Qupé Roussanne Bien Nacido Hillside Estate, Santa Maria Valley 2014

This is a textbook vintage of Roussanne. It is rich, but still light on its feet with balanced acidity and a long succulent finish. This wine is ready to enjoy upon release and will continue to age beautifully for 10-15 years. The grapes were whole cluster pressed, the juice chilled overnight, and then pumped directly to barrel the next day. With Roussanne we go into the barrel “dirty”, or with lots of the juice lees. The texture and complexity that lees add to the wine. For fermentation and aging we use exclusively one year old Francois Freres Burgundy barrels, barrels that were used once for Chardonnay. One year old barrels still have a nice but subtle level of oakiness, perfect for Roussanne.
93 pts Robert Parker
92 pts Jeb Dunnuck