Six years after it changed owners, a niche Napa wine estate is ending an era of international obscurity as it seeks global recognition for its fine hillside Cabernets and Zins – and db finds out why that might be. Called Outpost, the property is based on Howell Mountain in California’s Napa Valley, and was owned by Frank Dotzler, who had bought it in 2002, before it was sold to AXA Millésimes in July 2018. Importantly, the estate, which producers around 3,500 cases of wine annually, has been selling almost exclusively to private clients via a database of customers it has built up over the decades. However, while it wants to protect this important, reliable and profitable source of business, Outpost – under its new owner – wants to build its worldwide status by selling to new customers in key wine importing markets. AXA Millésimes MD Christain Seely explained the rationale at the first UK press event for Outpost, which took place in London’s Trivet restaurant yesterday, and which followed a similar event for wine writers in Paris. “We have been selling wines to a very enthusiastic list of private clients and we are not reducing their allocation, but while it means that we [Outpost] are extremely well known to 14,500 people, we are not well known to anyone else,” he explained. “So over the next few decades we will carry on looking after our private clients, but we will be opening up distribution around the world; so sharing Outpost a bit
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine