Qupe Chardonnay, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County, USA, 2023

Producer Profile

Qupé is a legendary California Rhône pioneer – from its founding with cool-climate Syrah and Chardonnay, through decades of acclaim, to its recent return to local stewardship under Andrew Murray.

Andrew has been making wine in Santa Barbara County for over three decades and recently acquired Qupé to strengthen his Rhône inspired wines. All of Andrew's wines draw fruit from the breezy cool climate East-West valleys that run along California's Central coast. His philosophy emphasises that great wines are grown in the vineyard. His wines honour careful site selection and are produced with minimal intervention. The original founder, Bob Lindquist, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and the Californian poppy logo of the winery is now world renowned.

Viticulture

Qupé has been crafting cool-climate Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County for over 40 years. They know where the best fruit comes from and leverage their long-term relationships to have their vineyard partners farm specific sites to their own requirements – low yield, clean, unblemished fruit, all certified sustainable. They want this wine to speak of its cool-climate origins, while showcasing the diversity of Santa Barbara County. 60% of the wine comes from 30+ year old vines growing in the sandy slopes of Santa Maria, where we find more solar energy in the wine in the form of pineapple, and orange marmalade. The remaining 40% is grown in the western reaches of the Sta. Rita Hills on sandy hills that deliver tiny, concentrated berries that yield the salty, citrusy side of Chardonnay with bright lemon and lime skin along with mineral notes. The final blend yields a quintessential Santa Barbara County Chardonnay.

Winemaking

This wine was crafted with traditional methods in Qupé's modern, state of the art winery: hand harvesting at night to benefit from the cold evenings, small picks at a broad spectrum of ripeness to ensure maximum complexity, whole cluster pressing, cold settling in temperature controlled stainless tanks for 24-48 hours, then racked to a mix of new (15%) and 1-4 year old French Oak Burgundy barrels for fermentation and subsequent sur lees aging for 9-12 months. Malolactic fermentation is halted in 20% of the wine to help retain a bit of salty, malic acid for freshness and ageability. As bottling approaches, the wine is clean racked under nitrogen to tank for final blending and resting before bottling on site.

Tasting Note

Qupé’s Chardonnay captures the freshness and restraint of Santa Barbara County’s coastal vineyards. Notes of zesty green apple, lemon rind and juicy pineapple along with some notes of toasted brioche and orange marmalade. On the palate, the bright, lively acidity brings out citrus flavours of orange and lemon that linger throughout a long, bright finish.

Food Matching

Goat cheese, oysters, shellfish, sushi, sautéed fish, pâté, vegetable risotto, or moules frites.