Grape Smart
The San Francisco Vintners Market
by Jessyca Frederick
A few weeks ago I sprinted up the coast for the San Francisco Vintners Market upon the request of a super-duper awesome friend. We SF-newbies found our way to the Fort Mason Center early enough to enjoy the event before it filled up with a really huge number of people (think of an airplane hanger filled with tables and tables and tables of wine and wine reps and maybe 100 tasters). It was a fun event where I ran into some friends (who were working) and made some new ones (who were also working).
I really only had one objective for the day… meet Cameron Hughes of the eponymous wine label, Cameron Hughes. And meet him we did. The emptiness of the hangaresque space made it easy to chat with him and his team for a bit, and he personally poured our tasting which was a great deal of fun. Now, Cameron Hughes wines aren’t exactly the stuff the snootier publications typically go ga-ga over, but I’m a BIG fan for a few reasons:
- The wines in the Lot Series are consistently excellent. Not every one of them pleases my palate, but they are all high quality wines produced from fruit grown by top-notch vineyards or juice from top-notch winemakers.
- This great quality of wine is available easily (Costco, Sam’s Club, grocery stores, and MANY wine stores) and at affordable prices (rarely over $20, usually from $9-13).
- I admire the innovation of the business model.
- My newest reason: Cameron is a friendly, down-to-earth guy who loves wine and sharing wine with as many people as possible