Drink up quickly my friend!! 
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Carlisle has been a true artisanal winery. Mike’s integrity is in every bottle. I adore him and Kendall for it. As an aging wine accumulator I have had to cut back on my annual purchases, as I have whittled my Carlisle inventory - Zins, Syrahs, and Petite Sirahs, down to just under 300 bottles. Despite pundits assuring us these wines will fall apart in a hand-full of years, we have found most Carlisle Zins hit their sweet spot around 10 years of age and the Syrahs 12+. I am still sitting with a few bottles from 2006, 2007, 2008, etc. Honestly, they are quite delicious. My advice to those of you without much inventory - Grab 'em while you can!
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Au contraire kind sir. Different winemaker, different wine. Sam didn’t make the ‘19s. The aromatics and fruit profiles are way different. Someday, if you ever come back out this way, we’ll pay a bottle a visit.
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Would love that my friend! Been a long time (way too long!)!
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When was this announced? Which vineyards are they dropping?
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Morgan told me last weekend at the UTW pick-up.
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Oh, I’d be interested in a Piper Carlisle zin. As others have indicated, though, a price above $60-75 for a bottle of zin does make me think about it versus other options.
Would I buy a “special” zin once or twice? Most likely. On an ongoing basis? Would have to weigh my options.
PS - I’ll miss the Carlisle zins, and other wines, so definitely interested in someone else continuing to make a Carlisle vineyard zin. And, I’ll be certainly stocking up on the last remaining offerings for enjoying over the next 6-10+ years.
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I really enjoy zin and agree with the point of it punching above its weight for red wine in the $25-$50
Range.
If Wine Spectator/stand in critic were to start throwing around 95-100 pt scores the demand would drive pricing flexibility.
But, why would I want the masses to figure it out. I have bought Carlisle and Turley DTC over the last 5 years and occasionally Bedrock if I can find locally. To the point of the thread it does make me sad to have fewer options and to hear that Zinfandel vines are not great economics in the current environment.
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Thanks for the insight Mike. And thanks for so many great wines and great values over the years. I always find myself grinning when I hear the word’s “Two Acres.” All the best to you and Kendall going forward!
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It sucks for the wineries that Zinfandel isn’t thought of as the world class variety it truly is, but it benefits the consumers. It’s nice to have a variety of which great examples don’t cost $100.
Regarding the title of this thread, both have prominent places in my cellar, and Mike and Morgan are friends, so I think of them as complementary bottles instead of opposed. But I guess the title got me to click, so it worked.
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Coincidentally I was flipping through Wine Spectator yesterday (free on the Libby app through your local library, probably) and there is a big feature on California zin.
Quotes Morgan T-P on the perceived price ceiling.
But also scores Bedrock Bedrock 97, Carlisle Pagani 97, Carlisle Old Hill 96, and a ton more at 94+
Point being that people are giving and getting scores for whatever it’s worth.
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Thanks for pointing out this article in Wine Spectator. This means that their annual free alphabetical listing of zinfandel scores is now available. Just Google 2025 wine spectator alphabetical Zinfandel scores. Regardless of how much weight you give to Wine Spectator, it’s always interesting to see their take on hundreds of zins.
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I said hundreds. Turns out I should have said “nearly 175.”
Close enough?
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Turley also closed their Amador tasting room and winemaking facility, so everyone’s hurting. 
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Christina Turley is doing great work abroad with the grape - there is interest in Zin there (it’s America’s grape after all), and she’s been hitting the European wine markets and tastings strong. Of course, with the current political situation, any American wine is going to see hurdles the next few years, but past that, there is unique USP there that can be exploited. My importers there have a much easier time selling my Zin than they do anything else. In fact, @Jamie_Goode just gave my 2023 “Alcott” Zinfandel a very good score up against some other heavy Zin hitters in the UK:
Wineanorak/Jamie Goode zin-off!
To @Roy_Piper 's point - come to Lodi for Zin 
The delta there between fruit price for top quality, own-rooted, historical and excellent vineyards and what you can charge for the wine has to be the some of the highest in the US. I have good demand for my Lodi historical Zins that will retail for $30-35, whereas if I had to get Sonoma fruit I’d have to pay probably 3-4x as much for vineyards that most likely aren’t as historical and couldn’t charge much more per bottle. Not that I wouldn’t want to make some - in fact, I did reach out about some Bedrock Zin fruit, but no answer.
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If Roy made a $100 Zin from Carlisle it would sell. Without a doubt. I bought a $400 3pk of Chardonnay last year (I never buy white wine) simply because I knew it would taste amazing. Go for it, Roy! We can open one over a burger at Cook.
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I resemble that remark. My personal favorite is Montafi Ranch and I can do a vertical back to 2006 with only a few holes. CT says that I have three 2005s from other vineyards. Maybe us old farts should check in on how they age!
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We buy Black Sears Zin every year as my wife’s favorite. The rack rate is $80 but we may pay a bit less. Howell Mountain fruit made by Thomas Rivers Brown. It is going to be hard to go above that price because the cache/panache isn’t there for a lot of people. Sutter Home killed it.
Would I pay $100 for a Carlisle Vineyard Zinfandel? Maybe just for old times sake, but it;s close.
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