Tuesday Night Tasting Events: June21^st
Qupé & Verdad Wines

On first day of summer it was a packed house at Rancho Cellars brimming with eager taste buds to try the finest from one of the hottest wineries Santa Barbara County has to offer. Our enthused oenophile bunch was also fortunate to have Louisa Sawyer Linquist on hand to talk about her husband Bob’s focus on Chardonnay and Rhône varieties for his Qupé label, while Louisa herself is the diva behind Verdad Wines, of which we added two to the line-up of eight for the evening.

Louisa got the wine bug while working on the East Coast and eventually met her husband in San Francisco while she was working for a distributor of Qupé wines. Bob on the other hand spent time in and around Santa Barbara wineries, notably Zaca Mesa, where he learned the tricks of the trade and eventually teamed up with his friend and mentor Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat. The two share winery facilities at the reputed Bien Nacido Vineyard and with the arrival of Louisa’s first Verdad vintage in 2000 an inspiring wine circle was complete.

Our best of show was centered on the white and red wines, with unanimous acclaim for the stunning Verdad Central Coast Rosé that Louisa crafted out of Grenache and Tempranillo ($14); bright perfume and floral aromas with cherry and good acidity greeted our senses. Her passion for Spanish wines was a result of an exploratory trek in that old-world country and along with a Tempranillo-Syrah-Grenache blend ($20) that we also tasted; she makes a small amount of Albariño, which apparently, to our lament, sold out instantly.

Of the four red wines that we tasted it was the 2001 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate ($40) from Santa Maria Valley that came out to be the clear winner. This is a big and youthful wine with lots of green pepper, dark fruits and cinnamon spice in the nose and on the palate. The screaming acidity and earthy tannins make this a keeper and in truth most of the Qupé wines, be it red or white, have an amazing regard for longevity.

Another note worthy angle to the wines and vines of Bob and Louisa is their drive towards biodynamic viticulture. The belief that a vineyard is intimately connected to its surrounding landscape, the entire earth and the cosmic universe, which in turn will benefit the health and vigor of the grapes, subsequently improve flavor in the product. Equally important is that the footprint on the land is muted because you’ve got something, a vineyard, integrated into the natural cycle of things. No synthetic herbicides or pesticides, use of various natural extracts and even having chickens or sheep on the vineyard acreage can keep things naturally in check.

Biodynamic is something we’ll certainly hear more and more about from vineyard folk around the globe, but I do believe we shall also see a continuation in the quality of exceptional wines from both Qupé and Verdad. Bob himself is a Rhône Ranger and Louisa sees endless possibilities with native Spanish varieties beginning to be planted all over California as consumers demand greater diversity in wine. Lastly, they’ve begun developing a vineyard and new home in the Edna Valley where in time they’ll be able to raise their son and of course the grapes they adore. Certainly we’ll be waiting with anxious taste buds.