I wish someone would shackle me while these offers are available.
Kept it to 18 bottles and wished for the Bedrock Zin and Mourvedre also the James Berry Syrah.
Why are all these releases coming all at once?
from our meeting with Mike last year barrel sampling.
By popular request. Here comes Carlisle. We showed up early and Mike took us into the barrel room, there’s a lot of barrels in there. We tasted through at least 15 barrel samples from the 2017. Probably 1/2 were zin. I had heard zin took it on the chin in '17 and Mike confirmed. The issue is zin is very susceptible to heat spikes and the berries will shrink up, that’s normal for all grapes, but zin can “pull back” from the stem they’re attached too. There’s the problem, the berry is now in serious trouble. Mike said he was forced to sort in the field twice and once more in the winery. He guesses that 1/2 the fruit was sorted out. Yikes. It made for lots of work as a winemaker, he’s a perfectionist so nothing but the best out the door for Carlisle.
So how were the barrel samples? Fantastic. We tasted Dupratt, Mancini, Papera, Sonoma County among others. All excellent, surprising based on the vintage. Moral of the story, 2017 was challenging for many but not for Carlisle other than adding a few gray hairs for Mike.
Just took 6. My cellar is beginning to look like a Carlisle outlet store.
My order in for my favorite producer. Although I don’t take my full allocation anymore it is still my biggest buy each year. My cellar is deep and wide with vintages back to '05.
First time Carlisle buyer here and very much looking forward to diving in. I’ll plan to buy 8-12 bottles (a few will be wished-for), preferably ones I can drink early. I’m a fan of grenache but what else should I go for?
click the “Purchase Full Allocation” button and problem solved!
Seriously, you have to get the zins
Got the usual stand by Zins, but I also picked up a few of the Grenache. My taste for Grenache has increased since touring around southern Rhone. If done right, it presents an intriguing wine.
Their Syrahs are sick!
Carlisle is one of my favorite producers, but I am NOT happy that the bottles got bigger/higher in the 2016 vintage. They don’t fit in a lot of my OWC’s now. Mike, if you’re listening, there’s no need to be wasteful and use bigger bottles.
In for a half case of zins
Wow, I got this answer almost immediately. I take back the wasteful part. Thanks Mike.
Hi Joe,
A customer pointed me to your post on Wine Berserkers regarding our bottle. Very sorry you’re unhappy with the new bottle but basically, it’s the same mold as the old one but from a different company. The old bottle was 300 mm high and 83 mm at it’s widest point and weighed 670 g per bottle. The new one is 305 mm high (less than 2/10” higher), 82.5 mm at its widest point and 660 g per bottle. The reason we switched is because the former bottle was French and getting very expensive. The producer was also difficult to work with. The other advantage is that the new bottle’s screw cap equivalent has a deeper punt. Hence, there’s less headspace between the seal and the wine. A good thing I think.
Anyway, we thought no one would notice the bottle change but obviously we were wrong. Very sorry for the inconvenience.
Regards,
Mike Officer
Carlisle Winery
P.O. Box 556
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
(707) 566-7700
(707) 566-7200 Fax
www.carlislewinery.com
Absolutely wonderful
In for a case IF wish list is granted. Mike not only makes great wine but also provides outstanding customer service!
I have no room and probably too much Carlisle, but it is too good and too reasonably priced to pass up. In for 11 bottles +1 wish listed.
I’m usually good for 2+ cases per offer but have totally run out of storage space. I literally just finished shelving the bottles from the last shipment. I told myself no more than a case this time but ended up with 18 bottles anyway. I’m sure I’m going to regret leaving others on the table in a few years, though.
Really enjoyed a 2013 Papera tonight so I’m glad I got two Paperas in this offer at least.
That’s pretty awesome and satisfying to get a nice, technical answer. I’m not on the list anymore, but my BIL is a Carlisle balla (4 cases +!) and I order through him.
I imagine that marketing people would call me an idiot, but I wish all wineries would just use basic BDX bottles. I don’t care about the package appearance, just what’s inside. And, I’d probably go broke trying to sell high quality wine that way.
So, did you all get emails about the release?
Yes