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. "
Read more (pdf)