In an Feb. 13 email sent to wine club members, friends and industry professionals, pioneering winemaker Bob Lindquist announced that he is “no longer a partner in or the winemaker for Qupé Wine Cellars.’’
Last November, the brand and Qupé’s inventory was sold to Vintage Wine Estates (VWE), but Lindquist announced that he would stay on as the winemaker.
However, Lindquist and his wife, Louisa Sawyer Lindquist, who is the owner/winemaker of Verdad Wine Cellars, have launched a new label, Lindquist Family Wines, they noted.
Vintage Wine Estates purchased Qupé Wines from Terroir Life; the latter had purchased a majority stake in Qupé from Lindquist in 2013 when Charles Banks was still at the helm of Terroir Life.
Banks is serving a four-year prison term following his 2017 conviction on charges he defrauded a former client, Tim Duncan of the NBA.
At the time of the sale to VWE, Qupé’s annual case production was approximately 30,000.
Lindquist founded Qupé in 1982, and in 1989, joined forces with fellow Zaca Mesa Winery alum and Au Bon Climat founder Jim Clendenen in a partnership to source fruit from Bien Nacido Vineyards. The two produce their respective brands from a facility located on the famed property east of Santa Maria.
Starting with the 2018 vintage, now in barrel, the wines will be completed by the VWE corporate wine making team, according to the email.
The Lindquist’s new label, like Qupé, will focus on cool-climate Rhone varietals and chardonnay, the same grapes for which Lindquist gained fame in Santa Barbara County and throughout the world.
The new label will feature a linden tree; the name Lindquist is Swedish, and literally translates into “linden” or “lime twig,” according to the email.
Lindquist Family Wines will feature a wine club called “Lindquist Family & Verdad Wine Club,” which will offer members selections from Lindquist Family Wines, Verdad Wine Cellars and Sawyer Lindquist Wines, another label the couple co-produces.
“Louisa and I are fully committed to continue producing delicious and balanced wines using traditional winemaking techniques with minimal intervention,” Lindquist wrote.
“Our focus, as always, is to source fruit from some of the greatest vineyards on the Central Coast, ones that farm biodynamic, organic and SIP Certified Sustainable.”
— Laurie Jervis blogs about wine at www.centralcoastwinepress.com, tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.