To be honest, I don’t even remember when I joined the waitlist for Tusk. I think I may have heard about it while at a steak house years ago. Does anyone know anything about this wine? I can’t seem to find any professional reviews anywhere (strange for the price point). Does it hold up to similar-priced bottles? Thanks in advance, everyone.
Good question. Never tried it. Expensive. Don’t disclose vineyard source(s). Seem to lean on marketing, the feeling of exclusivity, and fomo.
Following to see what those who have tried it say.
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Go read cellar tracker. Melka use to be the winemaker not sure if he still is the winemaker. How good is the wine ? For the price which I do not know what it is today, my guess over 500. I would take a kinsman or a beta that’s my opinion, though the winemaking styles are different . If you drink Bordeaux and are not in hurry I would allocate that money to 3 bottles of 22 montrose or for that matter lots of sub 100 dollar Bordeaux or backfill Bordeaux
When they first offered I had a visit did not buy. Thought it is overpriced.
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Does the wine come with a free performance by the USC marching band?
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We tasted there (there being their mansion on the Napa hillside which is kind of a showcase). The wines are of good pedigree and definitely in the lush plush modern Napa theme. What price were they asking? I’ve seen $700+ which I can’t quite align with. This was the producer that was pointed out here recently that the expectation for a tasting was to purchase multiple thousand dollars of wine.
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Pretty sure Melka isn’t just a wine marker here, but a partner as well.
Fruit sources are Pritchard Hill for L’Orange, and Oakville and Pritchard Hill for the other wine.
I’ve had the wine. It’s definitely not shy, but it’s also very elegant. It’s very, very rich, without being sweet.
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You are dating yourself, lol!
But that was good.
the packaging contributes about 25% of the cost, it’s beautiful but absurd
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The cabernet is $1500 for a three-pack. The blend (L’orange) is $999 for a three-pack.
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Oh yeah, I remember reading about that on here. I knew I had recently heard of them again but I couldn’t remember where it was. They came off as super pretentious in that situation.
Honest question: Has the price point for these high-end Napa Cabs officially caught up with the secondary market? Another way of putting it: Is it worth buying something like this, holding onto it for a decade, and trying to sell it?
All thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
Thanks. Not sure it’s a 500 dollar bottle. There are certainly IMO 500 dollar Napa wines Would not be on my 500 dollar list everyone has different taste. If one likes the style for half the price u may go for a Zakin 21 or melka jumping goat 21 both melka. But then again he just jumped in the tequila bandwagon with everyone else might give that a try when it comes out
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They do make a nice box. I got mine from Spectrum WIne - the box, that is. I ordered three bottles of Beaujolais from Spectrum Wine Retail, and when I picked them up they were packed in this beauty. I suppose that is as close as I will get to Tusk, which is ok by me. 
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(Semi) serious question: Is Mick Fleetwood part of the ownership group?
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Looks like a promotion for the movie Ice Age. Maybe Disney is involved.
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I was on the list for the original offer. I passed, but a buddy bought it. When we tasted, we both said, “nice packaging.”
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Back when, it was a branding/marketing firm that purchased Hidden Ridge who’s 2013 Impassable Mountain Cab was $80/bottle which Parker gave 100 points to and said its one of the best wines he’s ever tasted and said the wine was Immortal. The firm purchased the vineyard/brand and the next release was $308/bottle under the new name Immortal Estate 
They relabeled the existing bottles and even had the Hidden Ridge corks still in them at nearly 4X the cost from the previous vintage. I heard the firm owned Tusk and some other very high end wineries including Steph Curry’s brand and Melka.
That said Tusk wines are very good and made in a very modern fruit forward style. The packaging is stellar which is on point for the firms niche. I’ve never purchased the wine.
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When we visited Tusk, they were also giving us tastes of some other bottlings, including Impassable Mountain. Everyone in our group of 4 except me bought a 3 pack of Impassable Mountain, and at least one person reached out to the winery to buy more. I had to exhibit massive restraint to not buy Impassable Mountain, but it made an impression on me and it is on my radar for its power and complexity. No one in our group bought any Tusk. I think Impassable Mountain is quite special, Tusk is merely good in a plush modern style.
I appreciate your explanation of the purchase and price increase for Hidden Ridge, which also makes me sad.
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Hidden Ridge was incredible stuff back in the day with great price points $45 and $80 respectively. I was bummed when I saw the price increase upon new ownership. But, that is the way of the wine world in California sometimes. Immortal Estate “Slope” is absolutely killer and is $85 I believe. Its the baby brother to the Impassable Mountain bottling at $333. I believe Timothy Milos is still the winemaker there.
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Isn’t this the winery that requires a referral from a current customer? Either to buy or to visit? Several years ago I was looking at buying some wine, and had heard this. That’s as far as I got in my desire to purchase. I can get my Melka fix by calling Samantha at Vice Versa or Jason at Plinth.
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