Outpost Wines (4.00)

http://www.outpostwines.com/

Open: Tues-Sun, 10am-2pm

Appt required? Yes. Book at this link: http://www.outpostwines.com/contact.html

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (April 17, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

On our third stop on Howell Mountain, we chose Outpost. Prior to the visit, I hadn’t heard of this winery, but the view looked amazing on their website and the wines seemed to be priced about right.

We tasted with co-owner of Outpost, Kathy Dotzler. She greeted us coolly (we were late but had called to alert her when we realized we could run late at O'Shaugnesssy and make sure it was okay) and combined our appointment with a couple we had met at O’Shaugnessy, who held the slot after us. That was a relief for Kathy – if we hadn’t done that, it would have just ruined her entire day.

Kathy gave us a brief walking tour of the property and talked about her decision with her husband to buy the land in the late nineties. She pointed out their True Vineyard, a source of great pride, and talked about how they strive to make the truest expression of Cabernet from that vineyard, their flagship. She also told us how the property used to be a “garage winery”, and how they revamped everything. According to Kathy, their “pristine winemaking process produces far superior wine”. Kathy was a little rough around the edges and is not a born salesperson, and comments like this one were delivered a bit like they were being read off a script and with a hint of arrogance that was offputting.

Alright, time to put your money where your mouth is Kathy! We went into the Outpost tasting room. On display in the room were the other wines (Schrader and Maybach among them) made at the property by Outpost’s up-and-coming winemaker, Thomas Rivers Brown. We began our seated tasting of four wines: the 2009 Zinfandel, 2008 and 2009 Outpost Cabernet (the 2008 was a last-minute addition), and the 2009 “The Other” Petite Sirah. Curiously absent was the “truest expression of Cabernet”. While many wineries don’t taste their top-end wine, I would have suspected that a trip all the way up the mountain plus all of the buildup would have meant that a bit of the True Vineyard would be included. I thought all of the wines were pretty good, but no real standouts. I felt kind of bad for the poor Petite Sirah – Outpost names its top Cabernet “True”, but brands it’s perfectly good Petite Sirah “The Other” like it was an unwanted family member (or maybe a laboratory mistake like in Dean Koontz’s great novel “Watchers”!).

I didn't feel bad enough for “The Other” to bring it home with me, though, or any of Outpost’s wines for that matter. Ultimately, Outpost was hampered by the other great wines we’d already had that day at Dunn and O’Shaugnessy. All of their wines were good, but they were more expensive and inferior in quality. If the $25 tasting fee (for only 3 wines) was refunded with some type of reasonable purchase, I may have carried a few bottles away, but it was either non-refundable or only refunded with something like a 6-bottle purchase. If you’ve traveled all the way to Howell Mountain, I would try some of the other locations before heading to Outpost unless you happen to be a big fan of their wines.

Recommended wine: Nothing got me excited. Good wines, but nothing great.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.25	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	3.50	VALUE	4.00
OVERALL		4.00