Inside CHW

For first time visitors to our blog, welcome! This blog is a source for everything CHW, including this week’s Super Demo events. Super Demos this week start Thursday, 11/13 and run through Sunday, 11/16. As always, Lots are limited and available while they last!  Please call ahead to confirm inventory!

Without further delay, onto the wines and locations…

Northern California (Southern California is below!)

Please see each location below as selection varies, and not all releases are at each location. Here are convenient links for tasting notes on all of the releases:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 86 2006 Lodi Zinfandel Sorry — our deliveries for this wine didn’t come through.
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot Sorry — our deliveries for this wine didn’t come through.
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Lot 99 2004 Lake County Cab Franc Sorry — our deliveries for this wine didn’t come through.

Roseville Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Also, a little left of Lots 73 & 84 (please call Costco to confirm availability)

Santa Clara Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Novato Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Also, a little left of Lot 73 (please call Costco to confirm availability)

Mountain View Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Livermore Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Foster City Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Santa Cruz Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Almaden Road, San Jose Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 67 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay

Carson City, Nevada Costco:

• Lot 52 2006 Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 81 2006 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 82 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 97 2004 Western Australia Chardonnay
• Also, a little left of Lots 50, 73 & 84 (please call Costco to confirm availability)

Southern California

Fountain Valley Costco:

• Lot 73 2006 Chalk Hill, Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 84 2006 Mount Veeder, Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 95 2007 Valle Central, Chile Meritage
• Lot 98 2007 Campo De Borja, Spain GSM Red Blend

Coachella Valley Costco:

• Lot 51 2004 Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina Malbec
• Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet
• Lot 77 2006 101 Year Old Vine Barossa Valley Shiraz
• Lot 91 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
• Lot 95 2007 Valle Central, Chile Meritage

Enjoy the new releases!

Paul and I are up here geeking out at the first Wine Bloggers Conference at the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa.  Right now we’re in the middle of a “speed tasting slash live blogging” event.  We’re mostly tasting and mostly not blogging.  Speedily.

Today is a huge day for us here at Cameron Hughes Wine and for you — our valued friends and dedicated customers. After months of discussions and meetings and more meetings (yes, the downside of this stuff), Bacchus, an investment fund providing growth capital specifically to the wine industry, has invested in our company. We are honored by their confidence, especially in a time when credit is hard to come by, and we appreciate that in the wine industry alternative sources of funding have now become available.

Now, let’s get to the most important part – what does this mean for you? It means more great deals — many more. It means more access to our wine. It means that we will continue to scour the planet and bring you wines that will inspire us all to believe that amazing wine does not have to blow a hole in your wallet.

So, to celebrate this big day, I asked Cameron and Sam Bronfman II, founder of Bacchus, former President of the Seagram Chateau and Estates, and former Chairman of Diageo’s Global Wine Division, to share some inside information on the wine industry.

Now, it’s not everyday that we can eavesdrop drop on a wine conversation between two industry insiders. We tried to make it feel like you are sitting right next to them, enjoying your glass of Lot wine (in this interview they are enjoying a delicious bottle of Lot 84). Enjoy:

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

It’s still hard to think that only seven years ago, Cam and I started this company out of our loft in Potrero Hill in San Francisco with Cam selling our wine out of the back of his Volvo. (He had it so loaded with wine people were constantly flashing their brights at him.)

Today, we have an office but the kids still come to work everyday and so do Lulu and Oscar. Some things will never change, and I hope that you will stay with us on this insane journey.

In celebration of this big day and why we do what we do each and every single day, I raise a glass to you with my thanks and most grateful appreciation for your support over these many years. May we have many more together enjoying the gems of Cam’s sourcing genius!

Jess, co-founder and chief wife

Dear Cameron Hughes Wine:

I have been an adamant supporter and purchaser of your wines for a couple of years now. I have purchased through home delivery over a hundred bottles of your wines and they have all been quite exceptional. I must say that your lot 92 Chardonnay is over the tops. Not only is it in an exceptional value, it is the best chardonnay I have ever tasted in the last 20 years. What a great job you did on this. Thank you for continuing to provide quality wines at value prices for us home shoppers. You have my support and devotion for years to come. Please keep up the great work.

Randy Erickson
Orlando, Florida

As always, we love to hear from you, this email came from our good friend Charles Schoech in Palm Beach Florida:

Cameron & Paul

I just thought that you might be interested in knowing that my collection of wines has significantly changed over the last several months.  My collection has grown from 2,000 bottles to 3,000 bottles.  One third of my wines are now CH Wine. Of the 3,000 plus bottles of wine in my collection, 1,018 are Cameron Hughes.  I now have 38 varities of CH Wine.  Of these 38 varieties, I consider ten to be phenomenal.

I look forward to receiving and tasting new releases.  Keep up the great work.  Thanks for adding a new deminition to my wine experiences.  I am a very satisfied coustomer.

Charles F. Schoech
Palm Beach, Fliorida

Thanks Charles!

Hey Texas!

More great news for all you CHW fans here in Texas. Next up in the CHW tasting “Tour of Texas” is the Plano/Frisco area. We have an impressive inventory of Cameron Hughes wines ready for release throughout the state and we’d like you to be our guest as we taste through many of the wines at the end of October.

We will feature several wines that are web-only and not available at retail. If you’ve wondered what all these great new CHW email releases actually taste like then here is your chance to come see for yourself! Once again we will be accepting orders for these wines on-site with the added benefit of free shipping and no sales tax! Please note I have included the Lot 73 Chalk Hill Cabernet which just received a Wine Enthusiast “Editors Choice” 90 point rating. I had to twist Cam’s arm a bit on this one but I set aside an allocation just for orders taken at this event. However it looks like a 6 bottle limit for this particular wine.

I am also happy to announce that Paul Jenson, (our CHW sommelier) will be attending this event. Paul works very closely with Cameron on our tasting notes and manages our CHW web-store. If you have ordered from us previously you probably already know Paul quite well. I worked closely with him on our wines for the Austin event and will definitely turn to him again for this event.

First off the facts – when and where…
Tuesday, October 28th from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Hosted by Land Rover Frisco
5935 Preston Rd (corner of Lebanon Road and Preston Road)
Frisco, TX 75034 - Map
(972) 370-2345

Land Rover has again agreed to graciously host this event on our behalf. These folks evidently know how to throw a grand event and I look forward to working closely with them. They have a big, beautiful facility. Of course, what is a visit to Land Rover without an Adventure Climb on their rock course? Sounds like fun to me!

Additionally CHW will be donating a portion of the nights proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society – North Texas Chapter. This is a charity close to our hearts here at CHW and we look forward to meeting the many supporters and survivors who belong to this incredible society.

There is no cost to attend this tasting. However if you are interested in attending this event please email me, Rob Eddlemon, directly at rob.eddlemon@chwine.com to be placed on this guest list. I want to make sure to have plenty of wine! You are encouraged to bring guests but please RSVP no later than Friday, October 24th.

Houston and San Antonio WILL get customer appreciation events soon! The DFW area will likely get an additional event in the near future as it is a rather large area not easily accessible to any one location.

And now onto the fantastic CH wines we’ll be featuring – Sorry folks only links as there are too many wines to list notes – but click each wine for more info or come out and taste for yourself!

Lot 67 Russian River Syrah
Lot 72 Napa Valley Meritage
Lot 73 Chalk Hill District, Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
Lot 75 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon [Notes not yet available!]
Lot 77 101 Year Old Vines Barossa Valley Shiraz
Lot 85 Napa Valley Meritage
Lot 91 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Lot 92 Margaret River Chardonnay
Lot 97 Western Australia Chardonnay
Lot 99 Lake County Cabernet Franc

Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces!

Cheers,

Rob

We were approached recently by one of the mainstay families of the wine business who, having recently divested themselves of their last winery (over the years they have built and sold several), were keeping their Oak Knoll vineyards and contemplating their own “virtual” brand. Sidetracked by a growing wine barrel business, they offered us the wines provided we buy as much cabernet as we buy merlot.

No problem we say, let’s taste the wines…well you all know what comes next…we loved the wines, blah, blah, blah, bought them all, etc., etc. Luckily for you, we bought these last December when prices were vastly lower than they are in today’s environment. Current pricing would put this wine closer to $18 under our program and $35-40 under other folks.

Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet ($13) hails from the new Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Given “District” status in 2004, Oak Knoll is located just south of the Yountville District and, as such, is considered the coolest climate is Napa next to Carneros. To read more about the district please click here and for an at-a-glance map of all Napa Valley’s appellations click here. Oak Knoll is HOT, but not in the temperature sense, and much like its neighbor to the east, Coombsville/Tulocay, is seeing greatly increased demand for grapes but not from the big guys; rather, demand in Oak Knoll is from small winemakers crafting elegantly powerful expressions of Napa Cabernet.

Again, the style here is more iron fist/velvet glove than Betty Boop and Lot 75 reflects those same values. Made in a high-end custom crush facility from perfectly ripe 2006 fruit (great vintage– click here for more on 2006 harvest in Napa) Lot 75 saw only about 33% new French Oak and is more an expression of fruit elegance than oak. The tannins are well integrated into the wine which is extremely well-structured and, like Lot 35, well built for the cellar.

In comparison to Lot 35, I would say this is the superior wine from a better vintage combining more up front fruit and better overall musculature (about a point higher in Alcohol at 14.5%). Purple fruits on the nose with more chocolate and mocha/espresso flavors on the palate. The wine is huge structurally with a long, sustained finish despite being tightly wound. A bit more open at this stage than Lot 35, Lot 75 probably has more in common with Lot 73 off of Chalk Hill. Just coming out to play, this wine has a long life ahead of it.

Ummm… did I mention this wine happens to be an EXCEPTIONAL VALUE? No way in heck you are gonna find cabernet this good for $13. Speaking of awesome deals, our good friends at Costco will have this wine available to them. I know some has already hit San Diego and should be soon hitting NorCal and LA regions. I am sure Texas will get their share (though there never seems to be enough Cabernet for Texas) and hopefully Illinois as well.

Stay tuned as well for our Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot to be released here in a few weeks.

Our new Sampler, October Opulence ($164), is available now!  The theme is big, opulent reds.  With the hot weather finally starting to die down, big red wines are making their way back into season!

Included are four bottles each of Lot 67 2005 Russian River Syrah, Lot 73 2006 Chalk Hill Cab and Lot 99 2004 Lake County Cabernet Franc.

Lot 67 has been a crowd favorite at recent events in San Francisco and Austin.  It’s got a unique minty nose with chocolate on the palate.

Lot 73 is just starting to unwind and has potential to be a Lot Series legend.  It scored a 90 point score recently from Wine Enthusiast.  It is full of black fruits, mocha and dark chocolate.

Cam’s palate continues to impress me, as I wasn’t expecting much out of a Cabernet Franc from Lake County; I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted Lot 99.  This big red has a beautiful nose full of vanilla and roses with cassis and blackberries on the taste. It demands pairing with red meat.  Decant these wines to get the best flavor profile.

Remember, shipping on all samplers is Free! Order now!

Dear Friends,

Before I get too far into this let me just say a few things:

1. This post concerns easily the best chardonnay we have ever produced.
2. Lot 73 is starting to loosen up and it just got a 90 score in the Wine Enthusiast (click here to find stores near you)
3. If you haven’t had Lot 67 and you like either California syrah or Aussie Shiraz, you gotta try this wine. Online only.
4. Lot 33 is still sleeping, don’t touch.
5. Lot 91 oak is just on the tail-end of integration.
6. If you like big, fat, rich oaky reds with plenty of maturation and ready to drink now, look no further than the Lot 99 2004 Lake County Cab Franc. This small production will release to NorCal Costco’s in the next month or so, otherwise it’s online only.

OK – onto the good stuff!

Having fallen in love with Margaret River Chardonnay during our last trip to Australia, I started to poke around the region and see who might want to make some wine for us. One lead in particular brought us to an American owned grower group that, while they hadn’t any grapes or wine to sell, they did have an ultra-premium concept project of $30 chardonnay that hadn’t gotten much retail support – it was bottled in shiners would we take it off their hands? We were a bit skeptical of 2004 chardonnays but what the heck, we’ll try anything.

Glad we did – we were blown away at how these wines had held up, fresh and bright and drinking beautifully. If you have ever had Cullen Chardonnay then you will know what these wines aspire to: low yielding vines from the best blocks, carefully harvested, hand sorted, and chilled overnight before gentle whole cluster crushing. Only free run juice went into the 50% new, 50% used top quality French oak for fermentation. The wines were aged 18 months in barrel and then only the best barrels chosen for the final blend.

We have two wines, a small Lot of Margaret River Chardonnay (340 cases) and a larger production (1800 cases), Lot 97 Chardonnay Western Australia, a regional blend of sub-appellations Manjimup, Blackwood Valley, Pemberton and others. All of the wines were made in the EXACT same way (including use of new oak and ageing times) to preserve their typicity and make for the best blending components. The small Lot of Margaret River Chard will be website only as we only have about 300 cases, the larger Lot will find its way into super-demo’s in Costco’s around California but will be available online as well.

As I mentioned previously, Lot 92 2004 Margaret River Chardonnay ($14) is SPECTACULAR and, according to unanimous consensus in our office, the best white wine we have ever produced. Even if you don’t normally drink chardonnay, you ought to try this – winemaker David says this wine compares to burgundies at 5x the price. Gorgeously structured with perfectly integrated fruit and oak, utterly seamless. The nose soars out of the glass with elegantly rendered vanilla, almond and lemon verbena notes. On the palate the wine is full bodied but well supported showing spicy nutmeg, butterscotch and almond. What’s amazing about this wine is its structure, everything’s in perfect balance. Compare at $30-50.

Lot 97 Western Australia Chardonnay ($13) is no red-headed stepchild to Lot 92. A regional selection, these Lots were made in the EXACT same fashion as Lot 92 in every way down to their bottling on the same day. If Lot 92 is our best chardonnay, the Lot 97 is certainly among our top 3. Baked apple pie on the nose with notes of yeast and smoky gunflint (gunpowder?). Have you ever heard of botrytis? Clearly some of the clusters had botrytis and it shows adding additional sweetness and complexity to the nose. Carmel crust, apricot and toasty oak round out the mid-palate. Fantastic acidity and overall structure with, again, perfectly integrated oak – clearly, however, these lots come from a slightly warmer climate. An apt comparison would be the western reach of the Sonoma Coast appellation versus the slightly more inland Russian River Valley. Compare at $30-50.

That all for now folks.

Cheers!

Cameron

The following locations have all received their deliveries for this weekend.

Fort Worth     –  Lot  91 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
East Plano    – Lot 64 California Red Blend
Duncanville     – Lot  91 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Arlington     – Lot  91 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Southlake    – Lot  75 Napa Valley Oak Knoll District Cabernet
Lewisville     – Lot  75 Napa Valley Oak Knoll District Cabernet & Lot 46 Hunter Valley Shiraz
West Plano     – Lot 64 California Red Blend

I’ll be working on delivery confirmation and wines for Houston, San Antonio, and Austin as soon as I know - Stay tuned!

Rob