I used to buy Qupe Marsanne every year back in the 1990s. It was among the cheapest wines Qupe produced and I remember liking it a lot. Over time, I've found that some things I liked a lot back then aren't things I still like. Many other things still ring true, and Qupe Marsanne is one of them.
I haven't stayed up with Qupe as a producer. I remember them back in the day as a maker of less intense, more balanced Rhone vareity wines, mostly of the red variety. Their basic Central Coast Syrah was an easy go-to wine at home and out in my San Francisco days. Their other bottlings usually seemed like interesting wines at reasonable prices, even at the high end.
A while back I found some stray bottles of 2006 and 2007 Qupe Marsanne. This wine is known to age well, with five or six years still on the young side. I thought I'd try the 2006 to see if that's still true. Oh my god, if you ever wonder what I like in white wine, here's an example. Stony, with melon and citrus flavors, beeswax to round things out, crisply acidic but so flavory and still thirst slaking. Truly a wine that compels another sip.
So apparently Qupe is still up to good things. This isn't typical, commercially common wine. Yet it is delicious, and honestly makes me want to find Marsanne to play around with. That's the trouble with making wine. You taste another grape and think...hmmm, I want to make some of that. For now, the Qupe will suffice.
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