Dear Friends,

Brand-new “Lot” releases are rolling into the Carlsbad Costco store this weekend beginning Friday, September 5th. We have several releases that are drinking great right now as well as some spectacular cellar selections.

We’ll have CHW personnel in the store throughout the weekend to answer any of your questions on these new releases but as usual we highly recommend you take them home and pop and pour and get to know these wines for yourself! (though be careful of the two Cabernets – they are drinkable but have such a bright future its almost a sin to drink them now – especially Lot 73 which is super-tight right now but will be glorious in another year or two)

Now for some greater detail on these fine wines…

Lot 73 2006 Chalk Hill, Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
One man’s Loss is another mans Gain. This gorgeous cabernet comes to us from a Chalk Hill vineyard (not to be confused with Chalk Hill Winery) called Windsor Vineyard (not to be confused with Windsor Vineyards, the private label producers). If you are not totally confused yet you will discover a wine of exceptionally conscientious growers growing grapes for a variety of ultra-premium programs. Lucky for us they found themselves freed from a contract on their entire Cabernet production and proposed to make the wine for us. 2006 is our first vintage and I couldn’t be happier with this powerfully structured, hillside cabernet. Cellar this puppy (or store it in your closet – will work just fine for the next 5-7 years. The wine will not pick up the complexities of 55 degree storage for 15-20 years but that’s the tradeoff!).

Lot 84 2006 Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley Cabernet
Lot 84 has the potential to be the greatest cabernet we have ever released but you’ll have to be patient. Like the Chalk Hill Cabernet, this wine has tremendous structure born of mountain fruit and elevation (both 73 and 84 were grown at 1400-1800 foot elevations). It was built for a top-end program but a partnership split gave us an opportunity to raid the cellar of this tasting room and mailing list only winery.

Lot 72 2005 Napa Valley Meritage
Lot 72 highlights what is best about the Meritage designation, namely flexibility. We started this project with some very pricey Cabernet made by a prestigious Napa Estate dating back to the 70’s and improved it with two fantastic 2005 Napa Merlot’s which, due to be outside the “buy cycle” for bulk wines, we got for a song. This wine is ready to drink now and is a total crowd pleaser. Be forewarned that of all our new releases this wine has sold out first in stores as it’s drinking wonderfully and is priced to buy by the case.

Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
The first of several upcoming RRV releases made by a world-famous Russian River Valley producer. Combining 50% barrel fermentation with 80% new oak this is a richer style RRV Chard but still a non-malolactic style. Creamy/toasty from the new oak but not an overtly buttery style, this wine will age gracefully for years to come.

Other CHW lots still remaining in additional San Diego -area stores so please use our lot locator for a complete listing of available Cameron Hughes wines.

Cheers!

Cameron