This Week's Tasting
Winemaker Bob Lindquist
June 12, 2024
California's Master of the Rhone
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This Week Wed, Jun 12, 2024 Winemaker Bob Lindquist, California's Master of the Rhone In-store, 5 - 6:30pm
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As I was collecting my tasting notes for this event, I noticed that I had used ‘pretty’ very often. This is no accident.
We are used to many Napa wines that envelope your tongue with the structure and majesty of a Beethoven symphony. The vineyards of the Central Coast are much closer to the cold Pacific which gives their wines less mass but a more defining acidity.
There Bob Lindquist and his partner Louisa Sawyer-Lindquist stand out for their gifts at sculpting what nature provides. They make wines as precise and graceful as a Chopin nocturne; delicately formed and smoothly melodic across the palate with no lack of concentration.
Experience tells. Lindquist has been making wine in the Central Coast for over forty years. In the seventies he became part of a group of young winemakers who put Santa Barbara on the wine map and later established noted wineries; Jim Clendenen (Au Bon Climat) Ken Brown, Adam Tolmach (Ojai) Tony Austin (Austin Cellars)
In 1982 he launched the Qupe winery which grew from a 900 case garagiste winery to 35,00 cases. In 1989 he built and shared a winery with Jim Clendenen at the Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria. There Bob focused on single vineyard Rhone grapes; Syrah, Grenache, Marsanne, and Rousanne plus Chardonnay. In 2018 he sold Qupe and returned to his artisanal roots with Lindquist Family and makes wine under the Lindquist label. He still shares the winery with Au Bon Climat. With a strong nod to the traditional winemaking techniques of the Old World, his wines are known for elegance, balance and longevity in the cellar.
Verdad is Louisa Sawyer-Lindquist’s label, mainly for Spanish varietals, but also an excellent Paso Robles cabernet that we will taste. Sawyer-Lindquist Wines are a collaboration of the two. They craft a beautiful biodynamic Pinot Noir from their own vineyard. The wine has a distinctive flair and reflects their balanced style.
Even better, the Lindquists are moderate in their pricing. You will not taste many wines this precise and balanced that match the prices Wednesday evening.
Bob will present nine wines.
Six are available now, with another three only on pre-order from the winery.
White
2022 Verdad Albarino; Color: light; Aroma: creamy, some bright acid, earthy, stone lemon white flowers; Mouth: fresh and creamy, lemony, fresh lemon, stone, lingering lemon flower ; Very Good Plus $26.99; Case, $22.99
2022 Lindquist Chardonnay Bien Nacido; Aroma: heady sweet very dense, sweet intense; Mouth: thick rather dense, juicy intense , rather juicy with a light barrel a barrel note; Very Good Plus $26.99; Case, $22.99
2021 Lindquist Viognier-Chardonnay; Aroma: heady intense, herbal, full, intense subtle delicate, rather light firm, vanilla scented nectarine and orange; Very Good Plus $31; Case, $26.49
2020 Lindquist Syrah; Color: medium dark, dense; Aroma: heady bright and forward, evocatively fragrant, dark syrah fruit; Very Good Plus $26.99; Case, $22.99
Red
2021 Verdad Cabernet Sauvignon; Color: light bright clean ; Aroma: intense prettily nuanced and full, , very rich lifted and rich at the same time; Mouth: pretty and full, smooth lighter in body than most, firm defining acidity which carries through to the finish; Very Good - Excellent $32; Case, $26.99
2020 Lindquist Sawyer Pinot Noir Estate; Color: Light red black; Aroma: pretty, intense, very rich, , bright, intense, bright clean intense; Mouth: smooth bright intense, clean, sweet strong ripe acid drive, some breadth, dark fruit, light finish; Very Good- Excellent $35; Case, $29.99
6-12-24 Lindquist Case two bottles each of the above $299 (24.91 a bottle)
Or mix any twelve at their case prices
We will taste three wines available on preorder.
I will be tasting them for the first time with you, Notes below are from Antonio Galloni in Vinous
Lindquist 2021 Marsanne Ibarra-Young Vineyard, Los Olivos Organic Not noted but elseware gallon notes that “Bob Lindquist has long had a magic touch with Marsanne.” - case $295 half case $155
Lindquist 2021 Roussanne Bien Nacido Hillside, Santa Maria - laced with hints of apricot, pastry, butter, spice and tangerine oil. The 2021 offers plenty of Roussanne texture and exoticism, yet remains light on its feet. Bright acids lend brightness throughout. Few people know Bien Nacido better than Bob Lindquist.
Case $544 half case $269
Lindquist 2021 Syrah Bien Nacido Z Block “- Santa Maria - a dense, powerful wine, yet very much in Bob Lindquist's style. Ripe dark cherry, plum, tobacco, leather and a kick of sweet French oak all build in the glass. This is a bit riper in profile than most of the wines in the range, but it works. Lindquist nicely balances plush textures with mid-weight structure.- case $575 half case $305
Len Rothenberg
Order by phone at 617.367.8605, or reserve here: order@federalwine.com
Please pass this on to any friends who are wine enthusiasts!
- Len Rothenberg
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FREE DELIVERY!
downtown on orders more than $75;
in Greater Boston on orders more than $199
