Scarecrow In Feburary

The 2014 Scarecrow vintage is a beauty!

Invitations to purchase will be sent by post and email, based on list seniority starting at the beginning of March. Our offering this year will reflect the slightly diminished harvest size we experienced.

If you do not receive an offer to purchase the 2014 Scarecrow by the end of March, rest assured that your position on our waiting list will remain secure.

We respectfully remind you that declining to purchase the wine during your prescribed time-frame will shift your position to the end of our waiting list, allowing others the opportunity to purchase.

We are happy to add that we have obtained a license to ship to the following states: Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, South Carolina and Vermont.

In closing, we just have to share Robert Parker’s words on our thrilling third 100 point score:

“The utterly perfect 2014 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon has everything one could possibly want in a Cabernet. Inky purple-colored to the rim, with a glorious nose of white flowers, crème de cassis, hints of blackberry and boysenberry, some licorice and forest floor are followed by an enormously concentrated wine with fabulous purity, a skyscraper-like mid-palate and texture, a length of nearly a minute, and stunning flavors, with flawless integration of acidity, tannin, wood and alcohol. This is a great, great wine and certainly one of the Cabernet Sauvignons of this vintage. Drink it over the next 25-30 or more years.” 100 pts – Robert Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate 12/30/16


With great appreciation,

MIMI DEBLASIO, BRET LOPEZ and COCO LOPEZ-ANAGNOSTAKIS

I’m looking forward to seeing their release pricing. Scarecrow is expensive, but at least as of last year, their pricing was still such that you feel like you are getting a good deal (I know, I know, everything is relative…). The 2013 was $325 on release I think, and the cheapest retail for it in the U.S. right now is $575.

I thought the 2013 was $300?

On the list for 6 years, wonder if I’ll finally get an allocation this year.

I keep getting offered the M. Etan. Never been a purchaser. Curious if they actually sell out of this. Never been offered the S.Crow but always get the mailer.

Maybe you should check with them. I joined the list at the beginning of 2013. I then got an allocation of M. Etain (their second wine) in the fall of that same year. I bought that (not sure if that has anything to do with the regular Scarecrow allocation, but I figured it couldn’t hurt and besides M. Etain is good stuff in its own right).

I then got a Scarecrow allocation in March of 2016. So, three years on list to get the first Scarecrow allocation – you should have been up before me if you’ve been on the list 6 years. Check with them to see what’s up!

Oops, you are right. It was $300 a bottle, plus I had to pay $75 for shipping a 3-pack, so I put “$325” in Cellartracker as what I paid for it.

Simply as another data point, i’ve been on the list for a little over four years and haven’t received an allocation. Doubt i’ll receive one this year with the lower yields. I’ve also passed on M. Etain historically. I vaguely recall the M. Etain mailer saying it does not impact Scarecrow waitlist, but who knows what happens behind the scenes.

Does this mean you will no longer be offered an allocation? That you will be shifted from the allocation list to the waiting list(and at the end, no less)?

Yes, that is what it means.

Interesting. I’ve bought the 2010 and 2011 M. Etain and never got a Scarecrow. I’ll shoot them a note (and expect nothing substantive back haha). But I think Etain is offered to everyone and is first come (and doesn’t affect the Scarecrow offer).

I dropped the list after the 2007 vintage. It’s a good wine…but simply not worth the coin in my book. It’s clearly a well made wine…but north of $300 a bottle is tough to swallow when you could be buying top-tier Barolo, Burgundy, or Champagne.

I kind of agree. At some point the $$$ has to matter. Are 3 $100 bottles better than 1 $300 bottle? I’ve traded expensive bottles in the past for others nearly equal in quality, but more of them. It’s an interesting call.

The way I look at it, I judge it as “worth it” for me because of three things:

1. I like it
2. I can afford it
3. The winery-direct pricing, at least for now, is significantly less than the secondary market for it, making it a “good deal” in that sense.

OK, but that’s not a value decision, its a taste one. The top wines from those areas are easily $300 plus if not more. Scarecrow has consistently been at the top of Napa Cabs at least from the critics point of view. The 2014 scored 100 points from TWA, so the after market will be quite a pricey place to buy it. For my tastes, I would easily spend my money here rather than the three you mentioned although if Salon were at $300, I would probably be a buyer.

I kind of look at it from the “wine as an investment” perspective. I like having wines in my cellar that not only taste good, are age worthy, but also are worth the same or more than you pay for them. Then if I should have a change in financial situation or change in health situation I have an asset that is at least worth what I paid for it.

Back in the day I had slews of high-rated Parker darlings like Torbreck, Noon, Rochioli, Behrens and Hitchcock and I lost money when I was trying to sell them to make room for my palate shift to French wines…

I emailed them and they said I got an offer in 2015 and didn’t take it so I’m now 2 years until another offer. I don’t delete emails from that inbox from any winery and definitely don’t have an email with an offer. Welp, my $$$ goes elsewhere.

Caught in the spam filter?

I mean it’s Gmail, and there’s nothing in there from them. In any event, it is what it is!

I know at this point you’re fed up and probably want to just move on, but it really is some nice wine! If you do want an allocation eventually, you might double-check with them that they have your email address and postal address correct. If I recall correctly, I receive allocation notices from them both via email AND snail mail.

It does sound like they just f-ed up your allocation though.