I do not recall signing up for this wine, but just got notified that I was moved from the waiting list to the mailing list. I am pondering whether or not to buy an offering. I do get Cayuse, so that’s all I have as a reference. I have only had one bottle of No Girls, and it was the bottle sent to me a couple of years back, at no cost. I think it was the Get Lucky? It was in my opinion, just - meh.
I’m wondering if I should just take a pass on this wine. I’m literally tripping over boxes of wine that I do not have room to store now. But. I also don’t want to regret taking a pass, then have some of this stuff and regret passing…
I think the NG wines are a good substitute for Cayuse if you happened to be still on the waiting list for the latter. I’ve had them side by side a few times and I thought that if Cayuse syrah was a 10 then the NG would be an 8. I think the NG grenache is a little better than the NG syrah. I like the Double Lucky which you can only get as a member of the NG list as a mid-week rocks fix but it’s been mentioned before on WB that at mid-$40s it’s priced a bit high for what it is. If you are satisfied with your Cayuse offerings and aren’t dying to fill a void in your WW rocks holdings then you could probably give a pass, imho.
Michael, my two cents (being a Cayuse list member and a former No Girls list member) is that you should pass on the No Girls. The price point has creeped up and it’s not significantly behind Cayuse anymore. Furthermore, they used to only source from one vineyard at No Girls: La Paciencia Vineyard, while Cayuse has many vineyards. While the winemaking team is the same, I never felt like they had the concentration for “wow” factor of Cayuse, so I dropped them.
Two quick points. First, the Double Lucky is not a good benchmark for judging No Girls. it is meant to be a more affordable version of the Cayuse/NoGirls group.
Second, my limited experience (which is lots of Cayuse, a bit of No Girls), is that No Girls is a bit more subtle in general than Cayuse. Like BRR I dropped them a while ago – not because I did not like them, but because I have so much Cayuse and I wanted to diversify my cellar. So if you like Cayuse a lot, and you are getting Cayuse, and you feel like you have too much wine (the tripping over boxes comment), then you might pass.
I also believe that No Girls is a bit easier to find on the secondary market at a reasonable price.
Thanks for all the input folks. Very helpful and exactly what I needed to hear.
I seem to be a better hunter than a consumer. I ran out of cellar space about 300 bottles ago. I obviously need to cut back, and NOT buy more, but just can’t seem to help myself sometimes.
Could you compare the style versus Cayuse? Had my first Cayuse syrah a few months ago and woah. Super intense mineral and liver/olive flavors. I thought it was interesting, maybe not 100% pleasant, my wife hated it. But had a No Girls tempranillo last weekend and really enjoyed it. Had some similar flavors and moods to the Cayuse syrah, but dialed back a lot. Just got an email that I can buy No Girls and Horsepower for the first time. On the fence
JP, I have limited experience with Cayuse outside an occasional bottle of En Chamberlin Syrah but I find the style very similar with No Girls being a tad bit less intense. You can see reviews on their 2020 Syrah wines below which is helpful as some of the reviewers overlap.
For my palate, I’d skip it. For Rocks district, Horsepower is my favorite, and the one I stock up on each year. Cayuse is next, and I generally get something from their list (God Only Knows grenache usually). I still haven’t gotten a bionic frog allocation or I’d get that. And No Girls is third for me. At the No Girls level, I’m usually comparing and choosing other Rocks wines instead. Oh, and I’ve still never tried Hors Categorie, but its too damn expensive anyway, so I’m ok with that.
I disagree with Jeff_W above, respectfully. If you were only so-so on the No Girls and your wife hated it, I would skip Horsepower for sure. Beyond the fact that they’re quite a bit more expensive, the savory, briny, meaty flavors and aromas you experienced on the No Girls wine are even more pronounced in the Horsepower wines. Are they better wines? I think so, but the characteristics you only liked when they were “dialed back” are going to be even more up-front in the Horsepower wines, so I’d pass if I was you.
I haven’t had any 2020 Washington wines so I can’t say what this vintage is like. I’m a fan of no girls. The Tempranillo is always tasty. Savory like most of Cayuse brands but it’s got a great fruit (cherry) presence. I’ve never had their Grenache but I’ve had GOK and it’s very tasty.
GOK is the only Cayuse that I find iffy. Too many of them are poop monsters. BUT the No Girls Grenache was outstanding back 10+ years ago when rating a wine 93 points meant something.