1998 Veiled Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Up to 2005 he bought fruit from Oregon. Stopped making Pinot Noir in 2005. 100% Pinot Noir. Shea Vineyard (same as Bergstrom). 475 cases. Smudgy, bricky ruby. Fragrant red fruit on the nose. Fine layers of red fruit and leather and dried herbs and orange at first. Silky texture, spicy. However, the alcohol is starting to stick out, giving the wine a hardness on the finish and revealing its age. (JH)
Critic scores
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Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Oregon's Shea Vineyard has been the source for many delicious Pinot Noirs from the likes of Ken Wright and others who live and work near the vineyard. One's sense of rational thought might be questioned to think that a winery two hours north of Los Angeles should be leasing a vineyard in Oregon, and shipping the fruit to California in refrigerated reefer trucks, but that is just what Elaine and Manfred Krankl are doing in order to satisfy their masochistic need to produce world-class Pinot Noir from a cool climate region. The 1998 Veiled Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard is outstanding. It reveals the vintage's strengths in its medium ruby color, attractive, sweet, plum, rose petal, black cherry fruit, and smoky-scented nose. Medium-bodied with outstanding concentration and sweetness in the mid-palate, elegance and balance, this wine should improve nicely over the next 3-4 years, and last for 7-8. Tel. (805) 649-8901; Fax (805) 640-1230
Oregon's Shea Vineyard has been the source for many delicious Pinot Noirs from the likes of Ken Wright and others who live and work near the vineyard. One's sense of rational thought might be questioned to think that a winery two hours north of Los Angeles should be leasing a vineyard in Oregon, and shipping the fruit to California in refrigerated reefer trucks, but that is just what Elaine and Manfred Krankl are doing in order to satisfy their masochistic need to produce world-class Pinot Noir from a cool climate region. The 1998 Veiled Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard is outstanding. It reveals the vintage's strengths in its medium ruby color, attractive, sweet, plum, rose petal, black cherry fruit, and smoky-scented nose. Medium-bodied with outstanding concentration and sweetness in the mid-palate, elegance and balance, this wine should improve nicely over the next 3-4 years, and last for 7-8. Feb 2000, www.robertparker.com
Medium, dullish red. Slightly reduced nose combines black raspberry, roasted cherry, woodsmoke, coffee, smoked meat and a vegetal hint. Lush, thick and sweet, with complex, slightly meaty flavors lifted by cherry fruit and mint and nicely supported by a firm spine. This was initially dominated by inviting scents of burnished wood, but with extended aeration showed a stronger, fresher fruit component without losing its sweetness or shape. Old World-styled Oregon pinot.
About the producer
The brainchild of Manfred Krankl, Sine Qua Non (commonly known as SQN) is a cult California producer whose wines are avidly collected. The winery focuses on Rhône-inspired blends, however is famously non-conformist with each release totally unique.