Two of Santa Barbara’s most compelling syrah sagas dovetailed this week, as the pioneering brand Qupé Wines was acquired by onetime wunderkind, now veteran syrah superstar Andrew Murray Vineyards . In a confluence of lifelong passion, serendipitous connections, and last-minute hustle, Murray was able to craft a deal to buy Qupé out of bankruptcy from Vintage Wine Estates , the publicly traded conglomerate whose more than 60 brands are quickly being liquidated.
“We’re bringing it back home,” said Murray, who was inspired to start his own winery more than 30 years ago due in part to the syrahs crafted by Qupé founder Bob Lindquist. “I was in his shadow when we started,” explained Murray of Lindquist, who created Qupé in 1982. “I admired him for being so manically passionate, like I ultimately became, about Rhône varieties.”
Naming it after the Chumash word name for “poppy” (Qupé is pronounced “kyoo-pay”), Lindquist was the first in Santa Barbara — and one of the first in the entire United States — to bank a brand primarily on the Rhône grape syrah. (He also made plenty of chardonnay, which remains about 40 percent of production.) Murray did much the same when, at the age of 18 and with the help of his parents, he started his own vineyard in 1990, fired up first on viognier and then syrah.