Outpost sits atop Howell Mountain and strives to make world class Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Grenache from an amazing estate vineyard. Thomas Rivers-Brown has been the winemaker from the very start. He has also gone on to start his own winery, Rivers-Marie, all the while making truly exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon for Schrader amongst others.
The 04 Petite Sirah has an an amazing nose of fresh, ripe raspberries. You could literally smell this wine for an hour or so and call it a night. On the palate there is jammy raspberries and cherries with a strong dose of pepper and anise. Textbook Howell Mountain! There is no getting around the wall of tannins on this wine as well. The wine has a long, tannic, jammy finish.
I decanted this wine for an hour. You could decant it longer I suppose but I don’t think the tannins are going away. Nonetheless this a delicious wine. Pair it with a thick steak and you are good to go. I have another bottle that I will cellar for a couple more years.
Outpost is a winery that is firing on all cylinders. Hard to go wrong by signing up for their mailing list.
My rating: 91 points