x
  • Country ranking ?

    420
  • Producer ranking ?

    41
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

Wine Information

Sine Qua Non

Sine Qua Non is a small winery in the city of Ventura, two hours north of Los Angeles. The winery's name Sine Qua Non is Latin for "absolutely indispensible", or literally "without which not". It was founded in 1994 by Manfred and Elaine Krankl. The winery has risen to be one of the top Syrah producers in USA, and due to the tiny quantities of wine made and the recent 98-100 point scores by Parker, Sine Qua Non is now unquestionably regarded as a "California Cult" wine producer.
The proprietors, the husband-and-wife team of Manfred and Elaine Krankl, are both very involved in the creation of their wines. In the early 1990's Manfred Krankl became interested in backyard winemaking. He used the facilities at the Babcock Winery and produced a small, 200 case lot of Chardonnay with the assistance of winemaker Bryan Babcock. The first wine was named The Thief.
The Krankl's first serious commercial undertaking was a Syrah called Black and Blue, which was produced in 1992 at the Havens winery in Napa. It was followed by an assortment of oddly named wines – Queen of Spades, Red Handed, The Other Hand, The Bride, and more recently Twisted and Bent, Imposter McCoy and Veiled. All the wines have a distinctive, funky label, that are all reproductions of Manfred's artwork.
In 1997 the Krankls got their own winemaking facilities, and their goal now is to own a vineyard and grow grapes, as all their wines up untill now have been produced from purchased grapes. Almost all the grapes have come from the Santa Barbara region, except the Pinot Noir, which groe in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

The wine is made from predominantely Syrah with a dash of Grenache.

Close

Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

Tasting note

Be the first one to make a 20s tasting note!

Written Notes

Incredibly ripe and sweet aromatics. Distinct roast coffee notes allied to the sweet liqueur-like black fruits reminds me of coffee Pinotage. The palate is super-sweet and rich, showing over-ripe lush black fruits as well as spice and tar. Very smooth and overdone, this is actually quite unpleasant to my palate, although I have to try to be objective in scoring it.

  • 86p

A Shot in the Dark is composed of 96.5% Syrah and 3.5% Viognier from the 11 Confessions Vineyard in the cool Santa Rita Hills. Performing better from bottle than it did from barrel, this prodigious red exhibits incredibly velvety tannins, a seamless style, and no noticeable oak (which is remarkable given the fact it spent 32 months in barrel). Dense purple to the rim with an extraordinary perfume of blueberry pie, blackberries, soy, Asian spices, and hints of forest floor and charcoal, this is a complex, rich, seamless, well-balanced tour de force in winemaking. A full-bodied, exuberant, unabashedly California Syrah, it will offer stunning drinking over the next 10-15+ years.

  • 97p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

Ventura, California

Other wines from this producer

A Cappella Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir

Against the Wall

Albino

Atlantis 1 Fe2O3

Atlantis Fe2O3

B-20

Covert Fingers

Dangerous Birds

Dark Blossom Syrah

Deux Grenouilles

Dirt Vernacular Grenache

Entre Chien et Loup

E-raised

Female Grenache

Five Shooter

Grenache Distenta II

Grenache Le Chemin Vers l`Heresie

Grenache Pajarito Del Amor

Grenache Upside Down

Hollerin' M

Imposter McCoy

Inamorata Vin de Paille

Incognito

In Flagrante Syrah

In the Crosshairs Grenache

Into the Dark

Jusqu'à l'os Grenache

Just for the love of it

Kolibri

Left Field

Lightmotif

Male Syrah

Midnight Oil

Mr. K. Semillon Vin de Paille

Mr K The Noble Man

Non Red Handed

Omadhaun & Poltroon

Omega Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir

On The Lam

On Your Toes

OX Pinot Noir

Papa

Pictures Grenache

Pinot Noir Left Field Shea Vineyard

Poker Face

Queen of Spades

Rätsel 16 Syrah

Rattrapante

Rattrapante Eleven Confessions Estate Grenache

Raven Series Grenache

Raven Series Syrah

Shakti

Stockholm Syndrome

Straw Man Vin de Paille

Sublime Isolation

Suey Tba

Syrah Distenta II

Syrah Eleven Confessions Vineyard

Syrah Le Supplement

Syrah Patine

Syrah Piranha Waterdance

Syrah Stock

Syrah Trouver l`Arene

Tarantella

The Bribe

"The Duel" Estate Grenache

The Good Girl

The Marauder

The Other Hand

The Thrill of

Thrill of Stamp Collecting

"Trouver L'Arène"

Twisted & Bent

Ventriloquist

Whispering E

Wishpering

Highlights

Latest news

TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS 100 BEST CHAMPAGNES 2023 / by Champagne Magazine
WINERY NEWS Quinta do Noval / QUINTA DO NOVAL DECLARES 2021 VINTAGE PORT Christian Seely, Managing Director of Quinta do Noval,  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS BWW 2023 - The Best Wine of the World -competition has started! / The 1000 Most Voted Wines
WINERY NEWS Blankiet Estate / Wine Personality of the month!  Claude Blankiet / Proprietor of Blankiet Estate /Yountville,  more ...
WINERY NEWS Méo-Camuzet / The 2020 a very special vintage, which has been bottled, after a few logistical disorders (see   more ...
WINERY NEWS Château Lascombes / Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Château Cos d’Estournel vertical / by Izak Litwar
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS TASTINGBOOK “TASTED” AND RATED 100 TOP WINES FROM BORDEAUX 2022 VINTAGE! / The assessment has been made by the tastingbook's artificial intelligence.
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Novidades in the Port world: / 50 year old Tawny and 50 year old White Port
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS CHAMPAGNE -HALL OF FAME 2022 / by Champagne Magazine and Tastingbook
WINERY NEWS Gaja / Vintage Report 2022 The 2022 vintage was characterized by a constant, wide drought and by an incr  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Gaja's Idda wine project in Sicily? / Tasting with Giovanni Gaja
WINERY NEWS Weingut Robert Weil / A milestone in the history of the Rheingau Riesling dry! 98/100 Points!   "Produced   more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS NEW: TASTINGBOOK PRESENTATION AND INSTRUCTIONS! / tastingbook.info
WINERY NEWS Torbreck / JAMES SUCKLING | OCTOBER 2022 BY TORBRECK VINTNERS By James Suckling, October 2022 www  more ...
WINERY NEWS Bodegas Roda / Bodegas RODA launches its first white wine: RODA I Blanco   The winery from Barrio de   more ...
WINE NEWS: Rare Rose 2012 / Rare Champagne releases Rare Rosé Millésime 2012 & Magnum Millésime 2006   more ...
WINERY NEWS Château Lascombes / Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton  more ...

Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users. or to see wine moments from your world.
Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register
BWW 2023 - Best Wine of the World competition

VOTE NOW FOR YOUR FAVOURITE WINES FOR THE BEST WINE OF THE WORLD -TITLE

 

BWW- The Best Wine of the World 2023 -competition

"We believed the opinion of 10,000 consumers or 1,000 professionals to be more correct and more significant than a small group of wine professionals.”

 

BWW-The Best Wine of the World-competition is by far the toughest wine competition on this planet. Unlike any other industry competition, less than 1% of the wines involved will be awarded. 

BWW is also the largest wine competition: The BWW competition 2021 was held in the world's largest wine information service - tastingbook.com. 21,556 wines received in total 3,569,711 votes from 349,000 wine professionals and wine lovers from 116 countries during the three months voting period.