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WTN: Qupe Viognier Ibarra-Young '13...(short/boring)

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TomHill

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WTN: Qupe Viognier Ibarra-Young '13...(short/boring)

by TomHill » Tue Aug 14, 2018 11:52 am

Wanting a white last night, I cracked:
1. Qupe Viognier Ibarra-YoungVnyd/SYV (13.8%; http://www.Qupe.com) 2013: Light gold color; beautiful floral/carnations strong Viog/pear/peach slight cardamon/spicy very perfumed/aromatic nose; fairly tart rather rich/lush spicy/Viog/pear/peach very floral/aromatic/carnations quite balanced flavor; very long/lingering lightly tart/tangy fairly rich/lush/balanced strong floral/carnations strong Viog/peach/pear slight orangey/orange blossom beautiful finish; doesn't have the minerality of Condrieu but a beautiful impeccably-made Calif Viog; no signs of that nutty/oxidized character yet that make some old Viogs so interesting; the kind of Viog that thumbs its nose at DollyParton; probably will put on more weight and develop more aromatics; will probably go another 10 yrs; the kind of wine that makes you say.."Wow..that Lindquist guy knows a thing or two about making wine!!".
________________________
And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Whenever I pull out another Qupe to drink in a recreational mode; I think I should be buying/drinking more Qupe wines. Bob's Rhones are just about the best being made in Calif. Always have been, still are.
Bob also makes a Viognier from Sawyer-Lindquist vnyd. It's a bit colder climate than Ibarra-Young and I recall it being even more aromatic. And, of course, his BienNacido Roussanne is one of the best, maybe the best, Roussannes in Calif.
Bob's Rhones are never particularly dramatic or flashy upon release. Hence he doesn't get any of the big scores from the wine reviewers. But, with age, they almost always turn into something spectacular. I can say that because I've followed Qupe from the very start.
Some yrs ago, 2013, Bob sold Qupe to Charles Banks/TerroirEstates. But he has remained on as the Qupe winemaker and is fully in charge of that part of Qupe. Bob was never a marketing genius and supposedly that partnership
allowed him to focus on the production side of things and make the Qupe wines even better.
Pax recently bailed out of the WindGap partnership w/ Banks (now serving time in an Alabama prison) to focus on his Pax label. I'm not sure how that Terroir partnership is working out at Qupe. I used to get occasional promotional e-mails from Terroir, but it's been well over a yr since I've received one. And certainly the presence of Qupe wines in NM has virtually vanished.
Bob just recently opened a tasting room in ArroyoGrande, but I've not yet visited that.
I need to go put together an order of Qupe for my group.
Tom

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