TNs: EVERY SQN KNOWN TO MAN AND THEN SOME

So 8-9 of us descended upon Chicago to do what no man has done before, drink through an ENTIRE SQN vertical of grenaches AND syrahs AND whites with a few roses and stickies thrown in for good measure along with a bottle of the Black & Blue for good measure. I’m hoping some of the guys will chime in with their thoughts but I’ll provide some of mine in hopes they can be used as some solid reference points for my fellow SQN junkies. There were some real surprises with these as some showed amazingly well and others disappointed on a grand scale. We split the verts up into two nights with everything 2002 and older being consumed on Friday night at One-Sixty Blue and the younger wines on Saturday night at the Custom House. Both were great venues but the One-Sixty Blue is just the tits as their private dining room and service are amazing. Great place and great people.

Being that this could run on a bit, I’ll break this one up in sections so as not to lose anyone. First, let me start by saying we had four flawed bottles all weekend and three were in Friday night’s lineup. Being we drank a 60+ bottles, a 7% rate is pretty standard. Two of the four were corked and the other two showed some noticeable VA. We found no bottles to be cooked or damaged due to poor storage. All bottles came from the cellars of the attendees and most were purchased on released outside of a few of the older ones. I think we all learned a great deal about our beloved SQN this weekend but more importantly we all enjoyed the time hanging with each other. Our crew could not have been a better collection of amazingly generous people.

So…does anyone want to guess the top three wines of Friday night? How about the worst three?

I’ve only had maybe 10 SQNs in total but the one I liked best when I had it was “The Left Hand” was back in 2003.

sounds fun, who was there?

The core attendees for both nights were myself, Robb Johnson, Doug Damron, Paul Himes, Jeff Winnick, James Fogerty and Dan Gordon.

As for the wines, I think the general concensus was that the whites, while solid, can’t hold a candle to the Rhone reds. The top wine of the weekend, believe it or not, was a 1999 Gewurztraminer that was released on a limited basis. One of the finest Gewurtz’s I’ve ever tasted. The Bride also performed amazingly with plenty of fruit but picking up amazing tertiary flavors. The Twisted & Bent was also near the top of the whites with the Backwards & Forwards near the bottom. The Boot continues to improve as to me…it was a dog 2-3yrs ago but seems to be coming into it’s own and may show the most promise of any of SQNs pre 2003 whites. But damn…that Gewurtz was simply put…AWESOME!

We opened four roses as well. I didn’t try the Stars & Stripes or Pontiff but the Autrement Dit was unexciting and out of balance. The Strapless showed surprisingly well with a slight sweetness but leaning towards a more traditional rose. Very good wine.

A few years ago we we hosted a SQN postcard OL, James drove over a couple of bottles of SQN even though he could not attend the party.
Dan, came with a “boatload” of bottles as well. Some very generous SQN list members in the Chicago area…
Glad you guys had fun.

The Other Hand. And I agree one of my favorites ever.

The 1999 Gewurztraminer have a name?

There are 2 SQN’s with “Hand” in the name:

1995 SQN The Other Hand Syrah" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1995 SQN Red Handed GSM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So here’s some impressions on the reds. I don’t have my notes with scores on hand so I’ll stumble through it a bit and will update once I have my score sheet.
-Black & Blue is a tired mess of a wine. I can’t see that this would have ever been good. It wasn’t damaged or flawed, just not good. I’d say drink up but for the price of these bottles, I’d suggest getting what you can for it and trading up for some other SQNs.
-Queen Of Spades- OMG kinda nose that screams old Rhone. On the palate…well…not as great but still very good. This is likely just beyond it’s peak and now on the downhill slide. Again, if you own it, flip it for other SQN.
-Red Handed- certain sweetness on the nose. This smells like a much younger wine. Candied berries on the nose. The palate is missing a bit. This is also likely past it’s prime as the fruit is starting to fade. Short on the midpalate and finish.
-The Other Hand, Imposter McCoy and Against The Wall- don’t have my notes on these but will follow up later. These aren’t registering in the memory bank at the moment.
WHAT FOLLOWS WAS FLIGHT OF THE WEEKEND FOR ME!

• Antagonists- REVELATION #1- WOW! This wine was hitting on all cylinders. Smelled and tasted of youth. Nose was of sweet bright fruit and the palate was even bigger. Had a certain sweetness to it…maybe some RS but if so…barely. Sweet cane sugar, blueberries, cherry cobler…this had it all. This was one of my Top 5 wines of the weekend.
• E-Raised- WOWSER! Best showing to date for this wine. HUGE nose of black fruit. Beautiful aromatics. Palate matched the nose with amazing laser like intensity of fruit. This wine is EXACTLY in it’s sweet spot. Also a Top 5 wine of the weekend.
• Hospice du Rhone- This wine is a model of consistency. Tasted exactly like I remembered the two bottles opened at my charity event last year. You’d never guess this was an SQN. Many compared it to a top notch Guigal La La. Old world with a slight new world twist. So many tertiary flavors it makes your head spin. I could have sat with this wine all night. Wine of the weekend for me as well as others. 100PTS!!! (and only one of two 100 pointers of the weekend)
  NEXT FLIGHT WAS VERY FORGETTABLE
  Icarus- cloudy wine that was just tired and confused. While a good drink, not worth today’s market price. Average
  Marauder- This has never been one of my favorite SQNs and this confirmed my past impressions. Very pedestrian wine. Forgettable.
  
  
  I’ll follow up with the rest of Friday night’s lineup tomorrow.

very convuluted to read Justin, just saying!

Hey…I’m not the best note writer but I think I got the point across. Just saying

e-raised is my top SQN of all time. I told that to someone before and he scoffed and said “even manfred doesn’t think that’s his top SQN”. I said STFU bitch. If it’s JB’s top 5 of all SQN’s this weekend, I know my palate doesn’t suck that much

Oh, did it start innocently enough…a few SQNs paired with some Rhone wines and then a night of CA cult cabs…but, then, somehow it changed, it exploded, it EVOLVED into a weekend of SQN…not just a few, not just a few dozen but rather 61 different SQNs…long time coming, many years in the making, but less than a week in the consummation…though, when a group of SQN fanatics gather in such a manner, how can the theme stray far - just didn’t realize we would end up with the next to impossible…

I am not sure I have yet recovered and will add notes and impressions when I do…but, I thought it helpful to frame Justin’s posts with a full list upon which we can build some notes and comments on these note and comment WORTHY wines…

Friday Night Flights:

Intro – sitting room
2005 Strapless (Rose)
2006 Autrement Dit (Rose)
2007 Stripes & Stars (Rose)
2008 The Pontiff (Rose)

First/Second Flight
1995 The Bride (White)
1996 Omadhaun & Poltroon (White)
1997 Twisted & Bent (White)
1998 Backward & Forward (White)
1999 Tarantella (White)
2000 The Hussy (White)
2000 The Boot (White)
1999 Gewurztraminer (White (dry))

Third Flight
1992 Black and Blue (Syrah)
1994 Queen of Spades (Syrah)
1995 The Other Hand (Syrah)
1995 Red Handed (Blend)

Fourth Flight
1996 Against the Wall (Syrah)
1997 Imposter McCoy (Syrah)
1998 E-Raised (Syrah)
1998 Hospice du Rhone (Syrah)
1998 The Antagonists (Grenache)

Fifth Flight
1999 Icarus (Grenache)
1999 The Marauder (Syrah)
2000 Incognito (Grenache)
2000 Heels Over Head (Syrah)
2000 In Flagrante (Syrah)

Sixth Flight
2001 Midnight Oil (Syrah)
2001 On Your Toes (Syrah)
2001 Ventriloquist (Grenache)
2002 More Than A Number (Grenache)
2002 Heart Chorea (Syrah)
2002 Just For The Love Of It (Syrah)

Dessert Flight
2000 Suey
2003 Boots, Pasties
2005 Atlantis VdP Roussane

Saturday Night Flights:

First Flight
2001 Albino (White)
2001 Rien Ne Va Plus (White)
2002 Whisperin’ E (White)

Second Flight
2003 Sublime Isolation (White)
2004 The Rejuvenators (White)
2005 The Petition (White)
2006 The Hoodoo Man (White)
2007 Body & Soul (White)

Third Flight
2003 The Inaugural (Grenache)
2003 Li’l E (Grenache)
2004 Ode to E (Grenache)
2004 Into the Dark (Grenache)

Fourth Flight
2005 Atlantis (Grenache)
2005 The Naked Truth (Grenache)
2006 Raven (Grenache)
2007 Pictures (Grenache)

Fifth Flight
2003 The Inaugural (Syrah)
2003 Papa (Syrah)
2004 Ode to E (Syrah)
2004 Poker Face (Syrah)

Sixth Flight
2005 17th Nail in My Cranium (Syrah)
2005 Atlantis (Syrah)
2006 Raven (Syrah)
2007 Labels (Syrah)

Seventh Flight
1990 Chat. D’Yquem
2000 Mr. K Nobleman
2000 Mr. K Strawman

That pic is inspiring.

Thanks!! We thought it would merely take a few minutes to set up but little did we know…a couple hours later…I’m just thrilled my dining room table didn’t give out under the weight of those incredibly heavy bottles…

The picture actually contains more wines than what we were including in the weekend - it includes all SQNs and Mr. K released to date but for about 5 (Left Field, 3 of the Rose and 1 Mr. K, though it also doesn’t include Tant Pis)…

Charlie - I definitely agree on the E-Raised - absolutely one of my all time favorites from shortly after release (at release and for the first year or so, ATW had it beat, then Imposter for a bit, but then it rocketed right past and didn’t look back)…and it didn’t disappoint this time either.

Agreed on the E-Raised. I picked up a maggie awhile ago at a charity auction for $100. We drank it 2 years ago at custom house and it was fantastic.

I knew it would be tough to take notes, let alone detailed/thoughful notes over the course of so many wines and so many hours, most importantly because no matter how serious we all are about wine and SQN, it was first and foremost a gathering of friends for fun and enjoyment centered around our collective favorite producer and not a wine “tasting”…that said I do have some short notes/impressions which got shorter as the night(s) went on…I’ll start with some thoughts on the roses and move on from there in posts to come.

Also below is a picture of the Friday night wines before the fun began (for those interested, the 1999 Gewurztraminer is in the front (no label)).



Overall the roses were a nice place to start, a nice way to peak our interest and wake up our palates….and we had to have something to drink while we opened and decanted all the reds and got the whites chilled down a bit. As anyone who has tried them knows, SQN roses aren’t light, backyard during the summer type roses but rather bold and full roses that often can improve with age. While I always enjoy the SQN roses, for me they fall more on the fun side of the spectrum.

2005 Strapless (Rose) – Had quite a different profile than the other three – more delicate fruit (more pale and delicate color as well), with excellent lift and acidity, with a sweet tinge/tang, and a long finish, didn’t quite spread on the palate in the way the others did or have the richness of fruit but just left you wanting to take another sip – the freshness would have led me to think it was the youngest and not the oldest of the four - more traditional in that way perhaps – very nice!!

2006 Autrement Dit (Rose) – Immediately noticeable as darker in the glass than the Strapless, nose was also darker and deeper – on the palate seemed a bit disjointed – it had some very nice fruit upfront but seemed to miss on the middle and had a short finish – I think I’ll wait 6-9 months to revisit this one as perhaps some age will smooth it out and let the fruit underneath shine.

2007 Stripes & Stars (Rose) - Now this one pulled off the darker/richer qualities with wonderful style and character – full, broad fruit that spread out across the palate – surprising weight for a rose but still a good brightness – no delicate summer flower here but nice complexity and layers – should benefit from a bit of time in the cellar.

2008 The Pontiff (Rose) – Actually very similar to the Stripes, but just younger so perhaps a bit more brash – should be as good as the Stripes but needs some time to settle down (currently in a place similar to where I thought Stripes was about a year ago).

So, for this initial flight, Strapless was tops, followed by Stripes, Pontiff and then Autrement.

More to come…

the best wine of the weekend was a gewurz that was only “one of the finest” you’ve ever tasted???
i’d love to know what the better gewurz were, thanks.

Did I miss the notes on the Suey and Boots, Pasties and A Ten-Gallon Hat?