2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri

(69% roussanne and 31% viognier) Deep yellow-gold. Ripe pit and exotic fruits on the nose, with complicating notes of honey, sweet butter and green almond. Becomes more floral with air, picking up suggestions of jasmine and chamomile. Lush but focused, with a spine of acidity adding structure and carrying through a very long, sappy and gently sweet finish. Krankl said that he'd serve this with a rich shellfish dish.

The 2008 Kolibri continues the brilliant success Krankl has had with dry whites. As one can see when visiting his cellars, he is now using the fashionable concrete eggs as part of the white wines- upbringing. About 25% new French oak is used, and the balance is older barrels. Most of the fruit is from estate vineyards, with about 18% purchased from the Bien Nacido Vineyard. The final blend is 69% Roussanne and 31% Viognier. As is found in all Krankl's whites, the 2008 Kolibri possesses extraordinary aromatics. Abundant notes of marmalade, honeysuckle, white flowers, and candied citrus are accompanied by good acidity, beautiful intensity and purity, and a layered, fresh, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel. The wine is intense, but never heavy or overbearing. It is impossible to estimate which vintages will age well. I recently had the 2001 Albino and 2002 Lil- E and both were still brilliant. Other whites seem to go through a more funky stage from which they are unlikely to rebound. Consequently, as good as they are, I tend to drink them during their first several years of life. After three decades of tasting wines from nearly all the world's greatest winemakers, many on an annual basis, have I fully understood what motivates them? For some it may be insecurity, for some others an overwhelming competitiveness, while for others it may be a ferocious fury focused on a single goal. Manfred Krankl and his charming wife, Elaine, are well-known to me. I have been visiting Sine Qua Non for over 15 years. This is a Horatio Alger tale of an immigrant (in this case, from Austria) who arrived with only a backpack to his name, and who in a few short years opened the finest artisanal bakery in Los Angeles ( La Brea Bakery) as well as one of the area's pioneering Mediterranean-styled restaurants (Campania - still flourishing today). However, Krankl's fame rests on the strength of his wines - compelling, singular, and world-class wines that are like no others being produced on Planet Earth. Is it his insecurity, his zealous competitiveness, a raging fire in his psyche, or merely a deep passion that suffers no fools or compromises? I suspect that even Krankl, in his most private moments, is unable to articulate what drives him to produce such magnificent vinous works of art. Some things at Sine Qua Non are etched in stone. First and foremost, Krankl works as hard in the vineyard as anybody. For example, a lot of wine producers talk yields, etc., but very few actually practice as small of yields as Krankl does. In 2007, his white wine yields were 1.28 tons of fruit per acre. His Grenache yields were 1.3 tons of fruit per acre, and his Syrah was 1.52 tons per acre. In 2008, he had a bumper crop by his standards, with white wine yields coming in at 1.74 tons of fruit per acre, Grenache at 1.66 tons, and Syrah at 1.70 tons per acre. There is a lot of phony baloney talk in the wine trade that low yields are not all they're cracked up to be, but talk to any top winemaker, look at any great wine; the unavoidable conclusion is (1) most are produced only from top sites, (2) nearly all of them are meticulously cultivated and looked after, and (3) yields are consistently low! Krankl's wines would never have the flavor or nuances they do if yields were two or three times higher. In any event, this was probably my last visit to his -Mad Max- junkyard dog sort of winery in one of the ugliest sections of Ventura. That will all change as his new winery on his estate property just south of Ojai, becomes a reality. I have mixed emotions about that as his old warehouse has become hallowed Rhone Ranger ground for me. Nearly a decade ago, Krankl began to offer both a Grenache and Syrah that saw extended barrel aging. I believe he was the first Central Coast producer to institute that practice, and the success of this technique, practiced by Marcel Guigal since 1976, has been emulated by Justin Smith at Saxum and John Alban at Alban Vineyards. Tel. (805) 649-8901

(two-thirds roussanne and one-third viognier; this wine has not been named yet) Deep yellow-gold. Exotically perfumed bouquet of peach pit, melon, floral honey and marzipan, complemented by a strong lashing of smoky minerals. Lush and creamy but surprisingly energetic, offering deeply concentrated pit fruit and spice flavors and a strong mineral spine. Finishes with excellent clarity and spicy persistence.