Sine Qua Non, Mr K The Straw Man, California
Sine Qua Non · California › United States of America
Critics Average score from professional wine critics and publications.
94
/100
Reviews
36
professional
Vintages
No vintages
NV
Community Reviews
2020
Reviews
94.2
Avg Score
100
Highest
Taster #5557
· Jan 4, 2025
97/100
Absolute treat, still going strong.
2005 vintage
Taster #8874
· Jul 10, 2024
95/100
Shockingly better than most aged examples of Sauternes and Pinot Gris I've had, including d'Yquem, Rieussec, Climens, Zind Humbrecht's Selection de Grains Noble, etc. Waxy, dense, tropical fruited, and vibrant acidity. A rare treat. Wow.
2005 vintage
Taster #5557
· Dec 25, 2023
98/100
As a rule of thumb, I don't particularly enjoy desert wines, ports, etc. but this was an absolute stunner of a wine. Total knock out.
2005 vintage
Taster #5630
· Jun 21, 2020
98/100
Beautiful, rich, delicious apricot fruit, excellent structure, long finish
2005 vintage
Taster #7740
· Dec 27, 2019
97/100
No real notes taken but this is overall an extraordinary wine. So much depth of dried apricot but still with an amazing balance. A very impressive wine!!
2005 vintage
Taster #2144
· Jun 9, 2017
75/100
WA 100 points US wines (14 wines) - Wine tasting dinner (Søllerød Kro) : Vin de paille, 392g sugar/litre 7,5% abv. Aromas of tropical fruit, I cannot feel the acidity(!), extremely rich. I know very well it is meant to be so but nevertheless not my style at all. Scored based on my personal taste. I definitely prefer a Sauternes or TBA from Germany. Especially Yquem 2001 is one of the best wines I have ever tasted and less expensive.
2005 vintage
Taster #3075
· Jul 21, 2016
94/100
Deep orange/amber in color, lovely nose of chamomile tea, caramel and honey. Lovely sweetness and syrupy with slight acidity lift in the back. Wonderful in low dosage!
2005 vintage
Taster #1357
· Jul 19, 2016
93/100
For a person who is not a fan of dessert wine, this is still undeniably pleasant to drink. Nose and plate had chrysantheum, flowers, honey and lychee. The palate was oily but you never felt its overwhelmingly rich. The balance is excellent.
2005 vintage
Taster #1604
· Jan 18, 2014
90/100
Served blind. Very sweet. Candied fruits. Floral. I have to say, I find this much more one-dimensional and cloying compared to the Nobleman.
2005 vintage
Taster #9573
· Dec 9, 2013
97/100
The GP's birthday; 17 special bottles : This really is an extraordinary wine. There is a lot of orange peel and apricots and concentrated apple. Very concentrated and yet also complex and very elegant, fresh and not tiresome. Just perfect harmony and balance. Lovely!
2005 vintage
Taster #9835
· Aug 17, 2013
99/100
salted peanuts, orange marmelade, flowers, salted caramel, bananas; on the palate it is incredibly rich and intense, with a notable saline element
2005 vintage
Taster #4443
· May 17, 2013
Chicago Berserkerfest Dinner (Blue Star Bistro - Chicago IL) : Corked
2005 vintage
Taster #5752
· Apr 17, 2013
Light-medium gold. Ripe raisiny and honeyed nose, tick syrupy palate feel, ripe fruit, full body, sweetness barely balanced by acidity, long finish. Outstanding for its style but not focused enough for many.
2005 vintage
Taster #3782
· Nov 12, 2012
95/100
Gold viscous oily liquid. Fantastic nose of apples and honey. Very well made sweet white from Krankl and Kracher.
2005 vintage
Taster #4463
· Oct 8, 2012
97/100
Unique wine; first experience with SQN Mr. K The Straw Man. Very deep yellow, almost orange color. I've hardly ever put my nose in a bouquet so exuberant and so wide. From green, sour apples all the way via lemon zest, oranges, pear, apricot, melon, (creme de) cassis towards the most aromatic wild honey one can imagine. Overly sweet, but with a remarkable acidity. Extremely long finish. It is almost unbelievable that this fits all into one small bottle. Not …
2005 vintage
Taster #9573
· May 18, 2012
93/100
Enormously concentrated wine loaded with apricots and orange peel. Beside the intense sweetness also acidity, but overall the wine lacks subtlety and elegance at this moment. The length is enormous. Have a few, and I will probably not open one before 2018. 93+
2005 vintage
Taster #8391
· Apr 21, 2012
95/100
More of an amber color than the yellow that I expected. Very dark and rich. Intense, exciting nose that was very hard to pin down, but I did pick up notes of pear and lychee. Very elegant on the palate, smooth, and although lighter on acid than some styles, there was just enough to carry it off very nicely. Very glad I had a chance to taste this.
2005 vintage
Taster #1078
· Jul 22, 2011
90/100
Light amber colour. On the nose, notes of acetone, flowers, and loads of what can only be described as golden raisins. The palate is intensely sweet and luxuriously thick, but to be honest, there's not much I can detect here besides more golden raisins, though there are hints of creamed corn as well. On the finish, there are some slight burnt sugar notes, reminiscent of creme caramel. It's good, but in dire need of some acidity to cut through the …
2005 vintage
Taster #4476
· Nov 20, 2010
93/100
18 bottles of Sine Qua Non (Copenhagen, Denmark) : Tasted next to the Straw Man 2004 (Semillion) - almost identical dark amber colour and with the same incredible density. The very high sugar levels numbs out the acidity a little to much - probably this wine will benefit from further ageing. Very interesting and very good, but a 100 points... hmm not in my book.
2005 vintage
Taster #7705
· May 8, 2010
100/100
Tasted at a charity event (GGFAGC/10). I love sweet wines but this raises the bar. Very different from sauternes but spectacular. This was a very deep yellow colour and almost as thick as syrup. Very mild on the alcohol with a raging honey taste to it. The thickness of this wine may put off some people but I found this bottle to be in my top 20 bottles of all time. Tied for my number 1 wine of the night.
2005 vintage