AXA's Seely takes Napa Outpost on tour
AXA Millésime MD Christian Seely is targeting the UK as the first in a series of “key countries” to position the company’s Outpost Wines from Napa.
The French insurance group, which is known for its portfolio of high-profile wineries such as Château Pichon Baron and Quinta do Noval, added Outpost Wines to its stable in 2018 following a long search by Seely to bring an appropriate Napa estate on board.
Sitting at some 700m altitude on Howell Mountain on Napa’s volcanic eastern ridge, Outpost, which was acquired by Seely for its “great terroir and exceptional potential”, traces the origins of its name back to the 1860s. But the current vineyard plots began when computer businessman turned wine producer Frank Dotzler bought the nine acre True Vineyard here in 1998, having been helped in his search by Ren Harris of Paradigm Winery and Jean Phillips of Screaming Eagle.
Dotzler then added the nearby Outpost vineyard a few years later, a 19 acre plot where he subsequently built a winery, with a third, as yet unnamed 16 acre plot of primarily Cabernet vines being planted in 2021.
Under Dotzler’s management, Outpost grew to have a healthy private client customer base of around 14,000 active people, primarily based in the States, with the top Outpost True Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon selling for $200 a bottle.
Seely was joined by Dotzler at London’s Trivet restaurant (pictured, right to left) to show the current 2021 and older vintages of the wines to the UK wine press, with the aim of bringing attention to Outpost and making inroads in the UK’s high end restaurant world.
“One of the reasons for coming on tour is because historically Outpost would sell 95% of its wines to regular, private clientele,” said Seely.
“That’s quite profitable, but the drawback is that the wines are incredibly well-known to 14,000 people but not to anyone else.”
As Dotzler has significantly increased his plantings ahead of selling to AXA Millésime (he remains as Outpost’s general manager), that third plot of vines means that there will now be a surplus of Outpost produced above and beyond the volumes needed for those private client sales.
Seely told Harpers that in addition to the UK, Asian markets such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan are also in his sights, but that with small quantities available generally, “allocations will be adapted to the enthusiasm of each local market”.
The Outpost portfolio consists of two 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines, plus a Cabernet blend, a Zinfandel and small quantities of Grenache, with total production hovering around 3,500 cases in a good year.
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