Qupé was founded in 1982 by Bob Lindquist along Foxen Canyon Road in the Santa Ynez Valley, where Lindquist became one of California's earliest and most influential champions of Syrah and Rhône varieties, pioneering cool-climate hillside sites on sandy, calcareous, and rocky soils. The Bien Nacido X Block bottling draws fruit from the Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley, a celebrated cool-climate site that has been central to Qupé's Syrah and Chardonnay programs since the winery's early years.