Which Carlisle are you drinking?

[JeremyMullman]

2017 SC Zin, over the last two nights. Drinking nicely already but evident grip and structure suggests it’ll last a long time. More on the by elegant/restrained side. Liked it a lot.

[Ian Alper]

2009 Montafi Zin - drinking great, wonderful balance and combo black/red fruit. No heat, opened up over 30 minutes, smoothe tannins. For me, drinking at peak and I would not want to wait much longer.

2012 Three Birds, opened up beautifully over an hour. Big, explosive mouthfeel with red fruits and great balance. No heat, no rush to drink but really enjoyable now.

[Andrew Demaree]

I agree on the ‘09 Montafi. Drink up!

[Ian Alper]

Andrew, your comment made me want to see what Mike had to say about the subject. I really like his data base of when to drink but must admit I seldom reference it.

09 Montafi: 2014 -2018 06/07/2019

So he agrees with us on that one. But I must say, it is not like you need to rush on this. I would think it has at least 2 more years at its peak before it begins to fall-off though I sure do not have the experience/data points to know! (But I keep on trying!)

2012 Three Birds: 2015-2022 05/04/2014
I think he is spot on on this one. I got it right in the middle of its drinking window and that seems correct.

[Rich Brown]

2014 Compagni Portis

Love this vineyard. Carlisle (and Bedrock) create magic every year. This is just entering its drinking window for my tastes with all the grapes playing well together, as opposed to the Gewurtz taking the lead when the wine is younger. Such a delicious and distinctive wine and consistently one of my favorite domestic whites!

[Ian Alper]

2013 Santa Lucia Highlands Sierra Mar Syrah- very enjoyable, no heat opened up over an hour.

2005 Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah - Still black with no bricking, great nose, wonderful balance and flavor. Seems like it will age forever. Some complexity but will it increase with more time????

[Glenn L e v i n e]

12 Bedrock in a great place now, enjoyed over several hours. Lovely fruit, whiff of medicinal, dash of heat and tannin still.

Real Zin.

Bottle threw a lot of sediment.

[J.Vizuete]

2016 Carlisle vineyard - the bouquet of rose hips, blackberry and black plum soar from the glass with this Coravin pour. Great fruit purity with a moderate amount of detectable oak, sort of raspberries and cream on the palate. It’s got great weight and while I think it will peak in about 5 years, the wine is balanced enough to enjoy today. Even better on day two. I actually can understand JD giving this 97

[Sherri S h a p i r o]

2012 Carlisle Three Birds - third and final bottle. Fruit mostly faded but still enjoyed. I generally have preferred Mike's rhone style blends with age but this is one I liked better in its youth.

[AlexS]

2012 Carlisle Three Birds - third and final bottle. Fruit mostly faded but still enjoyed. I generally have preferred Mike's rhone style blends with age but this is one I liked better in its youth.

Wow, that's interesting! I'll have to pop one soon...

And I will simply because it's easily accessible right now in the cellar lol.

[Sc0tt F!tzger@ld]

2013 Carlisle Syrah Sierra Mar Santa Lucia Highlands

This is tasty. High octane, but balanced. Good blue and black fruits, not too sweet, nice finish. My first wine heading into turkey weekend.

[Andrew Demaree]

2009 Carlisle Vineyard

[David Lewin]

The 2013 Montafi, just a gorgeous wine with wonderful, sweet fruit. Some alcohol showing in the background, so I would drink in the short term. The most enjoyable Carlisle I've had this year (out of 32 bottles so far).

[JeremyMullman]

2016 Carlisle Vineyard. Holy moly is this awesome. Probably will continue to improve but it was singing on the Thanksgiving table.

[mmeyers]

2004 Syrah Bennett Valley Judge Vineyard. This is still going. Nice wine. Inky purple. A bit subtle fruit at this point but no issue with alcohol overwhelming it. This has a lot of grip but still balanced. Will go a bit longer but won’t get any better.

[Dale McClaran]

• 2017 Carlisle Petite Sirah Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County (12/7/2019)
  Decanted 3 hrs. Up against some stiff internal Carlisle completion as this was served side by side against the 16 Alicante Bouchet Pagani. No competition on the nose, the AB was miles ahead in terms of expressiveness and complexities. Yet, on the palate, this covered some ground. While tight and slightly tannic, this still had some real depth and gorgeous core of black currant sprinkled with a little pepper. Good grip, but accessible. No harm to open one now if multiple bottles, if just 1, hold.

Posted from CellarTracker

[dsimmons]

2008 Carlisle Two Acres - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (12/9/2019)
My last bottle of this delightful Rhone Ranger. Simply delicious and for my palate indistinguishable from a good CdP. Dark fruits, licorice, earth, herbs. Great concentration and balance. If you still have these I would say it is drinking at peak. (95 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[Bud Carey]

2013 Dry Creek zin. Good stuff. Not going downhill any time soon.

[William Segui]

somehow only had a 2016 Papa's Block at home, so I opened it against my better judgement. I had a glass the first night and put it away - was fantastic the next day. I knew better but sometimes I need to touch a hot stove to remember that it's hot.

[Glenn L e v i n e]

13 Limerick Lane is the perfect marriage of California Zin and its more rustic Italian uncle. Bellissimo.

[Frederico L e e]

somehow only had a 2016 Papa's Block at home, so I opened it against my better judgement. I had a glass the first night and put it away - was fantastic the next day. I knew better but sometimes I need to touch a hot stove to remember that it's hot.

I've a few bottles of '17 and your note tells me that I have to resist opening any until 2023+

[Paul Miller]

2012 Carlisle Zin, Bedrock Vineyard

[Peter Petersen]

2009 Carlisle Vineyard Zin. This seems fully mature and has lost all its baby fat. Veering more red fruited and with some lively acidity on the palate. Glad to finally drink a Zin that I enjoyed, there have been too many from more recent vintages that did not do much for me.

[Peter Petersen]

2016 Papera. This is showing extremely well. Vibrant and shimmering.

[Bud Carey]

On deck... 2013 Rosellas syrah.

[David Lewin]

2009 Carlisle Mourvedre, still some tannin but drinking very well. Held but better than most wines the second night, a bit softer, but still quite good.

[Glenn L e v i n e]

2013 Petite Sirah Sonoma Co is just delicious right after uncorking and it gets more interesting after open a couple of hours. I'm thinking Mike could do no wrong in 13.

[MarkStDBA]

2015 Carlisle Syrah Rosella's Vineyard & 2015 Carlisle Zinfandel Papera Ranch- Both wines were lip smacking good.

I thought the Rosella was singing on the 2nd night, so I'm glad I have 2 more bottles.

[Dale McClaran]

2013 Petite Sirah Sonoma Co is just delicious right after uncorking and it gets more interesting after open a couple of hours. I'm thinking Mike could do no wrong in 13.

Absolutely - I'm down to just 1 x 13, the Pagani - I know its going to be amazing as was my last go with it a couple of years ago - but I find myself not wanting to pull the cork just quite yet.

[Glenn L e v i n e]

I have almost two cases I think and I'm about to start treating them as the gems of my cellar.

[Scott E.]

The only 2013 I have popped so far is the Monte Rosso - it was fabulous! Looking forward to the rest of them. Cheers!

[JeremyMullman]

2016 Papa’s Block. Massive Syrah, drinking beautifully.

[Bud Carey]

On deck... 2014 Papera zin.

[matt d]

new release today

Had a 2008 cardiac hill syrah incredible integrated with out the massive fruit that sometimes shows in young carlisle

[Jeff_M.]

Had a 2015 Pagani Ranch last night and this thing was singing. I wanted to check in on this as I have a few more. I will continue to lay these down for another 1-2 years.

[Jeff_M.]

Just received the release email at 9:34, it was probably stuck in a queue. Logged in around 0900 PST and promptly ordered 2 cases. These wines are so easy to order and the 2018 vintage is an excellent one. Going to be a very full cellar in the next few months with new additions.

[William Segui]

Order in. Love these wines.

[Bud Carey]

Me too. Always an easy buy.

[matt d]

easy order sad to see there losing half of their Montafi Ranch fruit

[Keith Koshk!n]

Easy to order, hard to choose which wines to order. I went with a mixed case consisting of Compagni Portis, Palisades Petite Syrah, Papa's Block Syrah (2), Sierra Mar Syrah, Sonoma County Syrah (2), Dry Creek Zin, Montafi Ranch Zin (2), and Sonoma County Zin (2). I've never had a bad Carlisle, but the Montafi Zin is one of the absolute standouts for me.

[JeremyMullman]

There is no release that leaves me cursing my relative lack of storage more than this one.

In for a half case of Montafi, Piner-Olivet x2, SC Zin, SC Syrah and Papa's Block.

[Douglas Breen]

My favorite release. Getting 11 wonderful wines for $24 is exactly what my checkbook and myself need. Very excited to have one more Palisades Petite Syrah for the long haul.

[ClydeUnderwood]

Order in!

from Mike's release notes:

"In fact, due to the abundance of 2018, we’re going to spread the release of them over a year and a half as opposed to the typical year. Doing so will also
allow us to shift future releases out by an additional six months, giving the wines a bit more time in bottle to show better for those (like me!) who can’t resist popping corks early."

[JeremyMullman]

Order in!

from Mike's release notes:

"In fact, due to the abundance of 2018, we’re going to spread the release of them over a year and a half as opposed to the typical year. Doing so will also
allow us to shift future releases out by an additional six months, giving the wines a bit more time in bottle to show better for those (like me!) who can’t resist popping corks early."

Noticed that!

And I think Mancini is usually in this release and was not this time, so that presumably got bumped down. The summer release is so dense with top zins (Carlisle, Papera, Bedrock, etc...) that spacing them out makes sense, quantity permitting. I do wonder why Mike doesn't take a page from Bedrock and put his mega-QPRs (Sonoma County zin and syrah) in different mailers, although the allocations of those are much, much smaller (or at least are for me).

Not complaining, tho, as this was an incredible release.

[cjsavino]

Good thing I looked in my junk mail folder, latest release email ended up there

[Peter Shurman]

popped a 2016 Montafi Ranch last night, very good chit ...

[Scott E.]

2013 Carlisle Alicante Bouschet Pagani Ranch - BIG wine, heavier body than a Petite Syrah (in my experience), Black Raspberry, maybe a little plum - no tannins to speak of - an immediate teeth-staining experience. I was getting some kind of off-flavor on the finish, but cannot describe it. Interesting, but not my thing, I guess. Cheers!

[P. D e r d e y n]

Anyone notice in the notes for the SC Syrah he talked about a "new cool climate vineyard source" where they would be making a SV syrah? Then in the blending notes you can see that the vineyard in question is Radiant Ridge, I'm guessing that is one of the 2018 wines that will be spread across the allocations but it's one that I'm looking forward to.

[Jeff_M.]

Opened a 15' Rossi Ranch last night and had it in the glass 2+ hours before getting to it. Beautiful wine, fairly soft with the tannins mellowed out with that much air.

[Steve Gautier]

Opened a 15' Rossi Ranch last night and had it in the glass 2+ hours before getting to it. Beautiful wine, fairly soft with the tannins mellowed out with that much air.

Was this the Zinfandel or the Grenache?