This charity dinner to benefit The Wine Advocate Fund for Philanthropy was auctioned off at the June, 2006 event that netted over 1.3 million dollars. The dinner, which included the proprietors of California’s Sine Qua Non winery, Elaine and Manfred Krankl, turned out to be an extraordinary evening. I can’t thank the purchasers, Julie Dobson, Chet Thacker, Bill and Rebecca Sanders, Scott and Cindy Greenberg, and Jeff Ix, enough for their generosity. Both my wife and I as well as Elaine and Manfred Krankl, and my former colleague, Pierre Rovani, made appearances. I doubt anyone on Planet Earth drank or ate any better than we did on June 9th.

One of the world’s truly great chefs is Palena’s Frank Ruta, whose cooking seems to go from strength to strength. He was the White House chef under Ronald Reagan, and also cooked for the first President Bush. His food comes closest to that of my favorite chef, Daniel Boulud. One extraordinary course after another was served, and their accompanying wine match-up was virtually perfect. We began with three 1990 champagnes. The Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame was eclipsed by the gorgeous 1990 Dom Pérignon as well as the more backward, Pinot Noir-dominated, structured Bollinger R.D. With the champagnes we enjoyed a sensational anchovy turnover and an amazing slice of chicken and veal pâté en croûte. We then moved to a delicate seviche of wild striped bass with heirloom beets and a few other goodies. With that we drank one of  SQN’s early white wines, the 1996 Omadhaun & Poltroon, a blend of Roussanne and Chardonnay. At age 11, it was still showing brilliantly, and appears to have another 4-5 years of life remaining. Light gold in color, with no hint of oxidation, it exhibited plenty of citrusy, waxy, honeyed notes, beautiful acidity, and pure fruit. Next came on of Chef Ruta’s great dishes, the navarin of Maine lobster with ginger in a Sauternes sauce. With this course we had two more recent SQN whites, both spectacular blends of primarily Roussanne with some Chardonnay and Viognier. I was in the minority, preferring the 2001 Albino over the 2002 Whisperin’ E, but both wines were light gold-colored, and revealed beautifully pure notes of white currants, honeyed citrus, and spring flowers. The Albino exhibited more minerality. Both wines were full-bodied, dry, and crisp with beautiful underlying acidity. They worked perfectly with the richness of the lobster in a Sauternes sauce, resulting in a superb combination of food and wine that elicited many “wows.”

One of Manfred Krankl’s less renowned winemaking achievements has been his Pinot Noirs from Oregon, so it is sad to see this project end. Both of the following Pinots are from Oregon’s Shea Vineyard (a vineyard I know well since Beaux Frères buys fruit from that site for our négociant label). Perhaps my favorite course was the guinea hen breast and foie gras with fava beans, beef marrow, and a stew of morels. It offered heavenly flavors along with terrific texture and intensity. The 2002 Hollerin’ M revealed that vintage’s cooler climate, with more nuances and complexity. It offered hints of blueberries, plums, sweet cherries, smoke, underbrush, and forest floor. This grand cru-styled Pinot Noir is already beginning to exhibit some secondary nuances as well as broad, savory flavors. The 2003 vintage experienced some unusual heat spikes, yet the 2003 Omega is a superb effort from that challenging year. While the aromatics are not as complex as those of the Hollerin’ M, the Omega is more textured as well as fatter and fleshier in the mouth. It really comes down to personal taste, but the 2002 Hollerin’ M is a great Pinot Noir from Oregon, and the outstanding 2003 Omega represents a brilliant achievement for the vintage.

Another brilliant course was the morel mushroom and asparagus consommé in a rich broth with skate, calamaretti, and abalone. With this course, Manfred Krankl chose to serve two of his Grenache-based cuvées. The 1998 The Antagonists, from a cool year, has turned out superbly. I have had this wine several times recently, and while I do not see as much Grenache character in it as I do in the perfect 2000 Incognito, The Antagonists is remarkably elegant, beautifully rich, and restrained. One of California’s greatest achievements in this vintage, its deep plum/ruby color is followed by notes of underbrush, kirsch, black fruits, licorice, and pepper. Two-thirds of the 2000 Incognito came from the Alban Vineyard, and the rest from the Stolpman Vineyard (in contrast to the SQN Grenaches being made today, which Krankl thinks will be even better since the clonal material is better, and they are his own vineyards, so he has 100% control over them). The amazing 2000 Incognito exhibits abundant notes of roasted meat, lavender, smoky Provençal herbs, pepper, licorice, and oodles of black cherry and blackberry fruit. Full-bodied, with a voluptuous texture as well as spectacular purity and depth, this is a tribute to extraordinary winemaking that has made one of the world’s most difficult grapes into something of prodigious proportions.

The next course was a remarkable Carbonara, which was essentially hand-cut noodles with an organic hen egg and shaved Burgundy white truffles with reggiano cheese. The full-bodied, powerful, licorice, smoke, camphor, and blackberry-scented and flavored 2003 Lil’E (a tribute to Krankl’s adorable, cute wife, Elaine, who is very much involved in her husband’s wine business) was a perfect foil for the earthiness of the truffles and cheese. With the buckwheat blini with suckling pig salad and porcini mushrooms we drank the 1998 E-raised Syrah (also a homage to Elaine Krankl), from a cooler climate vintage. Revealing more cool, underbrush, bay leaf, black currant, black cherry, smoke, and meat characteristics, it offered another great combination of food and wine. The beautifully prepared rack of lamb was accompanied by the 2001 On Your Toes Syrah, which represents Manfred Krankl’s first experiment with aging Syrah for over three years in small barrels. This remarkable wine tastes like a highly reduced brown sauce with meaty, smoky notes intermixed with notions of blackberries, plums, truffles, and earth. Boasting silky tannin as well as enormous concentration yet “light on its feet,” it is a tour de force in winemaking. It should drink beautifully for another 15 or more years. The 2003 Papa (whose label includes a picture of Krankl’s father as well as a giant, watermelon-headed baby that I assume is Manfred) was somewhat overwhelmed by the complexity of the 2001 On Your Toes. Characteristics of blackberries, camphor, smoke, lard, licorice, and forest floor emerge from this big, full-bodied, incredibly pure wine.

By the end of the evening, I was satiated with great food and prodigious wine, and while I am not a big drinker of sweet wines, it was impossible to ignore the extraordinary 2002 and 2003 Mr. K “The Noble Man” which are made by the partnership of Manfred Krankl and the brilliant Austrian sweet wine winemaker, Alois Kracher. These amazing sweet wines offered a decadent combination when drunk with the homemade cookies of Chef Ruta and the world’s greatest handmade caramels.

This was one of the greatest wine and food marriages I have ever had. While it is tempting to see the SQN wines as full throttle, intense efforts (and they are very concentrated and rich), they possess nuances, complexity, and elegance that are largely unprecedented for California. A night to remember!