No Girls - what’s the scoop?

Was just emailed that I’ve made the No Girls allocation list which will go live in early January. I don’t know a lot about this wine, but might take a flier just to try something new. But I was surprised at how much of this was being dumped on CC and board members offering up their allocations after performing a search. What’s up with the wine? Is this the purple drank? Cayuse wannabe? TIA.

In this age of #metoo, ‘No Girls’ is a bit sexist.

Another Christophe Baron project. between Cayuse, Horsepower, No Girls, the other new one that is absurdly expensive and countless other rocks projects, perhaps people are being picky.

Not that I’m a scores junkie, but noticed that the average score across all No Girls wines is higher than Cayuse.

Scott, think Cayuse with more elegance. I prefer the No Girls Grenache to Cayuse GOK for this reason.

Cool, thanks for the perspective - I like “elegant”.

Yes, I will say that I am a big Cayuse fan, and have had a limited number of No Girls. But the comment that No Girls is a bit more subtle (or elegant) is consistent with my limited experience.

I have also noted that the average CT score on No Girls is slightly higher (on average) than Cayuse. I am not sure what to make of that. I think No Girls tends to have less of the “funk” that people associate with Cayuse – which may mean it is slightly less polarizing among tasters.

Hard to tell whether you should try it – it depends on your taste and what other options you might forego. I will say if you are curious about high end WA syrah and do not have access to Cayuse or HP, then I would definitely recommend No Girls!

On the comment above about metoo, the origin of the name comes from a building that Cayuse used to use in Walla Walla (they may still own it) that was a bordello. The bordello was shut down, and the sign “No Girls” was added to indicate it was no longer a bordello. The label is in fact a photo of that sign. I remember in the early 2000s that we would pick up our Cayuse wine at the former Bordello. The building had not been changed in decades. I remember walking among the rooms and seeing old newspapers and other detritus that was probably from the turn of the last century.

Had a 2012 NG Tempranillo the other night. Really nice wine. Not sure I could pick it as tempranillo, but was delicious nonetheless, and seemed to walk a good balance between well fruited and elegant.

For the record, the likely reason that I couldn’t tell it was tempranillo likely has more to do with the fact that all my experience with the varietal is Rioja or blended in Priorat- so really not sure what it tastes like as a stand alone grape.

You might think of the No Girls Grenache as a N. Rhone styled Grenache, even though that is a contradiction in terms.

P Hickner

I’m curious - care to explain further?

Cheers.

Fruit is definitely there, but subdued rather than candied or fruit juicy. Acidity is high. What really invokes N. Rhone, though, is olive and hint of meat.

P Hickner

This is my question…is this “nice” enough to justify the price?

The NG wines are excellent and the list time is shorter. I find the NG wines a bit more light and less funky than Cayuse but there is no mistaking their common heritage. Anyone still waiting for Cayuse should be buying NG.

I recently had a Cayuse GoK and a NG Grenache (same vintage, I want to say 2011) and everyone at the table agreed it was tough telling them apart.

Same vineyard source for each of the Grenaches? If not, one might say that winemaking had a greater influence than site perhaps?

Cheers.

Actually the GOK is Armada Vineyard. No Girls is La Paciencia. I do not know how close or far away they are from each other (though I suspect they are relatively close?)

Interesting. I would hope you’d be able to tell them apart - but that’s not always the case. The vineyards could be very similar in soil profile, clonal material, etc that they would produce similar wines . . .

But just like with pinots, cabs, etc, you’d expect differences, no?

Cheers.

My palate is never in a position to judge anything useful but the other three at the table all agreed the wines were hard to differentiate. We were all surprised but ymmv.

Totally agree with your first statement.
We did the same tasting on 2010 and found a difference, but I loved both.

I’ve been on the list since 2010 vintage. I recommend giving the wines at least several years of age.

I was on the No Girls list from the beginning and I found them very similar to Cayuse. I dropped No Girls because I didn’t want to duplicate the flavor profile and I was already buying lots of Cayuse. I think the wines were outstanding and I put my remaining 11 bottles (2008 and 2009) on the do not touch list because I expect great things from them in about 5 more years.

Subjective topic of course, but this would have competed well against most any washington wine at or near the price point