Qupe 2007 Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne

*Bottle #83: Qupe 2007 Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne
*Price Tag: $18 (fortuitous luck with a half bottle for $6)
*Running Tab: $1,145

Spotted. Frozen in front of her laptop for an attempted non-work related typing sesh. Has Erin Thomas’ composition style hit a rough patch or has she just turned a lazy corner onto Excuse Street?

Some have tried to disparage with snarky Twitter remarks, explicit commentary by pissed-off industry folk have been posted and eye-rolls performed in perfect tween disposition were witnessed.

But despite criticisms and a recent 16 day absence, I am back. 2010 is my masochistic bitch and wine is my slightly sexy, slightly scary whip.

All of that excessive verbiage being said… With a vengeance, my resolution is to suck up my burnout due to job madness and still pump out some quality prose for your reading pleasure.

Resolution solution #1: the highly distributed yet infrequently purchased Qupe 2007 Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne. In this case, I got the homie hook-up from the closet inside the cellar at the Uptown QFC. Right place, right time.

Yup, discounted half bottles are the solo drinker’s key to enjoying and not wasting quality wines. Hey, I never said unescorted boozing was a part of this resolution…

With an appearance on Kathie Lee & Hoda as their claim-to-fame and major accolade, Qupe was founded upon the down-to-earth principles of getting lost in the music and romance of wine.

Literally. Winemaker and owner Bob Lindquist was fired from his retail shop gig in Los Olivos for skipping out to attend a Kinks concert. Shortly after, he was hired as Zaca Mesa Winery’s inaugural tour guide. From there, he had random cellar odd jobs, started hobbing knobs with the winemakers and launched Qupe in 1982.

Now with nearly 30 years of experience on his resume, Bob probably doesn’t lose too much sleep at night over getting fired due to a kink in his retail job.

Known prolifically for their cost-effectively priced yet skillfully crafted Rhone-influenced wines, Qupe’s glimpes at Central Coast wines give California a somewhat obscure option against the fatty Chardonnays of the state.

Heavily Marsanne with a healthy dose of Roussanne for a backbone, the Qupe 2007 Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne is full of gall and uncharted territory.

Immediately upfront, the wine is nutty on the nose with tropical fruits like mangoes, papaya and pineapples. In the back, right as you’re about to exhale, a waxy minerality comes out. It’s definitely a second-sipper, where you go back to make sure you really did just taste that… And it’s good… With just a stroke of honey to pull you back in.

On the palate, the orange fruits dominate – tangerine and mango for sure with seemingly natural spiced nuts in the mid-palate The acidity is distinct on the palate, with the ripe fruit pulling out in the end, and giving the wine a certain freshness as well as richness.

Could I just be a sucker for a decent success story and Rhone-varietals or could this really be a grade $18 bottle?

Go, try it, you tell me. This is a new year, a new wine-review, a new Erin… Let’s see how long this one lasts…

Score: 8.