Lot 22
2005 Edna Valley Chardonnay

Lots to like 2005 Cameron Hughes Lot 22 Chardonnay, Edna Valley, Calif., about $10. Cameron Hughes is a trading company that buys small lots of wine from producers all over the world and bottles them under its own label. At 10,000 cases, this medium-weight Chardonnay is the easiest-to-find bottle in the lineup and it's worth searching out because it's a steal at this price. It has a personality that's missing in most low-end Chards, displaying aromas of butterscotch and lychee that lead into rounded and subtle apricot and citrus flavors. Intriguing, to say the least. I could enjoy this wine by itself at the cocktail hour.

Wines from Cameron Hughes, super high quality excellence like their "Lot 17"2004 Barbera Sierra Foothills, "Lot 22"2005 Chardonnay Edna Valley and their "Lot 25"1998 Sparkling Wine Carneros, www.chwines.com.

A spirited example that won't make much of a dent in the holiday budget is the Cameron Hughes 2005 Lot 22 Edna Valley Chardonnay ($10). The wine's fresh and crisp flavors, uninfluenced by oak, evoke a basket of autumnal Gravenstein apples just waiting to be crunched.

Turn someone else's efficiency in to your opportunity. An agricultural business, winemaking is plagued with inefficiencies, which make it ripe for opportunists like Cameron Hughes. "If a winery has an eight-barrel lot, it may only use five barrels for its customers," Hughes says. As a negociant, he buys wineries' excess juice, which his winemakers combine to make limited-edition premium blends. He doesn't own any grapes, bottling machines, or trucks. He outsources the bottling and sells directly just to Costco, eliminating middlemen and multiple markups. Give distributors a taste-and customers some face time. Hughes: "It took me three months to get the Costco buyer on the phone. I said, 'This is a $40 bottle, and we can sell it for $9.99.' He laughed. I begged, 'Let me give you a sample, and if you don't buy it, I'll never call you again.' I sent half a bottle of Syrah, and the next day, he called and said, 'I'll take everything you've got.'" Says Steve Coburn, the former Costco buyer who bought that lot: "Cameron couldn't give out samples to customers. But he came into stores to meet them and talk about the wine. It's unusual to meet the person whose name is on the label." Put your customers in an exclusive club. Because of the vagaries of supply, Hughes creates a new product with every batch. Fortunately, product turnover is part of Costco' s appeal. Customers relish the idea of uncovering a rare bargain. And Hughes promotes it. He assigns each batch-a few hundred cases to several thousand-a lot number (Lot 22, for example, is a 2005 Edna Valley chardonnay). Then he emails the 7,500 or so customers who have shared their addresses during in-store gigs and makes them insiders. He alerts them to upcoming lots, describes the flavor profile, and tells them how big the lot is-the sort of scoop that can create demand at Costco. "They know we could go in Thursday," he says, "and sell out by Saturday."

LOCALWINE PICKS - Laurie Daniel gives her picks for her favorite chardonnays and includes Cameron in the round up. She writes, Cameron Hughes is a negotiator who buys wine on the bulk market for a good price, blends and bottles it, then gives consumers a good deal. (It’s a concept that’s a little like the Charles Shaw brand, aka Two-Buck Chuck, except that Hughes’ wines are small lots of high-quality wine.) Nearly all the Cameron Hughes wines are sold through Costco for about $10, earning the wines the moniker "10-Clam Cam." Hughes recently released a terrific Edna Valley Chardonnay that's selling at the Costco stores in San Luis Obisbo and Santa Maria. The 2005 Cameron Hughes Lot 22 Chardonnay ($10) is crisp, minerally, with flavors of lemon and pear. It's straight-on chardonnay, with no oak influence. (Although the wine should still be available, if you can't find it, ask the store to order more.)

Some people paint by numbers. Cameron Hughes wants you to drink wine by numbers. Hughes, 35, isn't talking quantity of alcohol. He's hoping you put some faith in his numbered wine lots that are coming to Central Florida Costco stores. Cameron Hughes 2005 Edna Valley Chardonnay Lot 22, will be the first wine that local buyers see, but if you keep up on wine trends and buying habits, you probably are already familiar with lots 1 through 25. The concept is simple: Hughes tracks small lots of super- and ultra-premium wine in bulk to blend and bottle under his label. The result is a wine that tastes much more expensive than its price tag. And it gives neophyte wine drinkers an affordable shot at top-notch wine. "They are great wines that didn't fit in with what the winery was trying to blend for its own line," says Hughes. It's not uncommon for some of the wines he obtains to be destined for $45 bottles. He is able to blend and bottle for half the price because he doesn't have the costs involved with running a winery. The industry term for merchants such as Hughes and their businesses is wine negociant. Negociants have been around for a long time, first as middlemen who sold or shipped wine as wholesalers. The definition of the profession expanded as negociants became more involved with various aspects of getting wine into bottles. (In France, some of the better-known negociants are Barton & Guestier, Calvet, Cordier, Moueix and Sichel, according to WINE LOVER'S COMPANION.) Hughes' lot system sets him apart. "All the component wines that make up a lot have been blended together in one tank and bottled under that lot number. When the lot is gone, it's gone," the California entrepreneur explains. "Other negociants bottle different wines under the same label, so quality can be inconsistent." Hughes' lots sell out quickly. So quickly, in fact, that fans subscribe to e-mail alerts that tell when a new lot will be sold at chwine.com. "People can be so intimidated by wine. I wanted to create great wines at great prices," says Hughes. "I'm helping people make good choices and enjoy good wines." His favorite lot so far? "That's hard. They are all great quality. But I've never forgotten Lot 7," he says of the 2002 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. "It's the closest to my heart. That wine was over the top." So what happens when the lot numbers reach, say, 99? "I have no idea," Hughes says with a laugh. "Maybe we'll keep going."

So what the heck is a Lot-a-palooza or a Cam-a-Thon? Is it when you gather friends and drink a lot of wine? Yes, but it is more than just that; it is when you gather to drink a lot of Cameron Hughes’ “Lot” series wines. When my wife and I were fortunate enough to be invited to a vertical of Cameron Hughes “Lot” series recently, we jumped at the chance. I've had only one Cameron Hughes wine to date (the Lot 25 Sparkling Wine), but had read so many good things about the rest that I was trembling in anticipation as we made the drive to Ann Arbor. Mike Halerz and his wife Allison organized and hosted this event at their home in Ann Arbor, Michigan; they also generously supplied the wine. Mike had been saving a bottle of each Lot series release for a while with the goal of doing a vertical tasting at some point. With 24 different bottles released, the time was right. It took quite a bit of work to track down any that Mike hadn’t been saving and Cameron Hughes generously supplied some of the older bottles from his personal collection. Mike's notes from the tasting can be found here. To date, Cameron Hughes has released Lots 1-23 & 25. We were able to sample every single wine except Lot 2 (Cameron didn’t even have any in his personal collection). But, going above and beyond, Cameron sent out an early sample of the yet to be released Lot 24. Cameron Hughes winesNow you may not be that familiar with Cameron Hughes’ wines as they can be difficult to find at retail. To date, Costco carries them in select California and Florida locations and you can also order them direct from Cameron’s website. They have gotten very good reviews from a variety of sources and are becoming more and more popular as people get a chance to taste them. So what is Cameron Hughes’ Wine all about? I’ve excerpted from their website below: With an obsession for quality and innovation, Cameron Hughes Wine is dedicated to building a reputation for delivering the best domestic and international wine values in the marketplace today. Our focus is on buying at the high-end, small available 'Lots' of super premium wine. Because not all wine at the high-end is bottled and sold to you, we rescue those 'Lots' do some stylistic blending and the key is, we then sell direct to you or our retailers. So in short: no winery, no distributor and no wholesaler. That's a lot of cost taken out without ever compromising the quality integrity of the wine. Our company produces and markets wine under the Cameron Hughes “Lot” program. We do not own vineyards or ferment wine. Our business model is built around what we call in the industry the “spot” market for super/ultra premium bulk wines. Essentially, what this means in plain English is that we eliminate the middlemen. We use our own palates as guides to deliver delicious, super premium wine that is easily accessible price and style-wise. In other words, Cameron is able to track down excess wine for a steal of a price and bottle it for his own label. Why is the wine excess or unwanted? Maybe it just didn’t measure up to a high end winery’s expectations for a $50+ bottling, maybe there was too much supply for a winery’s demand, maybe a winery closed or changed directions, maybe there was a legal situation, or maybe someone was just plain dumb and sold off good juice for pennies on the dollar. There are numerous reasons why the wine was available, but the key is Cameron has a nose and palate to find the beautiful unwanted lots. He also has a great reputation and when a well respected winery has excess wine, they will often give him a call first as he will give the wine the respect it deserves and not just throw it into some generic bulk bottling. While Cameron cannot confirm or deny where he sourced the wines from, if you have a detective hat to put on, you may be able to figure it out. Cameron gives many clues as to where the wine comes from and if you have a little too much time on your hands, you may be able to figure out. If anything, it can make for a fun adventure. After tasting through the lots, I have to say that I was very impressed. Most of these wines can be found for around $9-$12 at Costco or from Cameron’s website wine store (some were available for as little as $5). The only wine to date that is going for a bit more is the sparkler which retails for around $20, but is still a steal for that price as it’s original producer was going to sell it for $50. I cannot think of a wine label/series that offers a better wine value. Cameron would take the gold medal in the wine value Olympics, but it is not that the wines are just good values. These are good wines period. At a minimum, each wine tasted performed up to expectations for its price and a large majority far outperformed their price point and drank as if they were $25+ bottles of wine. I wish my local Costco carried these, as I would be loading up and at the prices they go for, you can afford to load up and have a Lot-a-palooza or Cam-a-Thon of your own. I have been to many tastings and I have to say that I enjoyed this one immensely. It is easily up there with the best that I have attended. The value of the wines may not have been at the level of some other tastings, but few of us can afford to drink Krug, Latour, and Grange every day. This tasting showed outstanding value can be found and that there are affordable wines that you can drink for yourself and serve to others (even wine geeks) daily with pride. It really helps you to keep things in perspective and still drink like a king. If you cough up the big bucks, you better get a damn good bottle of wine. Many times, the true joy is in finding the hidden gems that drink big, but cost little.

The winner of the May Wine Club blind tasting was Cameron Hughes Lot 22. Cameron searches the world for some of the best wines and then treats us to them, lot by lot. They keep getting better every time. Cameron, a Modesto native now runs his wine company from San Francisco and has just expanded their lab and testing area so that the search can get bigger.