2022 Sine Qua Non - Syrah Eleven Confessions (750ml)

Sine Qua Non was founded in 1994 by husband-and-wife team Manfred and Elaine Krankl and quickly became one of the defining forces behind California's Rhône Ranger movement. The label is built around scarcity and artistry, with every vintage given its own name, bottle shape, and hand-drawn label in tiny production runs. Nearly all the fruit comes from the Krankls' Eleven Confessions Vineyard, a 33-acre estate in the eastern Sta. Rita Hills.

Eleven Confessions sits in an unusually warm pocket of the otherwise cool Sta. Rita Hills, where heavy clay and gravelly soils restrict vine vigor and keep yields under a ton and a half per acre. The 2022 season combined a mild spring with a sudden, record-breaking September heat wave, and the Krankls let the fruit hang deep into a cool autumn to build ripeness without losing acidity. The resulting Syrah, built mainly from estate fruit with small amounts of other Rhône varieties, aged over two years in French oak.

The 2022 opens with cassis, cocoa, and floral incense, backed by smoked meat and spice. The palate is powerful yet fine-boned, layering dark fruit and pepper over velvety tannins and bright acidity. It calls for venison or aged sheep's cheese.