Inside CHW

Just wanted to send a note to the contacts I could find for Cameron Hughes wine. A few weeks ago my new hubby and I were married at a family cabin in Texas. We hired private bartenders and bought all the wine ourselves, we purchased a Cameron Hughes chardonnay and the Lot 75 Cabernet Sauvignon.  And let me just tell you, everyone has been raving about the wine, especially the red. I think most people are accustomed to being served not so great wines at weddings, so they were delighted to be treated to such great wines, we way over bought and only had a few bottles left over.

We were so pleased to be able to do that for our guests, and had it not been for us saving money by choosing a place where we could bring in our wine and then of course the fantastic value of the Cameron Hughes wines we would not have been able to do so. The only negative I heard I was that it was sooo good everyone drank so much they had a pretty painful Sunday

Anyway, just wanted to give you all a shout out and say thanks for the great wine at a great price!

Sincerely,
Cris  Webster

Hi!  I’m a wine enthusiast in San Antonio, Texas, and I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how impressed I am with both the quality and value your wines offer!  I happened to grab a bottle of your Lot 94 and Lot 83 at our local Costco, honestly not expecting much for the price I paid.  I was blown away by the quality!

I would also like to comment on a benefit of the simplicity of your wine labeling along with the awesome web site you have that you don’t seem to be capitalizing on!  That is, the user-friendliness your system gives to those who may not know much about wine and feel intimidated by wine selecting process!  We have several friends who know nothing about wine except that they enjoy drinking a good bottle of it!  We’ve shared your wines with them, and have watched every one of them gain a new appreciation for what they are drinking.  They feel good about being able to discuss your wines without being intimidated by complex terms and “wine-speak”.

We’re totally sold!  I only wish you were a publicly traded company so we could invest!!!

Neil David
San Antonio

The second round of super-demo’s hits this week in NorCal Costco’s (the wine should be in stores now except where noted) and officially run from Thursday the 20th through this Sunday the 23rd. Many thanks to all of you who came out and made last week events such a resounding success!

Costco stores and wines for this week

Please note: some inventories remain in last weeks super-demo locations, including the Lot 86 Lodi Zin which arrived earlier this week.

First, a key to the Lot numbers. Selection varies from location to location, see below for store inventories. Click through to see the full wine notes for each Lot.

• Lot 52 - 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 - 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 73 - 2006 Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 75 - 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet
• Lot 81 - 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 - 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 84 - 2006 Mount Veeder Cabernet
• Lot 86 - 2006 Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel
• Lot 91 - 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 94 - 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot
• Lot 97 - 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Store Inventory

Danville

• Lots 52, 75, 82, 86, 91, 94, and 97
• Friday arrivals: 67 & 81 (scheduled, unconfirmed)

Sunnyvale

• Lots 52, 75, 82, 86, 91, 94, and 97
• Little bits of 73 and 84 left

Richmond

• Lots 52, 75, 86, 91, 94, and 97
• Friday arrivals: 81 & 82 (scheduled, unconfirmed)

Concord

• Lots 52, 75, 82, 86, 91, 94, and 97
• Lot 81 scheduled to arrive Friday (scheduled, unconfirmed)

Redwood City

• Lots 52, 81, 82, and 91
• Friday arrivals: 86 & 97

Cal Expo

• Lots 56, 82, 91, and 97
• Lot 81 scheduled to arrive Friday (scheduled, unconfirmed)

Folsom:

• Lots 52, 75, 91, and 94
• Lots 81 & 82 (scheduled, unconfirmed)

Sand City:

• Lots 56, 86, 91, 97

Modesto:

• Lots 52, 86, 97

Reno:

• Lots 52, 81, 82, and 97
• Little bits of 35, 73, and 84 left

Stay tuned for updates as more Lots arrive at each location!

Friends in San Diego – The Vista Super Demo also is Thursday the 20th through this Sunday the 23rd. With the following wines:

• Lot 86 2006 Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel
• Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot
• Lot 98 2007 Spanish GSM

Dear Friends in San Diego!

We have a Super Demo starting Thursday the 20th and going through this Sunday the 23rd at the Vista Costco. Come on down and talk about the new releases with a CHW enthusiast!

The following wines will be in store:
Lot 86 2006 Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel
Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot
Lot 98 2007 Spanish GSM

For first time visitors to our blog, welcome! This blog is a source for everything CHW, including this week’s Super Demo events. Super Demos this week start Thursday, 11/13 and run through Sunday, 11/16. As always, Lots are limited and available while they last!  Please call ahead to confirm inventory!

Without further delay, onto the wines and locations…

Northern California (Southern California is below!)

Please see each location below as selection varies, and not all releases are at each location. Here are convenient links for tasting notes on all of the releases:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 86 2006 Lodi Zinfandel
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Lot 99 2004 Lake County Cab Franc Still some left at Roseville & Santa Cruz.

Roseville Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Also, a little left of Lots 73 & 84 (please call Costco to confirm availability)

Santa Clara Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Novato Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Also, a little left of Lot 73 (please call Costco to confirm availability)

Mountain View Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Livermore Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Foster City Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Santa Cruz Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Almaden Road, San Jose Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Carson City, Nevada Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Also, a little left of Lots 50, 73 & 84 (please call Costco to confirm availability)

Southern California

Fountain Valley Costco:

• Lot 73 2006 Chalk Hill, Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 84 2006 Mount Veeder, Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 95 2007 Valle Central, Chile Meritage
• Lot 98 2007 Campo De Borja, Spain GSM Red Blend

Coachella Valley Costco:

• Lot 51 2004 Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet
• Lot 77 2006 101 Year Old Vine Barossa Valley Shiraz
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 95 2007 Valle Central, Chile Meritage

Enjoy the new releases!

Paul and I are up here geeking out at the first Wine Bloggers Conference at the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa.  Right now we’re in the middle of a “speed tasting slash live blogging” event.  We’re mostly tasting and mostly not blogging.  Speedily.

Today is a huge day for us here at Cameron Hughes Wine and for you — our valued friends and dedicated customers. After months of discussions and meetings and more meetings (yes, the downside of this stuff), Bacchus, an investment fund providing growth capital specifically to the wine industry, has invested in our company. We are honored by their confidence, especially in a time when credit is hard to come by, and we appreciate that in the wine industry alternative sources of funding have now become available.

Now, let’s get to the most important part – what does this mean for you? It means more great deals — many more. It means more access to our wine. It means that we will continue to scour the planet and bring you wines that will inspire us all to believe that amazing wine does not have to blow a hole in your wallet.

So, to celebrate this big day, I asked Cameron and Sam Bronfman II, founder of Bacchus, former President of the Seagram Chateau and Estates, and former Chairman of Diageo’s Global Wine Division, to share some inside information on the wine industry.

Now, it’s not everyday that we can eavesdrop drop on a wine conversation between two industry insiders. We tried to make it feel like you are sitting right next to them, enjoying your glass of Lot wine (in this interview they are enjoying a delicious bottle of Lot 84). Enjoy:

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

It’s still hard to think that only seven years ago, Cam and I started this company out of our loft in Potrero Hill in San Francisco with Cam selling our wine out of the back of his Volvo. (He had it so loaded with wine people were constantly flashing their brights at him.)

Today, we have an office but the kids still come to work everyday and so do Lulu and Oscar. Some things will never change, and I hope that you will stay with us on this insane journey.

In celebration of this big day and why we do what we do each and every single day, I raise a glass to you with my thanks and most grateful appreciation for your support over these many years. May we have many more together enjoying the gems of Cam’s sourcing genius!

Jess, co-founder and chief wife

Dear Cameron Hughes Wine:

I have been an adamant supporter and purchaser of your wines for a couple of years now. I have purchased through home delivery over a hundred bottles of your wines and they have all been quite exceptional. I must say that your lot 92 Chardonnay is over the tops. Not only is it in an exceptional value, it is the best chardonnay I have ever tasted in the last 20 years. What a great job you did on this. Thank you for continuing to provide quality wines at value prices for us home shoppers. You have my support and devotion for years to come. Please keep up the great work.

Randy Erickson
Orlando, Florida

As always, we love to hear from you, this email came from our good friend Charles Schoech in Palm Beach Florida:

Cameron & Paul

I just thought that you might be interested in knowing that my collection of wines has significantly changed over the last several months.  My collection has grown from 2,000 bottles to 3,000 bottles.  One third of my wines are now CH Wine. Of the 3,000 plus bottles of wine in my collection, 1,018 are Cameron Hughes.  I now have 38 varities of CH Wine.  Of these 38 varieties, I consider ten to be phenomenal.

I look forward to receiving and tasting new releases.  Keep up the great work.  Thanks for adding a new deminition to my wine experiences.  I am a very satisfied coustomer.

Charles F. Schoech
Palm Beach, Fliorida

Thanks Charles!

Hey Texas!

More great news for all you CHW fans here in Texas. Next up in the CHW tasting “Tour of Texas” is the Plano/Frisco area. We have an impressive inventory of Cameron Hughes wines ready for release throughout the state and we’d like you to be our guest as we taste through many of the wines at the end of October.

We will feature several wines that are web-only and not available at retail. If you’ve wondered what all these great new CHW email releases actually taste like then here is your chance to come see for yourself! Once again we will be accepting orders for these wines on-site with the added benefit of free shipping and no sales tax! Please note I have included the Lot 73 Chalk Hill Cabernet which just received a Wine Enthusiast “Editors Choice” 90 point rating. I had to twist Cam’s arm a bit on this one but I set aside an allocation just for orders taken at this event. However it looks like a 6 bottle limit for this particular wine.

I am also happy to announce that Paul Jenson, (our CHW sommelier) will be attending this event. Paul works very closely with Cameron on our tasting notes and manages our CHW web-store. If you have ordered from us previously you probably already know Paul quite well. I worked closely with him on our wines for the Austin event and will definitely turn to him again for this event.

First off the facts – when and where…
Tuesday, October 28th from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Hosted by Land Rover Frisco
5935 Preston Rd (corner of Lebanon Road and Preston Road)
Frisco, TX 75034 - Map
(972) 370-2345

Land Rover has again agreed to graciously host this event on our behalf. These folks evidently know how to throw a grand event and I look forward to working closely with them. They have a big, beautiful facility. Of course, what is a visit to Land Rover without an Adventure Climb on their rock course? Sounds like fun to me!

Additionally CHW will be donating a portion of the nights proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society – North Texas Chapter. This is a charity close to our hearts here at CHW and we look forward to meeting the many supporters and survivors who belong to this incredible society.

There is no cost to attend this tasting. However if you are interested in attending this event please email me, Rob Eddlemon, directly at rob.eddlemon@chwine.com to be placed on this guest list. I want to make sure to have plenty of wine! You are encouraged to bring guests but please RSVP no later than Friday, October 24th.

Houston and San Antonio WILL get customer appreciation events soon! The DFW area will likely get an additional event in the near future as it is a rather large area not easily accessible to any one location.

And now onto the fantastic CH wines we’ll be featuring – Sorry folks only links as there are too many wines to list notes – but click each wine for more info or come out and taste for yourself!

Lot 67 Russian River Syrah
Lot 72 Napa Valley Meritage
Lot 73 Chalk Hill District, Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
Lot 75 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon [Notes not yet available!]
Lot 77 101 Year Old Vines Barossa Valley Shiraz
Lot 85 Napa Valley Meritage
Lot 91 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Lot 92 Margaret River Chardonnay
Lot 97 Western Australia Chardonnay
Lot 99 Lake County Cabernet Franc

Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces!

Cheers,

Rob