not as good as I thought it would be. Rik Bridges liked it

The yearly release of Sine Qua Non?s latest Syrah is always cause for celebration in my household. Nobody in California makes better Rhone wines than Elaine and Manfred Krankl. The 2001 version is 96% Syrah, 2.5% Grenache, and 1.5% Viognier from the Alban, Stolpman, Bien Nacido, and White Hawk vineyards. The key thing about Sine Qua Non Syrah and what separates it from other New World Syrah producers is that the Syrahs are deeply concentrated but elegant, complex, and feminine at the same time. Many producers can equal (or even exceed the concentration) but none can make a wine that bundles up so many contradictions into the one compelling wine that Sine Qua Non can. The 2001 lives up to its name in that it is quite dark with a huge, perfumed, and ever changing (if you don'tlike how it smells then put the glass down and come back in a minute ? it will be a different wine) nose of beef tartare, vanilla, plum, spice, wood, earth, blackberry, violet, sweet herbs, minerals, carrot, green apple, coffee, licorice, and menthol. Full and rich on the palate with moderate tannins, plenty of acidity, and loads of sweet fruit, anise, and caramel. Tough to put the glass down (and even more difficult to ever have enough of this wine in your cellar).