Cayuse/No Girls/Horsepower/Reynvaan "poll"

The threads about other folks like myself who are in Cayuse-waitlist purgatory made me curious about other “cult” Walla Walla Syrah producers like No Girls, Horsepower, and Reynvaan…[I suppose the “cult” moniker is up for debate as well…I use the term here because they are all mailing-list-only, their wines are on the higher end for Walla Walla, and they regularly receive scores in the mid-to-high 90s from reviewers…]

For folks on the Cayuse list: do you also buy No Girls and Horsepower? What about Reynvaan? If you don’t, why not?

I’m wondering if folks perceive differences in style, quality, ageworthiness (tougher for Horsepower I suppose), value, etc.

My perspective: I’m most familiar with Reynvaan (the wait for the list was relatively short when I signed up, and may still be), I haven’t had an opportunity to try any of the No Girls wines, and I haven’t cracked any of the '12 Horsepower I received earlier this year (just made it on their list).

I am on the Cayuse list, and I bought Reynvaan from the beginning, but dropped off a little while ago because the prices were going up, I was trying to cut my wine spending, and the ordering process was too much of a pain (fill out an order form and send it back). I like the wines, but they didn’t feel like “must haves” to me, so the other factors pushed them off my list. I have never had any of the others you ask about.

Same as Sean on the Reynvaan, I was offered the Horsepower last year and declined. Will probably buy when offered Cayuse for the novelty of just getting it and they have kept the pricing reasonable even though it’s out of my comfort zone. If I want a funky wine, I just buy Cameron though the price is starting to escalate for Clos and Abbey.

I buy cayuse and no girls. Passed on horsepower and I used to buy Reynvaan but they are clearly a step behind Cayuse and its only every so often I want that style of wine. I quit buying 4 years ago and still get offers…

This year will be my seventh purchasing Cayuse. My allocation has grown over time and I very happily receive 5 3-packs. When Reynvaan started I signed up and purchased but after year 3 and continued price increases I decided to pass as my Cayuse allocation had grown. I signed up for No Girls and receive the Grenache and Syrah which is plenty from here for the time being. I’d be keen to try Horsepower before making the jump to buying if that day comes.

We’ve been buying Cayuse for a few years (5-6), and we’ve been buying Reynvaan and No Girls since the start of both of them. Stylistically, Cayuse and No Girls are very similar, with Cayuse being a bit more vegetal or herbal, with No Girls being more “clean” fruit, but both have the signature “Rocks” funk. Reynvaan use to be the affordable way to get the Cayuse profile (which is now “Rocks” funk) for less $$, but we’ve significantly cut our purchases since their prices have jumped as much and as quickly as they have. Reynvaan wines tend to be co-fermented with a white variety, whereas Cayuse does not (with one exception), so that is a major difference, and lends the Reynvaan wines to be a bit more lifted and floral.

Reynvaan use to be $40-50 for their '08s, and now they are all $70-80 for their '14s. Cayuse is $75-85 for the '14s (or '13s for GoK and Armada). No Girls was at $70 per for the '11s.

We just got on the Horsepower waiting list, so that we can hopefully get Grenache and use it as a competitive benchmark, since our goal with our winery is to make the best Grenache in the state of WA.

That HP Grenache is something special indeed; I have had but a glass, bottles await.

Like others here I’m getting priced out by Reynvaan. We have opened 1 or 2 with no real wow factor but other bottles have been terrific. Makes purchase going fwd hard to easily justify. Terrific people though and I’d be a purchaser again if prices dropped say 20%.

Interesting.

I’ve been on No Girls since day one, but sort of blew HP off since it was so pricey (I told myself at that price point, I could get in with some of my favorite Cote-Rotie).

Is the HP Grenache that good?

I got on No Girls for the first two years and dropped. Not because I didn’t like the wines…but because I had a few and didn’t think they were “must haves”. I like the style but I wanted to make room when I got on the Cayuse list. So I let someone else take my spot and dropped them. For my $ Cayuse is worth the wait. I’m happy to be buying again this year. I think they’re great to their customers…or I think they’ve been very kind to me. I am waiting to drink my HP wines…when I trust the producer that trumps everything else.

I buy a smattering of Cayuse and No Girls from a friend who never wants his full allocation, but I’ve yet to try the HP. As for Reynvaan, while I like it well enough (though much less than Cayuse and No Girls), it is usually easy to find at retail with little to no mark up. Given the price creep on Reynvaan, try Two Vintners Some Days Are Stones or Proper, both of which have similar profiles at price points ($40-45) where the Reynvaan ought to be.

Proper Wines (an estate vineyard in the Rocks, wine made by Sean Boyd from Rotie) sells their Syrah for $34/btl, just a FYI. I agree, that you can get the Rocks profile with Proper for much less than with any of the others above, and they are very well made wines.

Proper Wines (an estate vineyard in the Rocks, wine made by Sean Boyd from Rotie), I missed the Rotie connection, and have buying from the start. It’s about time to open some.

I only buy Cayuse. When I eventually get all of the Cayuse wines that I want, there won’t be any room in the cellarl or budget for other brands of the same or similar style.

Really? Where? That’s a great price! Their website shows the 2012 at $42 per and I’ve not seen it any cheaper than that on the shelf here. I may need to make a trip down to Oregon…

'12 Proper $39 @ Vinopolis a year ago, mid $30s '10 & '11 previously from Full Pull.

My apologies, I had recently gotten an email from Proper, and the $34/btl in the email is my wine club pricing, which is after a 20% discount. Looks like regular price direct from the winery is $42/btl.

I’m still on the wait list for Cayuse. I was on the No Girls list, but dropped it last year. I made the inaugural Horsepower list and have bought everything offered to me for the first two releases. I’ve yet to try the HP, but reading the above comments may lead me to crack one open. I’ll likely continue to buy HP and when I eventually make Cayuse I’ll have a difficult decision to make.

I’m still on the wait list for Cayuse and No Girls - at least I get a no-wine-for-you e-mail every year from Cayuse. I’ve heard that once you get an offer from Cayuse, it can still be several years before you actually get an offer for their syrah? If so, I may be waiting for a “pass”… I do buy a couple of 3-packs of Reynvaan every year, but I did seriously consider dropping out after the price increases - I think I will hang in there for now. I bought the first two offers of Horsepower, but I was underwhelmed by the 2011 and I will be opening the 2012 this fall before making a final decision on purchasing further offers. I tried Proper, but I was personally underwhelmed - not enough of the Rocks character in my opinion. I did like the Two Vintners Stoney Vine Syrah - the 2012 I opened recently was really good - I am looking forward to trying Rudius’ version of this vineyard in the future.

I don’t know what the current status is, but when I first got on the list, I was offered only Camaspelo. I wishlisted a bunch of stuff, and got Cailloux the first year. At some point I also got En Cerise, but I’ve had no wishlist allocations since that (and as I mentioned upthread, I eventually stopped buying the Camaspelo).

I have been on Cayuse’s waiting list for more than four, perhaps five years. I have bought a three pack of Reynvaan Stoneessence every year since they released the '09. So far I’ve only opened one bottle ('09) and it was superb. There is another wine that I also buy every year, dating to the '07’s and that is Charles Smith Royal City. It is a heavier, more jammy and alcoholic wine than Stonessence and even the '07 still needs more time. Having said this I believe it has the potential to be the best syrah that I have tasted (and I am old). It is worth $100 on futures and when released there is usually someone who will have it but the price is probably going to be $145 or more.

I was on Leonetti’s mailing list dating to the early '90’s buying several cases every year into the mid 2000’s. When their Reserve hit $145 or so and their merlot, I think, $85, I came off of it. Having said this I still have some '05 and '06 Reserve and it is drinking absolutely superb right now.