Community Tasting Note
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Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 95 points
February 14, 2017 - I'm giving you the PnP rundown here. If it changes a ton over the course of the next 24hrs, I will add to this note. Let me start by saying that I think every time I have an Outpost Cab, I wonder why I didn't purchase more. For $85, you are getting a terrific value with this wine in Napa terms (not sane terms mind you).
Back to the wine. Very dark in the glass, with notes of charcoal, blueberries and scorched earth. Very intense and complex. First sip and you get very firm but sweet tannin, showing this is much more accessible early than the 13 vintage. That said, it is still a mountain wine and could use 5-7 years if you can wait. It has a great mix of deep mineral driven flavors with blue/black fruit and laser focus on the pallet. The structure and complexity stand out, and for those that dislike valley floor fruit bombs, this is the answer.
As Parker mentions in his review, the oak is so well integrated you don't taste much if any. The finish is a good 30-45 secs. This is really terrific and will get much better. Without a doubt, I think the '14 is better than the '12 version, and certainly rivals the '13. Great stuff.
Day 2: Just as a follow up, about 24hrs later and it's softened up a little bit, but there's still a ton of structure and tannin. Not falling apart at all. A bit easier going down, but PnP was good as well since I don't mind the firmness.5 people found this helpful 5,355 views
48 Comments
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csimm commented:
2/14/17, 9:54 PM - Great note. Glad I have a number of these to play with. It's always SO hard to wait a few years for wines like these, especially when they are showing so well early on in life. Both the standard Cab and the True in 2013 and 2014 seem equally comparable in terms of quality...And they haven't jacked up prices in light of all their recent accolades. I'm a fan all the way around.
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/14/17, 10:23 PM - Yeah, the more the rest of Napa raises their prices 10-20% every other year, it makes Outpost seems like a steal. Very impressed with their desire to keep it affordable while having a superstar winemaker and incredible critical reviews. As a mountain wine, it is much different than many of the other wines we all tend to purchase, so I enjoy the diversity. Certainly an every year purchase for me.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/15/17, 2:21 AM - Thanks for the note, C2000. I'm looking forward to trying this as soon as I get my delivery. On another note, I will also compare and contrast the "regular cab" with the True. I always like doing that, with the exception that I open 2 bottles of Outpost in one sitting!
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csimm commented:
2/15/17, 6:44 AM - 2 Outpost + 1 sitting = Outstanding!
Looking forward to those notes! -
Cristal2000 commented:
2/15/17, 1:13 PM - I wonder what will be better - the 2014 Outpost True or 2014 Maybach Materium??? My guess would be the Maybach, just because I absolutely love that style and the 2013 was epic. But Outpost will put up a fight to be sure.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/15/17, 1:29 PM - These are good problems to have. Speaking of having, I've never had Maybach but am familiar with the vineyard. Weitz/Leopoldina
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csimm commented:
2/15/17, 5:18 PM - Tough call... Maybach is pretty friggin awesome. My hat's off to anyone who wants to do a side-by-side comparison on the 2014 Materium and the 2014 Outpost True!
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/15/17, 7:10 PM - Maybe throw in a 2014 Realm Dr Crane for good measure...and then take the epic 2014 Scarecrow and blind all four. Now THAT would be an event!
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csimm commented:
2/15/17, 9:29 PM - That's a $1,000 experiment!
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#1Winelover commented:
2/16/17, 2:41 AM - Well one day, it would be fun to get together with you folks with us each bringing our 2 favorite bottles, and tasting them blind or not. It would be interesting on multiple levels, especially which bottles we would each bring!
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csimm commented:
2/16/17, 7:11 AM - Name the time and place! What to bring???... hmmm... Carter OG; Maybach Materium; Realm BTK; Outpost True; Pott Arsenal... hmmm...
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/16/17, 7:32 AM - I'd be in, but I would imagine geographical constraints make it a challenge.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/16/17, 1:16 PM - Oh, I just assumed that you would both fly to cold snowy Pittsburgh :). Well, I plan to visit the wineries in the fall. And CSIMM, I really like your lineup. We might have some duplicates!
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csimm commented:
2/16/17, 5:06 PM - Nothing wrong with duplicates. Speaking of Materium, I'm sipping on the 2014 now... I'll be adding that to the lineup. Holy Christ! ...Drinks better than the 2013 right now... unreal!
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WojoWineCave commented:
2/16/17, 5:07 PM - Excellent review. I agree all around. Though I will take Schrader as my top TRB wine.
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/16/17, 5:18 PM - Wow, you waste no time. Very happy to hear it's so good! I don't know...Schrader CCS vs Maybach Materium -- that's a battle royale.
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WojoWineCave commented:
2/16/17, 5:33 PM - The more I savor the 14 Outpost True the more it reminds of Bevan wines That are more than twice the price. Darn I hate to admit that as anything Bevan I love!
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csimm commented:
2/16/17, 5:46 PM - Bevan is great (He's crazy, but a great winemaker)...but he out-priced himself a bit when he jumped to the $200 mark a couple of vintages ago. It's still relatively "worth" it with some of his wines (and even the professional accolades support that I suppose), but when others are kicking out amazing wines in the $125-ish realm, it's hard to ignore the QPR aspect of it.
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WojoWineCave commented:
2/16/17, 6:30 PM - Well said. Sign of the times more broadly in Napa
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/16/17, 7:22 PM - Ahhh Bevan...used to absolutely adore that style. A bit rich for me these days, moving back to TRB, Melka etc, but he's quite a winemaker.
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csimm commented:
2/16/17, 8:06 PM - Cristal, I'm curious to know your absolute favorite Melka wine. I wish I had more experience with him than I currently do.
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/16/17, 8:13 PM - As you probably know, Melka wines are usually very expensive. While I love the Fairchild Stones 1 & 2 wines, and Dana Estates can be otherworldly, to date there's no doubt that Tusk is the best. Just a phenomenal and super expensive bottle of wine (although still less than Colgin, Harlan etc). The French Laundry Somm just named it one of the four most exciting Napa Cabs...Realm Dr Crane was also on that short list.
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csimm commented:
2/16/17, 8:27 PM - Tusk... I was afraid you'd say that. Ha! Still crossing my fingers I get to try a bottle one of these days. I'll have to bug Augie again. Thanks!!
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/16/17, 8:41 PM - I just saw a Winebid auction of a 2008 Tusk go for $735 before the buyer's premium. It's near impossible to find because they make so little. That allows me to justify the $400 price tag, but I surely have to think about it every time I purchase. You definitely gotta get a sip sometime -- I've never had it where it wasn't head and shoulders above most everything else in being poured.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/17/17, 2:12 AM - Morning. I agree with you, C2000. I like Bevan, but I'm not really into that over the top style. I too prefer Melka and TRB, but my favorite by far is Benoit. I try to force myself to not purchase $400 bottles for 3 reasons, (1) it just gets out of hand (2) It's hard to justify $100/glass -- when the 1st glass might be gone in 15 mins!, (3) they are not always awesome. That said, I do purchase Abreu. For me, his wines are in a different league. So again, it looks like if we do get together, we will have great juice!
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 7:55 AM - Totally agree, but I guess we all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to super expensive wine. Mine is definitely Tusk and Scarecrow. Used to buy Dana Estates, but their raises were insane, and at over $500/bottle, I had to pull away. Funny/Sad/Disturbing thing is it used to be that $200 cabs were a guilty pleasure! Now that's the norm!
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 8:33 AM - Here's a question I don't know the answer to: what's the least expensive wine where Melka is the main winemaker? Best I can tell it's the Farichild GIII, but certainly there's something from cheaper grapes out there somewhere...?
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csimm commented:
2/17/17, 8:49 AM - Off the top of my head I'd think the lower end Lail and Vineyard 29 wines, right? ...Unless he is not listed as the "main" winemaker anymore.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/17/17, 10:47 AM - Sorry for the delayed response - I was on client appointments. Those darned clients! Now to get back to what really matters, wine!
I know that Melka is the winemaker for Seavey and their Estate is just shy of $120/bottle. Their 2nd label, Caravina, is around $75. Both are good but with an old world style. Also, Melka has his own label and the CJ is around $60-70/bottle. -
Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 10:52 AM - Hate when work gets in the way of wine. I knew there were some less expensive ones out there. I just know he must charge a ton because when he gets hired, it's for really high end juice most of the time.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/17/17, 11:02 AM - Agreed. Seavey is actually pretty good and completely different from what we have in common (based on CT). It needs a couple of years after purchase and lasts 10-15 years. I stopped purchsing it, but always enjoy it. I don't remember why I stopped.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/17/17, 11:03 AM - BTW, Realm forgot to grant me my wish list so now they are scrambling to fulfill it. Should be interesting as I traded emails with both Juan and Benoit. I am hoping that they have enough pull to pull through! :)
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 11:11 AM - Forgot eh? That's why I emailed Juan right at release and was the squeaky wheel. Hope you get it all!
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 11:59 AM - Winelover -- did Realm already send out info on wishlist? I didn't have any on wish, but have some friends that do. They haven't heard anything.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/17/17, 12:15 PM - Nothing official thus far but they told me last week that they were going to try and finish it all up today. That's why I called them yesterday. So, I'm just going to wait and see.
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 1:01 PM - From what I understand, although there's no email out, if you look at your account it shows what you received. At least that's the case for another buyer I know.
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csimm commented:
2/17/17, 1:26 PM - That's what happened to me. I noticed a charge on my credit card earlier today and then went on Realm's site to see that I had a couple of wishes granted. No email or anything. Kinda weird.
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 1:32 PM - My friend had lots of wishes granted, but no Beckstoffer wine.
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#1Winelover commented:
2/17/17, 1:33 PM - Great detective work, c2000. I did indeed get a bunch of wishes - another case! And yes, csimm, it's kind of weird because they charged my card too. No magnums for me though. I guess I am not worthy yet.
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csimm commented:
2/17/17, 1:34 PM - No additional Dr. Crane for me...not shocked...but it's kinda a bummer.
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/17/17, 1:36 PM - Prying Crane away is quite a difficult task...
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ageverett commented:
2/21/17, 10:59 AM - Sorry to be late to the party -- was out skiing at Steamboat.
Drank a '14 Carter OG while out there. Got about 2.5 hours of air before we drank. Will post a note, but bottom line is 99 for me, WOTY so far and as good as anything I've had in a while.
Reading lots of good things about the 2014 Outpost cab lineup. Interesting to see what the Immigrant is getting some great reviews too. Agree with the respect for this label, the people behind it and their pricing. Looking forward to cracking my first 2014.
Have to say I was disappointed in my "wish list" from Realm. My allocation was relatively small - no larger, and on some wines smaller, than 2013. I asked for lots of stuff on wish list, including mags. All I got was 1 bottle of Moonracer and 3 more whites. No mags. No other reds. I have to wonder if my wish requests also got "lost," as my card got charged on Friday and I didn't get an email until the "oops/clean up" email on Saturday. -
csimm commented:
2/21/17, 11:12 AM - If yours got lost, so did mine. Reading some other threads (wine berserkers, etc), the credit cards got charged and wish lists "filled," but no confirmation email went out. That's what happened to me. I too had other wishes, some of which didn't get filled (most specifically Crane), and those I know who just got on the mailing list received additional wishes; including Crane. So that's a bit discouraging.
Love Realm, but not loving how they are totally diminishing allocations of previous mail list buyers just so they can add new people. One bottle of Crane is fine and all, but come on.... I know Cristal scored,and that's awesome, but it sounds like that came with some direct contact and pestering with Juan directly. I certainly can appreciate that (and I had I been so motivated, I would've done the same thing - so kudos to Cristal!), but in theory it shouldn't have to be that way. I get it though. That's the way things work sometimes. -
ageverett commented:
2/21/17, 11:17 AM - Totally agreed on that front. Also have a friend that made the list for the first time, was only allocated 1 bottle of most, but got many wishes filled. Quite the head scratcher. May have to go the Cristal route next year . . .
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Cristal2000 commented:
2/21/17, 11:19 AM - 2015 vintage is destined to be worse. Personally I know a lot of first time list folks who got wishes, but no Beckstoffer wines. It seems it was very hard to pry away Crane specifically.
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ageverett commented:
2/21/17, 12:10 PM - I also have a friend who received his initial (small) offering, no Beckstoffers, but wish listed many. He received essentially everything he asked for, including 3x To Kalons (just no Cranes).
I can't help but be a little puzzled, as well as a little miffed (given that I was only allocated 2x To Kalons, and asked for more, only to get shut out). Just how it goes I suppose. Lesson learned, and will fight harder for the 2015s. -
Cristal2000 commented:
2/21/17, 12:16 PM - It is really odd that first timers would be getting wishes of To Kalon granted, especially in favor of those who've got tenure. I think they've struggled quite a bit with their technology, so perhaps that plays into it. I still don't even have an email confirm of my order, but I see it online and my card got charged. That would be frustrating to get shut out of wines that newcomers received. Probably good feedback for them.
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ageverett commented:
2/21/17, 12:57 PM - That was my feeling Cristal. I think I may pass that along in the interest of constructive feedback. Cheers.