2003 Sine Qua Non, SQN, Eleven Confessions Collectors Case, Sta. Rita Hills, Case of 6 btls [The Inaugural - 5 Syrah & 1 Grenache]

" The mind-boggling 2003 The Inaugural Syrah is an emotional experience to taste as well as drink. Aged 38 ? months in French oak, it was fashioned entirely from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard, which is planted with Syrah clones #470, 174, and the Estrella River and Alban field selections. This stunning Syrah boasts a magnificent bouquet of spring flowers, blueberries, blackberries, charcoal, licorice, and roasted meats. It hits the palate with remarkable intensity, purity, and full-bodied power, but it somehow manages to dance across the taste buds with the gracefulness of a ballerina. Awesomely long, I still tasted this wine 60 seconds after I had spit it out no easy task, even for a professional. This majestic Syrah should be a modern day legacy for Sine Qua Non, ranking alongside the other stunning Syrahs they have produced, such as the two 2002 cuvees, Just For The Love Of It and Heart Chorea. This is a nuanced, complex wine, whereas the 2004 Poker Face is more exuberant and flamboyant. It should age beautifully for 10-15+ years. The recently released 2003 The Inaugural (90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, the first vintage from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard) is a stunning effort. Boasting superb intensity and purity, it spent 38 months in French oak, and has taken on mind-boggling nuances and subtleties. It is a huge wine dominated by black cherry, blackberry, and cassis fruit, but also offering notions of plums, figs, soy, smoke, and roasted meat-like notes. The wines enormous complexity, silky, full-bodied, voluptuous texture, and remarkable finish suggest it will last over a decade, but who can resist it now? It hits all the palates and olfactory glands sweet spots, a hedonistic and intellectual joy" LPB for WA Aug. 2007
Sine Qua Non, Eleven Confessions Collectors Case, Sta. Rita Hills