2011 Petite Sirah The Other

Outpost was one of the highlights of my tastings in Napa Valley this year. From bottle, the 2011s show all of the promise I have sensed in these wines from the very beginning. My first visit to Outpost in 2011 was in April, when the vines were still dormant and behind schedule relative to the valley floor, which is typical of Howell Mountain. When I stopped by in October of that year I was shocked to feel firsthand how much warmer and sunnier Howell Mountain was relative to the cold, foggy conditions on the valley floor. Those two experiences pretty much sum up how unique these hillside terroirs are. My first tasting of the 2011s was in the Spring of 2012, followed by periodic tastings every six months since then. It has been fascinating and highly educational to watch these wines during their elevage, but the truth is they were pretty special from the outset. The 2012s are, of course, much silkier and soft, but, they too show plenty of Howell Mountain character. In short, proprietors Frank and Kathy Dotzler, along with their longtime winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, did a fabulous job with all of these wines. Outpost fans may also want to read about the new project the Dotzlers are starting up with Brown that I describe under the Rivers-Marie wines in this article.