Wednesday, Aug 19 2009
Three Cameron Hughes wines receive a 90 Point rating from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. These ratings and reviews will appear in the buying guide of the magazine in the October issue.
90 points/Best Buy: Lot 88 Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2006 (Amador County). It is one of the mysteries of the universe how negociant Cameron Hughes produces wines like this at such a great price. It is a Zinfandel loverâs Zinfandel, rich and peppery and briary. Really satisfies with wild forest red and black berry flavors tingled with tons of spice, and finishes dry and balanced. Best Buy.
90 points: Lot 100 Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (Stags Leap District). Shows real Stags Leap character in the dusty tannins, dryness and power, yet appeals with lush cherries, currants, spices and cedar. Itâs balanced and harmonious now, and should develop over the next six years.
90 points: Lot 121 Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (Spring Mountain). Good price for a Cab from this small, prestigious appellation. The wine is
bone dry and dense in mountain tannins, with rich flavors of black cherries, blackberries, currants and wild herbs, like rosemary. Shows real elegance and style. Nowâ2012.
88 points: Lot 103 Meritage 2006 (Napa Valley). This vintage was a good one for Cameron HughesâBordeaux-style wines, and this Cabernet-based blend, which contains a splash of Carmenere, is as good as anything theyâve released. Itâs juicyrich in blackberries, currants, carob and cedar, wrapped into firm, fine tannins.
87 points: Lot 127 Chardonnay 2007 (Los Carneros). Awfully good for the price, with crisp, Carneros acidity and a creamy texture framing nice flavors of pineapples, peaches, green apples, cinnamon spice and minerals.
87 points: Lot 120 Atlas Peak Cabernet
An eccentric, although likeable, Cab. It shows the dryness and tannic astringency that Atlas Peak Cabs are famous for, along with upfront, accessibly New World flavors of cherry jam, black currants and cedar. Hard to know if itâs an ager, but itâs a pretty good wine.
