The prehistory

But first to the story of this garagiste, whose beginnings were not in wine at all — he came to the subject only after his “first” commercial success. Manfred Krankl grew up the son of a modest family in Enns on the Danube. He discovered his passion for art at school. He was a poor draughtsman in his youth. But ambitious as he was, he managed to acquire the skill through much practice and passion and even discovered in it a love for life.

When Manfred Krankl emigrated to the USA, he began as an assistant in a wine & cheese shop and worked his way up to a hotel management position. Later he started his first own restaurant, “Campanile” and, alongside it, the bakery “La Brea Bakery” in Los Angeles. He quickly recognised that the bread quality available in the US was nowhere near European standards. And since they needed only part of the bread for their own restaurant, they additionally sold it to their customers. With great commitment he ultimately succeeded in establishing the baking craft of Austria and built a successful bakery institution well beyond Los Angeles.

SQN – Sine Qua Non — how it all began

Through his personal affinity for wine and his Wine Director position at the hotel, Manfred Krankl was able to get to know — and to love — wine personalities and their wine styles from across the world. He met his future wife Elaine while working together at Campanile. She has been his life partner and artistic muse ever since. Whether art, the unusual wine names or the passion for wine itself, Elaine has always been his anchor and supported him in every respect. The sale of “La Brea Bakery”, with three production sites and over 500 employees in 2001, also gave Manfred and Elaine financial independence.

In his book, Manfred Krankl writes a wonderful text about finding the name: “So what shall this endeavor, this wine thing be called? Neither of us had any interest in making just some wine — we wanted it to be distinct, unique, something very artisanal, something we ourselves loved and couldn’t live without. It was to become indispensable…sine qua non.”

“Every beginning is hard”

— so the saying goes, though it does not quite fit here

The first vintage was 1994 Queen of Spades. A legend among SQN lovers. Made from grapes of the BIEN NACIDO VINEYARD Z BLOCK, a large vineyard of over 800 acres. 100% Syrah, dense and powerful — similar to and yet different from the northern Rhône. But so inviting and hedonistic that you cannot stop taking sip after sip. With the help of fellow winemakers and companions such as sweet wine legend Alois Kracher, Elaine and Manfred succeeded in creating a style that is virtually unmistakable and that resonated not only with customers but also with wine critics. The unusual grape varieties — not customary in California — are a hallmark of Sine Qua Non, as are the bottle shapes that change every year, the self-designed labels and the unusual wine names.

In the second year there were already three different wines — “RED HANDED”, a cuvée of 43% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 17% Mourvèdre; “THE OTHER HAND” a 100% Syrah; and  “THE BRIDE”, a white cuvée of Chardonnay and Roussanne of which only 180 cases were produced.

Just as much heart as Manfred and Elaine put into the content and design of the bottles can be found in the “Release Papers” that those fortunate enough to be on the mailing list receive with their wine delivery. In the beginning these were written on an old typewriter, to give the project as a whole — of enjoyment and art — even more expression. Notes on the vintage and on the choice of name and label are accompanied by personal thoughts and music tips.

The grape varieties & vineyards

In California, Cabernet Sauvignon was the focus for many years. The aim was to imitate Bordeaux and catch up — or even overtake — the European wine world. Yet few thought of the climatically much more similar Rhône, with its warm Mistral winds and summer heat days. From the outset, SQN — Sine Qua Non concentrated on Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Roussanne. And, in the first decade, also on Pinot Noir. The wines are dense, appear almost black, have an alluring fruit and unmistakable spice with a freshness kick. Those who know the wines of Sine Qua Non can often recognise them by their very specific note. The secret? The very own Manfred Krankl magic and the permitted practice of adding a dash of white wine to give the wines an additional dimension. These are wines that demonstrate their power in youth but show their full aromatic spectrum after 10–15 years. They are long-distance runners; even wines aged over 20 years show that their potential is far from exhausted.

Besides their own, the most important vineyards for Manfred and Elaine are without doubt:

• Bien Nacido
• White Hawk
• Alban
• Shadow Canyon
• Stolpman Vineyard
• Beckmen Vineyards
• Alta Mesa Vineyard (Mourvèdre)
• Shea Vineyard Block 28 (Pinot Noir)
• Arrita Hills Vineyard (Pinot Noir)

Own vineyards with the flagship

ELEVEN CONFESSIONS VINEYARD

In the beginning they bought in grapes and had them travel across California in refrigerated trucks. Eleven Confessions Vineyard was their first own vineyard and was recognised as such by the market. Very special wines came from this vineyard, traded significantly higher and — through their striking bottle shape and what is, in our view, their even more special labels — clearly distinguishable from the others. Besides the best-known ELEVEN CONFESSIONS VINEYARD, the couple owns the CUMULUS VINEYARD (Next of KYN) in Oak View, THE THIRD TWIN and MOLLY AÏDA.

The boom of the 2000s and the modern era

Wine critics such as Robert Parker also got a taste for SQN — Sine Qua Non in the “early 2000s”. This is reflected in the ratings. From the 2000 vintage onwards Manfred and Elaine joined the “100-point club”, and from then on almost every year at least one wine reached the 100-point mark. The purchase of Eleven Confessions Vineyard contributed to this, since the wines from this vineyard hold a very particular appeal for Sine Qua Non drinkers. An additional factor for their success was certainly that Manfred and Elaine withdrew completely from the bakery business through the sale of “La Brea Bakery” in 2001 in order to devote themselves entirely to winemaking.

In cooperation with Alois Kracher, the sweet wine project “Mr. K” emerged from 1998 and is now a fixed part of the range. The Pinot Noir project ended in 2005 with the sonorous name Over and Out.

The wines became rarer and more sought-after, and so the prices rose. Many of these “art objects with world-class content” have appreciated on the secondary market to many times what the estate originally asked. This price development was intensified by a tragic motorcycle accident in 2014. The accomplished biker left his helmet at home and lost control of his motorcycle in a turn. That outing ended with a skull fracture during the harvest of the very great 2014 vintage. But the team, the family and above all his wife Elaine managed this period perfectly as well.

As a small bright spot in this difficult year for the Krankl family, the 2014 vintage wines received the top score from the Wine Advocate twice over:

• Piranha Waterdance Syrah 2014 – 100 points
• Shakti Grenache 2014 – 100 points

Thank you

for all the wonderful hours these wines have given us and will continue to give us

Those who know us — Andrea and Berndt May — know that this estate has always been a heart-and-soul winery for us. Through our friendship with Alois Kracher we were able to get to know Manfred Krankl personally and even visit him in California. And as SQN lovers (almost) from the very beginning, we have already enjoyed many beautiful wine experiences with these unique wines.

The wine “Just for the love of it” — and not for the money — is not only one of our favourite wines; the slogan also adorned, in large format, the door of our private wine cellar for many years as an expression of the label. Other wines that hold particular meaning for us and for members of our team are: Ode to E Syrah, Poker Face, On your Toes, Imposter McCoy, The Thrill of Syrah, Stockholm Syndrome, Midnight Oil, Pinot Noir Omega and A Shot in the Dark — and more will follow.

As in previous years, there will continue to be regular MasterClasses on this subject.

Here are a few impressions of the line-ups of recent years:

2023 Sine Qua Non – make an educated guess!

2022 Sine Qua Non & Friends

2019 Sine Qua Non & Friends