Lot 30
2005 Russian River Valley Chardonnay

How do you find the perfect wine for your wedding? Cameron chats with the host about great wines from Arizona and some 101 tips on how to find the right wine for your event. A quick review of blends and the Bordeaux inspired Meritage and discussion of how Cameron Hughes Wine sources wine. Best wine for an event is sparkling, always a safe choice. Finally a quick discussion on new packaging trends and why screwcaps are ok!

This is for all the tightwad wine lovers. Cameron Hughes has be releasing some first rate bottles of wine, generally for about $11-12. For the most part, these are wines you would typically pay closer to $30+ for. If you are into the wine and not necessarily the label, this is a great chance to upgrade what you drink. I first discovered Cameron Highes with his Lot 23 (sold out). A delicous Meritage, I would have sworn I was drinking a $35 bottle of wine when I first tasted it. Since then I have loaded up on the Lot 27 Syrah (sold out) and Lot 29 Meritage. All were great values, as well as the Lot 30 Chardonnay I tried. How do they do it? From their site, "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. "

Aromas of stone fruits with hints white peaches and cold steel. The flavors are pleasant, round and creamy. Apples and vanilla with a touch of butterscotch throughout the palate and finish. Nothing complex but straightforward in the right places. An enjoyable, everyday white wine.

Rich and lush, this Chardonnay truly is a dead ringer for Rombauer. Pineapple and mango come through along with a kiss of vanilla oak followed by butterscotch on the finish. Truly amazing, especially at this price! 91 Points!

My fourth and final review of Cameron Hughes Wine. This Russian River Chardonnay was barrel-fermented and contains 14.5% alcohol. All of the CHW's I reviewed can be purchased either online at www.chwine.com or at Costcos around the country. CHW has done a great job of finding some diamonds in the rough and delivering quality. They are a QPR negociant. TASTING NOTES: Pale yellow in color with a light buttered popcorn nose. Flavors of butter, oak, vanilla, mango and pineapple are wonderfully integrated into a harmonious effort. There's also a nice mineral undertone and lots of caramel-like golden flavors on the finish. SCORE & RECOMMENDATION: 88 PTS Good acidity, balance and not over-oaked. The tropical fruit flavors are a welcomed surprise and show nicely on the mid-palate. Be careful not to over chill this wine which will mute the flavors. Definitely worth seeking out. Great value here for a well-made California Chardonnay. Retails for around $21.

The second sampler is the same temperature, but has a more generous nose of peaches, pineapples, and pears with some toasty oak and spice. In the mouth it’s juicy and hedonistically viscous, with fruit flavors true to the nose, as well as understated, attractive butterscotch and vanilla. It’s got good balance and natural-seeming acids that make me dump Wine One into a pot of stock I’ve got bubbling on the stove, and continue to savor the nice long finish of number two. Okay, so it was obvious that #1 was the Charles Shaw from the first sniff, but I would have to agree with the CA State Fair judges and with Jim Laube: it’s very drinkable and - duh - an excellent value at $1.99. So good, I guess, that I’ll have to force myself to try one of the Charles Shaw reds, accompanied, no doubt, by a dinner of well-charred hot dogs. However, though I do not know what wines were tasted against the $2 Chuck, I don’t know how the heck they could have rated it higher than a wine like the Cameron Hughes Chardonnay, which is not just a good value wine, but a genuinely good wine.

Cameron Hughes Russian River Valley Lot 30 Chardonnay 2005 Cameron Hughes wines are what you have been looking for....a real value. Pay $8 to $14 and know you have a $20 to $30 value. For instance, Cameron Hughes Russian River Valley Lot 30 Chardonnay 2005 is $11. When this wine is lightly chilled, the aroma is a tropical fruit bowl with a squeeze of lemon, a hint of mint and pleasant floral notes. Hughes offers dozens of different wines from a syrah from the Sonoma Mountain region to meritage (Bordeaux blend) from Lake County and a sauvignon blanc all the way from Marlborough, New Zealand. Cameron Hughes Wine was launched in 2001 with the focus to buy high-end, small available “Lots” of super premium wine and do some stylistic blending. Hughes owns no vineyards. There is no winery, no distributor and no wholesaler. The middlemen and the marketing have been eliminated but the quality of the wine has not been compromised. In Texas the wines are available exclusively at Costco and online at www.chwine.com/store.