Lot 25
NV Sparkling Wine

Cameron Hughes Goes Global When last I saw Cameron Hughes, in July, he had hinted that the next step was to break out of California. Maybe even out of the U.S. to seek out serious wine-bin bargains. I just returned from a tasting with Cameron and my friend Jathan from Winexpression, and he unvieled the newest batch of his Costco and direct-mail distributed wines. This time including Lots 18 and 19 from South Africa. He now has buyers sniffing around all over the world for wines that can't be sold as super-premium bottlings, but can be released in the U.S. as small lot that have super quality to price ratios. We were also flattered that he also let us opine on some bottles from other parts down-under that he has yet to decide upon for release. A couple had potential, though, I'm not sure any of us were convinced. I'll keep you readers posted. Not only has he gone global, but he has also entered the Cal-Fizz market with yeasty Napa brew 8 years on the lees before disgorgement. This could be his most expensive bottle yet, at around $17, but this kind of older Napa sparkler typically fetches around $45. If you see this in the coming months, snatch it up instead of reaching for the big name Cal sparkler or Cava. There is an old yeast funk that quickly blows off to reveal a well layered, dense sparkler made from 50% Pinot and 50% Chardonnay. As far as I know, this doesn't have a lot number yet. The new World wines are the Lot 18 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ($9) that is 85% Stellenbosch and 15% Paarl from South Africa and the Lot 19 2004 Merlot ($11) that is 100% Stellenbosch. Cameron didn't specifically say, but they shared the same terroir, so I suspect they are from the same producer. Both had a smokey, tar-ry nose and a dark, meaty, brooding mid-palate. I would serve this with something grilled and juicy, like a hanger or skirt steak. The other really notable wine of the evening was the Lot 17 2004 Barbera from the Sierra Foothills. When I tasted this in July, I was not terribly impressed and now think the bottle was just too young and maybe just a bit shocked. What a difference a few months make in the life of a wine. It has very bright cherry notes, a beautiful color, and an ultra-ripe, spicy, sensuous, pleasantly raisin-y nose. This one is another to look for next time you're at Costco, or seek out his direct sales website.

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.

Someone in California finally got it right. A handsome effort understated by its name, this is in fact a 1998 blend of nearly equal parts chardonnay and pinot noir. And though I never tasted the original bottling, what the Cameron Hughes team has done with it is profound. After the initial whiff of coconuts and creme brulee, the dry sourdough palate opens to a flood of key lime, tonic, 7-Up, and granny smith apples.

5 Reasons Why I Love Cameron Hughes Wines and Current Release Tasting Notes 1. The Decanter Trick: Pour a bottle into a decanter before your friends come over, tell them you opened a special, expensive bottle, and they won't know the difference! 2. Hide and Seek: In the dark, that bright square in the corner of the label makes it easy to grab the right bottle from the cellar. 3. No Middlemen: Down with the three-tier distribution method! 4. The Spice of Life: Thanks to a palate that never gets stale, Cameron seeks out wines that vary by varietal and region, which encourages the adventurous palate in all of us. 5. Unpretentious packaging: You don't have to whip out the Ginsu to remove a thick foil that probably should have just been a screw cap if they wanted metal on a bottle that thick. You're also spared dealing with a bottle that's 25 lbs. when empty. Who do these other wineries think they are?

Savvy shoppers, listen up! If someone told you that you could snap up ultra-luxe designer duds at ridiculously reasonable Target prices, how long would it take you to remove everything absolutely non-critical from your schedule and skedaddle on down to start buyin’? Probably about as long as it takes you to grab your keys and fire up that ignition, right? Well, what if I told you that this sort of euphoric shopping experience CAN be had - not with said designer duds (sorry, but you must have known it sounded too good to be true!) - but instead with a fabulous Napa-made bubbly selling at more than half off its original price? Ah-hah! I thought that would get your attention. Nor Cal Négociant Congenial négociant Cameron Hughes is offering just this sort of temptation right now through his line of custom blended wines sold under the label Cameron Hughes Wine. I was wowed by his Lot 25 Napa Valley Carneros Sparkling Wine at a holiday party last week, and since Cameron was there himself I took the opportunity to get the low-down from him personally on how he does it. Turns out that Cameron works his mark-down magic by purchasing unbottled juice at significant discounts from overstocked and other (read: bankrupt! Ok, that’s purely speculation) producers who’ve made dynamite wine but no longer can or wish to bottle it themselves. In this way he’s a lot like the négociants of renowned wine region Burgundy in France, except that he lives in San Francisco and doesn’t speak a lick of French. Instead, Cameron is fluent in “the deal” and works hard to sniff out luxury-caliber wines that need a buyer, then negotiates extreme savings on their purchase price. Next, he bottles the wine in limited run “Lots,” often re-blending finished wines to create totally custom products. The wines are then sold at deep discount at Costco stores nation wide and in limited quantities at Cameron’s ecommerce site. Thanks to Cameron’s aggressive negotiating and cost-effective sales tactics, savings can sometimes add up to as much as 75% off the wines’ estimated value! Lot 25: $50 wine for 24 bucks ain’t bad! So, now that we know that Cameron’s a savvy businessman with a reputation for putting out some very tasty wine at delicious prices, let’s take a closer look at his Lot 25. Vintage: 1998 Appellation: Carneros, Napa Valley CA Grape: 50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir, Méthode Champenoise Production: 6,000 cases Availability: December 2006 Price: $24 with Free Shipping anywhere in continental US Purchase: chwine.com Tasting notes: Pretty orange blossom and citrus notes entice on the richly textured nose, followed by peach, pear and green apple on the palate. Flavors of toast, caramel and cream round out this lovely medium-bodied wine before the long finish delights with its nuances of refreshing citrus and warm baking spices. Fine texture and lively bubbles to boot! Perfect with cracked crab, white meats and truffled popcorn this winter. What’s the secret? Drinks like a $50 bottle, indeed. So, what’s Cameron’s secret? He says he scored this gem from a top-notch Carneros producer that decided not to launch a new $50 sparkling wine brand in order to focus on its still wine business. Translation: Cameron’s gain, your gain. This is wine speak for win-win.

Someone in California finally got it right. A handsome effort understated by its name, this is in fact a 1998 blend of nearly equal parts chardonnay and pinot noir. And though I never tasted the original bottling, what the Cameron Hughes team has done with it is profound. After the initial whiff of coconuts and creme brulee, the dry sourdough palate opens to a flood of key lime, tonic, 7-Up, and granny smith apples. And as the long finish develops, lobbying the first flavor profile to place me in central Florida, the expansive fruit creams out to the pliable texture of meringue melting on my tongue. Either an extension or an affront to Champagne proper, this is an honest Carneros offering that brings new dimension to sparkling wine-one I suspect many have been searching for.

We have burned through nearly a case of (Lot 25) of this in the last two weeks. Quite simply, it rocks. For lovers of a brut zero style, be forewarned as it IS sweet. But the wine hides its sweetness so well behind a wall of tongue-pricking acidity and lots of fine mousse. And the flavors...wow...apples, pears, white fruit, biscuit, yeast, cocoa. This easily puts other $20 sparklers to shame, and will stand up to most $30 nonvintage Champagne. It's clearly an rich, opulent style, but this time of year it goes over splendidly...

Cameron Hughes, Lot 25, Carneros (Napa Valley, California) Brut 1998 ($24): Cameron Hughes Wine is one of the new wave of wine companies -- established in the last decade or so -- that source available grapes and/or wines from growers throughout the wine world. Most of these new companies, such as Cameron Hughes, seem to be based in California. Its 1998 Lot 25, which comes from an unnamed winery in Carneros, has the benefit of built-in aging, an unusual plus for California bruts. Made from 50 percent Chardonnay and 50 percent Pinot Noir, its toastiness, balance, and elegance combine to make it a standout bubbly. It's attractively bottled, and is a terrific value. Score: 93

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.

I'm excited to be able to tell you about Cameron Hughes Wine. CHW is a negociant or "wine trader." They buy bulk wine from wineries, blend them and sell them to retailers. Often this process entails acquiring some high-end wine that is mixed with lower quality juice to extend the volume available for sale. However, CHW doesn't follow that process. CHW strives for extreme value, quality and integrity. They look to acquire great wine and to sell it without extending it through blending. CHW wine is available for sale directly through the website www.chwine.com and also through various Costcos around the country. Lot 25 is a sparkling wine made from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir. The grapes come from the 1998 vintage and from the appellation of Carneros, Napa Valley, California. Although CHW is unable to disclose the origin of its grapes, their literature proclaims that they were bought from a "fabulous winery that decided not to launch a new $50 sparkling wine brand and instead focus on their still wine business." Lucky us, because CHW is able to deliver great quality at great price. TASTING NOTES: Sunny yellow color with a damp mildew nose that dissipates and is eventually replaced with creamy fruit aromas. Flavors of apple, pear, minerals, and toasted vanilla oak are underscored by yeasty, bready notes and a crisp, soft, lingering finish of tart apple, honey and caramel. SCORE & RECOMMENDATION: 89 PTS This is a very solid white sparkler. Retails for around $21 and has enough complexity and acidity to hold its own against more expensive California wines in its category. Worth picking up.

Light gold in the glass. Tight mousse, creamy mouthfeel, and deeper and richer than the last bottle. Wads of doughy yeast, oily hazelnut, green apple and just a light zest of citrus. This was a perfect match with crusty sourdough, steamed clams and mussels. Just a great nose and wonderful depth of flavor. (92 pts.)

June is all about big celebrations: graduation, Father's Day, weddings. What this means for many of us is that we are hosting, and attending, more than our usual share of fancy dinners. This month, lots of us are trying to figure out how to stretch our food and wine budgets to accommodate special meals with grandparents, visiting relatives, dads, grads, brides, grooms, and in-laws. (photo by Ian Britton of FreeFoto.com) What you need is a little help from Cameron Hughes and your local Costco. With them on your side, you can serve each guest 3 glasses of wine (one sparkling, one white, and one red) for $44--total. Yes, these will be normal size glasses, not a huge beaker full of wine like the picture to the right. If you want to serve your guests more generous pours, buy two bottles of each. At $88 dollars for 6 bottles, it's a steal. I received these bottles as samples from the winery, but I would (and did ) happily pay retail for them after I went through the samples. This was my first Cameron Hughes experience. Trust me, it won't be my last. People can get a bit sniffy about Cameron Hughes wine, and make comparisons between them and Trader Joe's "Two Buck Chuck." I've had both. There is no comparison. These are wines with much more complexity and finesse. The reason? Like a European negociant, Hughes buys his grapes in lots from top-notch growers who have a surplus, and then in most cases he bottles wines made just from that lot to preserve their unique characteristics and distinctive flavors. Before dinner, serve your guests the NV Cameron Hughes Lot 25 ($21). Packaged in a classy bottle with platinum wrappings, it's labeled NV for technical reasons having to do with dosage, even though the vast majority of this wine came from grapes picked in 1998. The wine's age gives it wonderful richness of color and and a biscuity taste, as well as a refined texture from its tiny bubbles. Flavors of apple and a round nuttiness made this a hair shy of brut, in my opinion, but this was perfect for me since I like a sparkling wine that has some soft edges to it. Made from equal parts of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes picked in the Carneros AVA, this is a nice step up if you're used to drinking the standard non-vintage $20 sparklers. And it's good with cheese, guacamole, shrimp cocktail--a very versatile food wine. Try serving a first course of asparagus spears wrapped in prosciutto, or a leafy green salad with sherry vinaigrette and warm goat cheese rounds. The 2006 Cameron Hughes Lot 26 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($11; $8.99 at my local Costco) would be a perfect partner for either of these dishes. I like sauvignon blancs fermented in stainless steel like this one, and I really love the relatively low 12.8% alc./vol. It was a textbook example of a Marlborough sauvignon blanc, with a pale, translucent color and tangy aromas of cut grass and citrus rind. The flavors are predominantly white grapefruit with a bit of lemon, but the grass notes are reintroduced in the juicy finish. This makes it a perfect summer sipper and for about $9 a bottle, it is no wonder that every time I go to the local Costco there are fewer and fewer cases to be had. For the main event, many of us will head straight for the beef. Steaks, roasts, and London Broils are favorites at fancy dinners. Of course, this kind of main course demands a rich and complex wine, like the 2005 Cameron Hughes Lot 29 Lake County Meritage ($11; $8.99 at my local Costco). Poured into a decanter and tasted blind, most drinkers would think it was a young cru bourgeois from Bordeaux. Made in a restrained Old World style, the blend contains cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc. This wine had abundant tannins, but it drank very well after 30 minutes in the decanter, and even better later. It was dark plum in color, with aromas of pencil lead, herbs, blackberry, and currant. As the wine bloomed, there were flavors of eucalyptus, more herbs, plum, and blackberry. I suspect this will age into a beauty. Sadly, Lot 29 is already sold out at the winery, but it may be available to you locally--there are still a few cases at my Costco in the LA area, and I ran out yesterday and bought 3 more bottles to stick in the cellar. If you can't find it, you might want to snap up one of their other new releases, like the 2005 Cameron Hughes Lot 34 Rutherford Cabernet ($14; $11.99 at my local Costco and now also cooling its heels in my cellar). All three wines represented excellent QPR, with their textbook varietal characteristics, yummy flavor profiles, and low cost. These wines tasted special, and sitting back and sipping a distinctive 9-year-old sparkling wine with my guests that retails for around $20 makes me happy. And if you're reading this blog, it will probably make you happy, too. We are the people for whom Cameron Hughes makes wines: consumers who know enough to know they don't want oak chip tea bags in their chardonnay, but don't necessarily want to pay $30 or more for a bottle to drink with dinner. If you missed your chance to get Lot 29, be sure that you don't miss any future releases by signing up for their email newsletters. I seem never to be in my Costco when the Cameron Hughes Wines arrive--and they do go quickly--but the newsletters tell you specifically which Costcos are receiving which wines, and they let you know those that are available on the website for you non-Costco types. I've got a few more bottles to share with you over the next few weeks (including a Chardonnay and a Syrah-Mourvedre blend), so stay tuned for more Cameron Hughes reviews.

Cameron Hughes takes home 7 medals in the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits competition! Cameron Hughes Wine GOLD MEDAL Barbera Lot 17 Sierra Foothills 2004 SILVER MEDAL Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 18 Stellenbosch 2004 SILVER MEDAL Zinfandel Lot 21 California 2004 BRONZE MEDAL Blanc de Blanc Lot 25 Carneros 1998 BRONZE MEDAL Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 28 Napa Valley 2002 BRONZE MEDAL Sauvignon Blanc Lot 26 Marlborough 2006 BRONZE MEDAL Syrah Lot 27 Russian River Valley 2005

An Editors Choice - 90 Points. This is quite a good sparkler; a great price especially for a Chard-Pinot Noir blend from a major appellation that has spent eight years on the lees. Dry and creamy, it has mouthfilling, yeasty, raspberry-strawberry and vanilla-spice flavors, boosted with a honeyed dosage.

Following are my notes on Cameron Hughes latest releases, available online from chwine.com or your local Costco. 1998 Lot 25 Sparkling White Wine, Carneros, California Notes: If you are a fan of sparkling wines, you are sure to find this 8 year old bottle to be a great bargain. Lots of stone fruit flavors greet your nose and intertwine with touches of yeast and vanilla. A nice finish with good balance, this 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is sure to impress. Grab a few bottles of this before it sells out. This is an excellent effort and a great value that could probably fetch 3 times the price. Score: 94 pts 2006 Lot 26 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, NZ Notes: This is a fantastic effort, with a ton of tropical fruit notes, great acidity, and a clean crisp finish. It possesses Passion Fruit, Mango, and Citrus aromas, as well as floral notes and spice on the palate. A refreshing wine, this effort can stand up to similar bottles from the region selling for twice the price. Sealed with a Stelvin Screwcap, bravo! Score: 90 pts 2005 Lot 31 Syrah Sonoma Mountain, California Notes: This blend of 89% Syrah and 11% Mourvedre is the finest Syrah I’ve had from Cameron to date. Grown in the cooler climate Sonoma Mountain region, this wine maintains subtle nuances while possessing good concentration. Dark purple in color, the aroma reveals earth, mushroom, currant, and blackberry. This wine has a nice mouth feel, with soft tannins and a great finish. Score: 94 pts 2005 Lot 34 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford District - Napa, California Notes: This somewhat cloying bottle opens up after a bit of decanting, but still remains a bit tight. Hints of vanilla, toast, leather, and blackberry greet the nose, and translate onto the palate. Not too Tannic, but with good structure, this offering be a bit more drinkable after 6 months to a year, and for 2-3 years after that. Score: 90 pts

Bringing Great Wine to the Masses: A Chat With Cameron Hughes By Brad Prescott A lot has been written about climate change and its effect on the wine industry. As someone who purchases wine from myriad wineries and regions, what impact are you experiencing? We are experiencing none yet. Right now, CA vintages seem to be well supplied with very high quality. In the long term, our model is very well positioned to be innoculated from the vagaries of global warming. We source globally and sell the widest possible variety of wines all under one label. If one area becomes unsuitable for production, we just source from the next. To lessen the impact of our operations, we have partnered with CarbonFund.org to purchase carbon offsets to cover the production and movement of not only our wines, but to offset the carbon footprint of our office and employees as well. Our office is located in the heart of SF’s SOMA district and is 100 yards from where I live. We have only one person who commutes to our office and we use natural cooling and super efficient bulbs to light our office. Lastly, what does the future have in store for Cameron Hughes Wine? We are rapidly becoming a one stop for a global portfolio of super and ultra premium wine. Our next two years will be dedicated to fleshing out our sourcing capabilities. Currently, we have bought or have in various stages of production wines from Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Germany. I hit VinExpo in June and should have the world covered by the time I leave! The remaining wines, or blending components, that didn’t fit into their final blends are then placed on the bulk market and marketed to other wineries and negociants like myself. We will select and blend only super-premium like quality lots and we never “blend to extendâ€? as many other negociants do because we are not concerned about making a particular blend last a whole year. As well, we don’t mark up our smaller lot pricing to create artificial scarcity because we have continuous and seemingly endless supply (at least for now). Other wines we buy in “shinersâ€? or bottles with no labels on them and then have our own labels affixed. Wineries often bottle these wines up (to make their balance sheets look better for lenders – wine is far more valuable in the bottle as it is in bulk form) but never put labels on them so they have the flexibility to sell the wine under their label or sell the wines to guys like me. In Europe and Australia shiners are a far larger market than in the US. Some wines are made for us by growers, especially when the spot market for grapes is as weak as it is now. When choosing wine for your latest lot, what criteria do you use to filter out the good wine from the bad? It has to be good and it has to be stable. That said, at the end of the day the final blend has to have excellent structure and balance. I always say any wine with good structure and balance will be a good wine. The great thing about being a negociant is you have literally thousands of wine to choose from to achieve that end. From a sales perspective, if it's great wine and it's marketable (such as cabernet or chardonnay) I’ll buy whatever I can get my hands on. Lesser known wines, say Clare Valley Riesling for example, I am historically more cautious towards regarding quantities; however, we have done a good job of creating the kind of trust it takes to sell a couple thousand cases of just about anything. How do you plan your lots? Right now I cannot keep up with Costco’s demand so we are buying whatever great juice we can get our hands on. We recently completed the purchase of over 60,000 cases of various Napa appellation cabernets including Rutherford, Yountville, Diamond Mountain and Spring Mountain (the bulk of which are in the first two sub-districts). To further fulfill our needs, we are branching out into the international buying scene and buying wines from Argentina, Australia (including some 75 yr and 100yr old vine Barossa shiraz’s), New Zealand, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. As well, there is some thought to seasonality, particularly with the New Zealand SB’s and Spanish Rose’s. other than that, we are buying whatever great juice we can get our hands on from Spanish reds to German whites. Describe some lots that you would love to produce but, for whatever reason, haven't released yet? So far, we have been able to identify from every region exactly what we were looking for two times over. That is, there is so much out there to choose from its like shooting fish in a barrel. The global oversupply of wine has created a situation where never before has there been so much good wine at such reasonable prices. Of all the lots you have produced, describe the one you most wanted to keep all for yourself. My favorites have been the Lot 13 2004 Dry Creek Cabernet, Lot 24 2005 Sonoma Syrah, and Lot 25 1998 Carneros Sparkling wine. Up coming, I cannot wait to sell our Lot 34 Rutherford Cab, our Lot 37 Rose from Campo de Borja in Spain, and finally, what I think will be our best wine to date, the Lot 38 2005 Barossa Shiraz from 100 year old vines. Absolutely stunning wine, I couldn’t believe it was available for purchase. Your business model merges a passion for great wine with a rigid understanding of the economics that drive the wine business. Describe how this plays into the value add you provide to the consumer? As I said before, wine does not cost a lot to make. As well, when you pay $30 for a cabernet, it's not that the winery is ripping you off, it’s just that the wine business is remarkably inefficient. I would go as far to say that the wine business is, effectively, a broken business model particularly insofar as it is strangled by archaic laws and distribution mechanisms. Innovation is tremendously difficult. The $30 cab would cost far less were there not so many hands that have to touch it on the way to the retailer’s store. How did your experiences at the Wine Group and as an importer of wine help prepare you for running your own label? The Wine Group is the leanest and meanest wine company out there. They sell millions of cases of wine per salesperson. They do it by providing the best wine in the box or bottle at the best price. This results in brands that pulled through by consumers versus brands that are pushed through by advertising and distribution muscle. When it comes to delivering value you have got to stay lean and mean. As an importer I learned how much is actually costs to make wine. Here in the states the wine companies put up a sort of Chinese wall between production and sales so that the salespeople don’t have an idea of what the product costs to manufacture. If they found out they would constantly be asking for more discounts to help them hit their numbers. Now, it's not that the wineries are ripping you off, it's just that the wine business is tremendously inefficient with multiple hands coming into contact with a bottle of wine before it hits the consumer. By simplifying the model and selling direct or semi-direct (through a clearing wholesaler), we are able to pass on significant savings in the area of 66% over what it would cost to buy the same wine under another label. You are 6 years into it and sales are growing hand over fist. Looking back, what would you do differently if you knew then what you know today? Nothing, you must suffer for your art. Where can consumers buy your wine? On our website or through Costco. The best way to track new releases and Costco distributions is to sign up for our email “alert listâ€? at www.chwine.com. We will not sell your email address or spam you. Is the Costco distribution nationwide or in select locales? We are currently in CA, AZ, TX, IL, FL, NC, SC, AL and will soon be in WA, OR, MI, MN, IN, VA, MA and others. What is the most disturbing trend you see in the wine industry today? Distributors paying off state legislators to act against the best interests of their constituents by banning the direct shipment of wine to consumers. Think Illinois. Conversely, what is the most encouraging trend you see? Courageous state legislators standing up to those interests and doing the right thing by allowing direct shipment to consumers. Think Florida, at least for now… A lot has been written about climate change and its effect on the wine industry. As someone who purchases wine from myriad wineries and regions, what impact are you experiencing? We are experiencing none yet. Right now, CA vintages seem to be well supplied with very high quality. In the long term, our model is very well positioned to be innoculated from the vagaries of global warming. We source globally and sell the widest possible variety of wines all under one label. If one area becomes unsuitable for production, we just source from the next. To lessen the impact of our operations, we have partnered with CarbonFund.org to purchase carbon offsets to cover the production and movement of not only our wines, but to offset the carbon footprint of our office and employees as well. Our office is located in the heart of SF’s SOMA district and is 100 yards from where I live. We have only one person who commutes to our office and we use natural cooling and super efficient bulbs to light our office. Lastly, what does the future have in store for Cameron Hughes Wine? We are rapidly becoming a one stop for a global portfolio of super and ultra premium wine. Our next two years will be dedicated to fleshing out our sourcing capabilities. Currently, we have bought or have in various stages of production wines from Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Germany. I hit VinExpo in June and should have the world covered by the time I leave!

Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 25, Carneros Napa Valley Sparkling Wine, NV I took this wine under false pretenses from Cameron Hughes. Not that I meant to. It’s just that they sent it along for review with some other stuff that I also have not gotten round to trying, and then one day recently we were celebrating the sale of our friend Claire’s book and it was the only appropriately sparking adult beverage on hand. So I did not do any tasting notes, but I can tell you that it’s good stuff, and that we all liked it for its citrusy peachy nose that turns bready-yeasty in the mouth with lemons peaches and apples, followed by a tasty lemon rind finish. Hmm… sounds like notes to me. Pretty darn good, enjoyed by all, and in a cool-looking bottle. Nuff said. Price: $21 (at Costco) Score: 145%

Gold Medal Winner

WINE OF THE TIMES CELEBRATED MAVERICK WINE NEGOCIANT, CAMERON HUGHES OF THE ULTRA HIP BOUTIQUE CAMERON HUGHES WINE, POURS OVER THE BEST OF THE SEASON Wine of the Times We all know that the holidays aren’t just about mistletoe, elves and eggnog. A fair bit of stress seems to accompany this otherwise jolly time of year—usually in the form of party planning, gift giving and in-laws. That said, here are some wines that will take the edge off your holiday season, make impressive gifts and knock the socks off your relatives as well. A few of my holiday favorites include buttery California Chardonnays, bold Napa Cabernets, smoky Central Coast Syrahs and, of course, sparkling wine. Here, I highlight some of the best higher end and great value wines, guaranteed to help you sip the life fantastic this season. CHARDONNAY Goes well with lobster, seafood and fettucine alfredo. Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 57 2005 Carneros Chardonnay, $12.99 Not yet rated Rich fruit notes of pear, peaches and vanilla with hints of butterscotch permeate through this very well-balanced wine. Rombauer 2005 Carneros Chardonnay, $30.00 92 points, Wine Spectator This rich and full-bodied, Chardonnay opens up with peach, apple, and tropical aromas then tastefully tapers off with peaches and oak on the mid-palate. CABERNET SAUVIGNON Best with roast beef and steaks. Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 35 Yountville Cabernet, $14.00 Not yet rated This Cabernet with a Bordeaux-like structure is introduced with blueberry, blackberry flavors with a tang of eucalyptus. A dusty earth emerges with black cherries, currant and sage. Sterling 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $25.00 86 points, Wine Spectator A mix of currant, spice, cedar and mineral, this Cabernet has a pleasant aftertaste. SYRAH The perfect wine to accompany your Thanksgiving turkey. Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 53 Edna Valley Syrah, $10.99 Not yet rated Featuring lush, bold black fruit with rich mouth feel, this well-structured Syrah has soft tannins that give it a great balance. Rosenblum 2004 Syrah Hillside Vineyards, $26.99 89 points, Wine Spectator This powerful red has a combination of black fruit, sweet herbs and smoke. SPARKLING WINE Perfect with cracked crab, shellfish and truffled popcorn. Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 25 1998 Carneros Sparkling Wine, $21.00 90 points, Wine Enthusiast This sparkler, stars with white peach, honeysuckle and orange blossom. A toasty vanilla, green apple and pear on the mid-palate, make this wine well-balanced and very affordable. Veuve Cliquot Brut Yellow Label Champagne, $40.00 90 points, Wine Adovocate This well-balanced champagne is fresh with fruit and brioche notes. Domaine Carneros La Rêve Carneros 1998 Sparkling Wine, $55.00 90 points, Wine Spectator Spicy pear, hazelnut and light touches of lemon-lime, citrus and Granny Smith apple flavor this higher-end sparkling wine. Cameron Hughes Wine believes that excellent wine should be available at a value price. The company, which buys small lots of high-end premium wine and blends them together, sells directly to the retailers minus the winery, distributor and wholesaler—hence the great price. Cameron Hughes Wine is also the first American negociant company to be 100% carbon neutral, working with the Carbon Fund to completely eliminate the carbon emissions generated by its business as a result of travel, freight and customer shipping.

BOTTOMS UP! What's celebrating without a good sparkler? Our favorite is Lot 25 from Cameron Hughes Wine. The medium-bodied bubbly dazzles with white peach, honeysuckle juxtaposed with orange blossoms, hints of green apple, pear and even caramel and biscotti. Cheers to the pop life! ($21, www.chwine.com)

Once again, I'm not just profiling one wine, I'm profiling a vendor. This time it's Cameron Hughes. Cameron Hughes has styled himself as a modern day negociant. His business model is to step in and snap up ultra premium wine if there's a glut in production. Since he doesn't own a vineyard or have distributors, overhead is really low. I never realized how much distribution, marketing, etc. impacted the cost of a bottle of wine until I visited his breakdown of costs. Interesting stuff! From the looks of things he's doing quite well for himself. His wines are regularly reviewed in the press (yep, the press, press; periodicals like Fast Company and USA Today have profiled the company). He also gets good ratings from wine magazines. His Lot 25 Sparkling (a favorite of mine) recently got 90 points from Wine Enthusiast. So here's the deal, while you never really know which winery your wine came from, you can have a pretty good idea based on his descriptions. For example, you might buy a "Cabernet from a blue chip producer in Stag's Leap". Mr. Luce & I have purchased several bottles and been quite happy with the value. In fact, his wine was the hit of our Thanksgiving celebration last year getting more accolades than the bottles in the $50 range we brought. (Note to self for next year, bring more inexpensive wine!) How do you get your hands on $50 wine that sells for $15, you ask? You have two options. Although he sells at Costco on the west coast, apparently the wine is available in the St. Louis area at select Sam's Clubs in Des Peres, Chesterfield, and possibly Maplewood. Not your area? Never fear. He'll ship directly to your door or any other place you have someone over 21 who can sign for a package. And, in the heat of summer, for a mere $5, he'll hold your wine for you and ship it when the weather's cooler. Don't you just love to get mail?

Sunday, February 1, 2009 Cam the Man: Cameron Hughes wine A few years ago, a man named Cameron Hughes had a great idea. Buy up super premium wine that would ordinarily end up on the bulk market and ultimately blended into not so premium wine, then put it in a bottle as is with his Cameron Hughes label on the bottle. Or, even better, if the wine was bottled but unlabelled, just slap a Cameron Hughes label on it. If the sale of a winery led to orphaned wine, he'd be there to buy up the leftovers. If a product line ended, Cameron Hughes would be there, too. If a winery just need to raise capital or clear inventory, he'd also be there. There's a name for this sort of middle-man wine trader, a negociant. This is actually quite common in Europe, but Cameron Hughes was the first negociant in America to really tap into the premium market and start bottling the unadulterated good stuff under his own label. It took a while to get this idea off the ground, but now Cameron Hughes had bottled over 100 "lots" of wines in his Lot Series. Each "lot" originates from a particular region or (anonymous) winery. They're never backblended with lesser wine, so what you see is what you get. If you buy a Cameron Hughes Lot 75 Oak Knoll Cabernet, you know you're getting Cab from a sub-appellation in Napa, probably from a single producer. Now, as awesome as paying $12 for wine that would cost $30 in its "native" bottle sounds, there are some drawbacks. Cameron Hughes keeps costs down by constantly moving inventory. He bottles then sells the wine at a pretty quick pace. However, some wines really do need some time in the bottle to integrate. Many upper-end producers (i.e. the ones who orphan their wine occasionally) age their wine extensively in new oak and would bottle age even after barrel aging. So in many cases you'll be buying a wine that is very young. But if you can let it rest or decant a young Cameron Hughes wine, you'll typically get something that outperforms the price. In other cases, the wine really wasn't up to par to go into a $30 bottle. But even in those circumstances you're not going to get a bad deal paying $10 or $15 per bottle. The bottom line is, at the very least, you will get expensive tasting wine since it was made using costly methods even if there's some moderate imbalance in the finished wine. Here a few Cameron Hughes wines I've tasted over the last year.