Carlisle Summer Pre-Release

[Joe_Dulworth]

@Peter Petersen

@Joe Dulworth

My wife just got her allocation. 19 bottles.

Is her allocation bigger than yours?

Definitely. I’m not on the list.

[Peter_Petersen]

@Jay Carroll

I am relatively new on this list- but got a 28 bottle allocation- which I will buy. I am not sure about the one white that is being offered- anyone try this?

Depends what style of white wine you like. This is not a rich CA white wine. The Bedrock, Karatas comes close, but they are far from clones of each other. It’s a wine that is more about style, elegance and acid.

[schu]

I picked up 11 bottles and 1 wishlist to round off the case. I left quite a bit on the table for the waitlisters.

I’m pretty interested in trying the white. Description seemed right up my alley.

[Rowen_Bell]

@Peter Petersen

Don’t forget that with Carlisle as with many others lists (Anthill Farms and Bedrock) some of us started out buying at a time when there were far more generous limits on most of these wines and there were no such thing as waitings lists either for these wineries. Those were also the days when they were trying to establish themselves. So it makes good business sense what Mike is doing as far as I can tell.

One quirk of what Mike does in terms of allocations is that, unless you’re willing to buy your full allocation every year, over time you may find yourself squeezed out of an allocation for the specific wines that interest you.

I joined the list for the 1999 vintage, at which time there were far fewer distinct Carlisle wines produced. I bought 12 bottles total from that vintage, 6 of which were Two Acres; and, I’ve continued to buy Two Acres in every subsequent vintage. But, as the total number of Carlisle wines produced has increased over time, overall I’ve bought a decreasing proportion of my total allocation. This has led, I believe, to a gradual reduction over time in where I fall on the allocation pecking order. With the current mailer, this ‘vicious cycle’ finally came to its logical conclusion: it so happened that I no longer received an allocation of the Two Acres, even though I’d been allocated and had bought at least 2 bottles of it for each of the previous 11 vintages.

Now, Mike’s argument in the past has been: It would be too complicated to tailor each buyer’s allocation to his prior wine-specific buying history (as opposed to his prior aggregate buying history); and the additional requests list is available to address this type of concern. I understand his point. And, ultimately, as others have said – it’s Mike’s business to run as he sees fit. I think there’s close to unanimous sentiment on this forum that he’s one of the most customer-friendly people in the business. I share that sentiment, even if certain minor aspects of how he runs his business don’t match my own preferences. As such, consider this post an observation made for the benefit of others, and not a complaint.

Cheers,
Rowen

[Jeff_Fish]

@Rowen Bell

@Peter Petersen

Don’t forget that with Carlisle as with many others lists (Anthill Farms and Bedrock) some of us started out buying at a time when there were far more generous limits on most of these wines and there were no such thing as waitings lists either for these wineries. Those were also the days when they were trying to establish themselves. So it makes good business sense what Mike is doing as far as I can tell.

One quirk of what Mike does in terms of allocations is that, unless you’re willing to buy your full allocation every year, over time you may find yourself squeezed out of an allocation for the specific wines that interest you.

I joined the list for the 1999 vintage, at which time there were far fewer distinct Carlisle wines produced. I bought 12 bottles total from that vintage, 6 of which were Two Acres; and, I’ve continued to buy Two Acres in every subsequent vintage. But, as the total number of Carlisle wines produced has increased over time, overall I’ve bought a decreasing proportion of my total allocation. This has led, I believe, to a gradual reduction over time in where I fall on the allocation pecking order. With the current mailer, this ‘vicious cycle’ finally came to its logical conclusion: it so happened that I no longer received an allocation of the Two Acres, even though I’d been allocated and had bought at least 2 bottles of it for each of the previous 11 vintages.

Now, Mike’s argument in the past has been: It would be too complicated to tailor each buyer’s allocation to his prior wine-specific buying history (as opposed to his prior aggregate buying history); and the additional requests list is available to address this type of concern. I understand his point. And, ultimately, as others have said – it’s Mike’s business to run as he sees fit. I think there’s close to unanimous sentiment on this forum that he’s one of the most customer-friendly people in the business. I share that sentiment, even if certain minor aspects of how he runs his business don’t match my own preferences. As such, consider this post an observation made for the benefit of others, and not a complaint.

Cheers,
Rowen

This is my story as well. But I’m okay with it (I can’t afford to buy 3-4 cases each offering like the old days:) and I think I’ve received at least 1 bottle if not 2 of anything I’ve wishlisted, including Two Acres and other wines I’m no longer allocated but have a history of buying.

[Peter_Petersen]

I’ve actually asked some winemakers (perhaps even Mike, but I’m not sure) about why they don’t create tailored allocations. My goal was, of course, to get more of X in lieu of not buying Y. Apparently most people are not nearly as consistent wine buyers as one would think. They swing with published scores or vintages or they change their minds about what they like etc. So with the exception of a few geeks who really know what they like it is not easy to create tailored allocations.

[Paul_H_Potter]

After being on the wait list since 2008 I got my first allocation. At total of 15 bottles.

Sharing with a friend believe I will purchase 12. Hopefully this will not penalize me too much in terms of the next offer.

Very pleased and excited to be offered this wine.

[Nate_Simon]

@Peter Petersen

I’ve actually asked some winemakers (perhaps even Mike, but I’m not sure) about why they don’t create tailored allocations. My goal was, of course, to get more of X in lieu of not buying Y. Apparently most people are not nearly as consistent wine buyers as one would think. They swing with published scores or vintages or they change their minds about what they like etc. So with the exception of a few geeks who really know what they like it is not easy to create tailored allocations.

Fortunately, with Carlisle, it seems like you could order with your eyes closed and get plenty of good stuff!

[Andrew_Nielsen1]

The only list in the US that I still buy from. Count me as a big fan of Mike’s Zins.

I have shared more than a few with fellow Burgundian winemakers who have almost unanimously loved them.

[Ken_V]

@Rowen Bell

@Peter Petersen

Don’t forget that with Carlisle as with many others lists (Anthill Farms and Bedrock) some of us started out buying at a time when there were far more generous limits on most of these wines and there were no such thing as waitings lists either for these wineries. Those were also the days when they were trying to establish themselves. So it makes good business sense what Mike is doing as far as I can tell.

One quirk of what Mike does in terms of allocations is that, unless you’re willing to buy your full allocation every year, over time you may find yourself squeezed out of an allocation for the specific wines that interest you.

I joined the list for the 1999 vintage, at which time there were far fewer distinct Carlisle wines produced. I bought 12 bottles total from that vintage, 6 of which were Two Acres; and, I’ve continued to buy Two Acres in every subsequent vintage. But, as the total number of Carlisle wines produced has increased over time, overall I’ve bought a decreasing proportion of my total allocation. This has led, I believe, to a gradual reduction over time in where I fall on the allocation pecking order. With the current mailer, this ‘vicious cycle’ finally came to its logical conclusion: it so happened that I no longer received an allocation of the Two Acres, even though I’d been allocated and had bought at least 2 bottles of it for each of the previous 11 vintages.

Now, Mike’s argument in the past has been: It would be too complicated to tailor each buyer’s allocation to his prior wine-specific buying history (as opposed to his prior aggregate buying history); and the additional requests list is available to address this type of concern. I understand his point. And, ultimately, as others have said – it’s Mike’s business to run as he sees fit. I think there’s close to unanimous sentiment on this forum that he’s one of the most customer-friendly people in the business. I share that sentiment, even if certain minor aspects of how he runs his business don’t match my own preferences. As such, consider this post an observation made for the benefit of others, and not a complaint.

Cheers,
Rowen

I have a similar history. I still got 2 of the Two Acres, but none of the PS.

[Chris_Seiber]

How many offerings are there per year? Are the other ones as big as this one?

[M_Dildine]

@Chris Seiber

How many offerings are there per year? Are the other ones as big as this one?

IIRC, two per year (first one is in January). Approximately equal in size.

[Peter_Petersen]

Yep, generally 6 months apart, and about equal in size. Also don’t be surprised if it’ll be more heavily zin than syrah as time goes on. A nice move as far as I’m concerned.

[Chris_Presutti]

This offer makes 22 wines Mike has released from the 2010 vintage.

[Tom_Lee]

I like the sound of the Old Vines Zinfandel. A blend of Carlislie Vyd and Montafi Vyd. Hard to go wrong here.

Tom
Twitter: @NWTomLee
www.zinfandelchronicles.com

[mdaniel]

Is anyone getting a sold out message when you log in, or is this the message you get if you already ordered…even if you left bottles?

[Peter_Petersen]

You can’t reorder as far I know

[David_M]

World class wines, world class people. I had a corked bottle (a first time from them) and the cost was refunded on my current order immediately.

[CholakisCN]

@Ken V

@Rowen Bell

@Peter Petersen

Don’t forget that with Carlisle as with many others lists (Anthill Farms and Bedrock) some of us started out buying at a time when there were far more generous limits on most of these wines and there were no such thing as waitings lists either for these wineries. Those were also the days when they were trying to establish themselves. So it makes good business sense what Mike is doing as far as I can tell.

One quirk of what Mike does in terms of allocations is that, unless you’re willing to buy your full allocation every year, over time you may find yourself squeezed out of an allocation for the specific wines that interest you.

I joined the list for the 1999 vintage, at which time there were far fewer distinct Carlisle wines produced. I bought 12 bottles total from that vintage, 6 of which were Two Acres; and, I’ve continued to buy Two Acres in every subsequent vintage. But, as the total number of Carlisle wines produced has increased over time, overall I’ve bought a decreasing proportion of my total allocation. This has led, I believe, to a gradual reduction over time in where I fall on the allocation pecking order. With the current mailer, this ‘vicious cycle’ finally came to its logical conclusion: it so happened that I no longer received an allocation of the Two Acres, even though I’d been allocated and had bought at least 2 bottles of it for each of the previous 11 vintages.

Now, Mike’s argument in the past has been: It would be too complicated to tailor each buyer’s allocation to his prior wine-specific buying history (as opposed to his prior aggregate buying history); and the additional requests list is available to address this type of concern. I understand his point. And, ultimately, as others have said – it’s Mike’s business to run as he sees fit. I think there’s close to unanimous sentiment on this forum that he’s one of the most customer-friendly people in the business. I share that sentiment, even if certain minor aspects of how he runs his business don’t match my own preferences. As such, consider this post an observation made for the benefit of others, and not a complaint.

Cheers,
Rowen

I have a similar history. I still got 2 of the Two Acres, but none of the PS.

Also in the same boat…

[Joe_G_a_l_e_w_s_k_i]

@CholakisCN

Also in the same boat…

Did you guys read the release notes? Only 38 cases made, wish list it if you want it. I got a pretty big allocation and didn’t get any either.