Palate
A multidimensional wine imparting characteristics of black tea,
dried herbs, lavender, white pepper and strawberries.
Growing Conditions
Outpost was established in 1998 with the vision of producing wines that are a living, breathing embodiment of this magical place. Truly one of the world’s great Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel growing regions, the unique terroir of the Outpost vineyards – the hard, rocky red soil, high altitude, gentle cooling breezes and sunny western exposure – produces fruit of incredible intensity and richness, with a distinctive spice you simply cannot find anywhere else.
Capturing the essence of the land’s rugged terrain, Outpost creates world-class 100% varietal bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Grenache from our own hand-cultivated, organically farmed 28 acre estate vineyard.
Spring time on Howell Mountain was cooler causing bud break to happen later than the valley
floor. Above the fog we had crystal clear skies and warm weather making 2011 one of the better
vintages we have seen in the last six years.
The 2011 Outpost Grenache is one of our
smallest productions to date.
Winemaking
Outpost grapes are harvested late in the season – by hand, at dawn – to preserve the full intensity and distinctive spicy character of the mountain fruit. The grapes are processed with as little manipulation as possible. Grapes from each block within the vineyard are fermented separately so that our winemaking team can be very selective about the lots that comprise the final blend. Wines are neither fined nor filtered allowing for the full expression of the vintages’ potential.
Lower yields contributed to concentrated flavors and radiant aromatics in the 2011 Outpost
Grenache. Winemaking has kept true to form using 100% whole cluster fermentation and all
neutral oak during barrel aging.
Aging
100% 1-5 year old French oak barrels
