and this perfectly balanced, authoritative, powerful, and incredibly impressive 2020 will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and evolve for 15-20 years in cold cellars.