2009 Outpost Zinfandel & Grenache

The release came out today. Has anyone tried these yet?

Negative, but I am a buyer based on track record.

Bill,
What are the prices? I haven’t been able to log on.

$45 a bottle for each.

Too much dinero for Zin with Carlisle around the corner at $19 and up.

+1

I enjoy the zin very much, but I stopped buying off the list because I have found it cheaper retail, especially when you factor in relatively high shipping charges.

These are simply fantastic bottles of wine - I really enjoy them. But it is true, they are available via retail at similar or even better prices.

passing on these for me.

All the 2009 Carlisle SVD Zins were $43-$45, so if that’s the gold-standard for value, the '09 Outpost is not at all out of line, but I agree that the Carlisle Appellation wines are true fantastic values. Finding it for less at retail, however, is a killer.

Frankly I don’t think the SVD Zins are always better than the Appellation wines from Mike…different expression, yes, better, not so sure. We’re talking about Zin here, since when does $45 offer value for a Napa Valley Zin or Grenache for that matter? I’d rather buy Usseglio CdP for $25 too.

If they were closer to $30 like I think they should be I’d junmp back in.

I wrestle with the same issue - we used to buy a lot of Biale when they were $25-$35. Now pushing $45-$60 It’s a rare few bottles. OTOH some of our old-vine advocates have argued that this is the price to keep the old vines in Napa from being uprooted for Cabernet Sauvignon. Is it worth it? That’s a tough call. I love Zin, but the value proposition is a big part of that love.

I used to see the Zin at Costco when i lived at Houston for $35 and they couldn’t move it. i really enjoy it but $45+ shipping is a bit much. last year they held my Zin and grenache until spring and shipped a full case for free so that might be an option if people want to save on that. Just curious, have people seen the Grenache at retail much? I have not.

But do you love any other varietals? Because $45 for a Cab is a great price, $45 for a Pinot Noir is a good price, $45 for a Bordeaux or Burg is insane, So, if you love Zin I don’t think $45 is a bad price for a good bottle of wine.

Naturally that is not an every day bottle price point - but to me - if I own some other wines in the $45 range, this one fits perfectly in terms of quality and enjoyment.

IIRC, they were pouring the 2009 Zin at ZAP earlier this year, and it was in my top 3 wines of the event, the other two being Bedrock and Carlisle.

Scott - I agree, and tried to make the point above that $45 isn’t out of line with other high-end zins (or really, any wine of this caliber). When I say I love Zin, however, part of that love is what it offers as a value for everyday drinking. At $45 it’s outside the price range of what I consider an everyday wine, or even an average weekend wine. As Kris mentions above, that price opens up a lot of other interesting options.

I’m not trying to argue against Outpost’s pricing. At $25-30 I’d be excited; $45 I’m lukewarm. FTR I went in for a half-case (3+3) on this offer. The shipping’s not an issue for me. The difference as I see it between this and e.g. a Carlisle offer, is there are no inexpensive appellation wines I’d use to fill out a case or 2.

These are my two favorite Outpost wines. The 07 zin was maybe my favorite zin of all time, faint-ish praise, but praise. And their grenache was awesome too, but I wanna say I paid like 30-35 bucks for them then? This might be a little steep for me, plus shipping.

This is exactly the issue. If I am not mistaken Outpost previously discontinued their Petite Sirah program to graft the vineyard over to the more profitable Cabernet. I would hate to see them do with their zinfandel which I think is one of the top 6 or 7 zins made in CA. I am buying.

Tom
Twitter: @NWTomLee

With Scherrer OMV available for $30 this is an easy pass for me.

Yeah, I dropped off this list for QPR reasons but they kept sending me offers and I ended up going in on some Cab this year. And yesterday I went ahead and got 3 of the 09 Zins. Zin is one of my favorite grapes and this is a distinctive, top bottling, and the 2009 has several reliable reviewers corroborating very positive notes, but $50 is still pushing it for Zin. I’d probably get a small number of Williams Selyem Zins at that price point but have bypassed the Hartford and Biale wines completely now given the addition of Bedrock to the stable.

So why go for it? Mostly, I was very pleased with how my 2004 Outpost Cab and Petite Sirah (Other) performed in the past year. I will be digging out my lone bottle of Outpost Zin, a 2005, sometime relatively soon. I am thinking that the Outpost Zins might need some time like their other reds. I am confident those 04 wines will continue to improve. If I like what the 05 and 09 have to offer over the next year, I might put it back in regular rotation and patiently build some age and depth in the Zin section.

The Grenache is not for me at any price. I’d double my order of Zin for $10/bottle reduction in final costs to me, but I don’t expect that to happen as Outpost appears to have gotten through the recession just fine on the basis of increased Cab yields and quality winemaking.