5 wines by Cameron Hughes, Then Dinner With Old and New Brunellos

What follows is a post to the snooth.com website made by Gregory Dal Piaz, regarding a tasting of 5 new wines by Cameron Hughes, then a great Italian dinner at Il Corso paired with a half dozen or so bottles of old and new Brunello's di Montalcinio and Chianti's:

The start with Cameron Hughes and the end with Vin Santo

by Gregory Dal Piaz


I had a great afternoon on Sunday as I met with Eric Guido and Dave Trieger in the Snooth conference room to try a line-up from Cameron Hughes. I was really interested in these wines and glad I ended up popping them on Sunday, since I was fortunate to have the time on Monday to go through them again... and as well as they showed on Sunday, they were singing by Monday night.

Just briefly the line-up included;

The "fruit bomb" Campo de Borja that was ok but I can see it being a crowd pleaser
http://www.snooth.com/wine/cameron-hughes-grenache-campo-de-borja-lot-98-2007/

The tough, austere Tempranillo that exploded in the glass by day 2
http://www.snooth.com/wines/cameron%20campo/#cameron+tempranillo:1:0:0:125:sr

The effusively good old vine zin that everyone liked, and I do mean everyone
http://www.snooth.com/wine/lot-86-lodi-zin-80-year-old-vines-2006/

The easy going, soft and plummy Meritage that stayed the course over 2 days
http://www.snooth.com/wine/cameron-hughes-lot-72-napa-valley-meritage-2005/

The classic Napa Cabernet, rugged yet polished with excellent cellaring potential, a killer value!
http://www.snooth.com/wine/cameron-hughes-lot-72-napa-valley-meritage-2005/

We then went out for a great dinner and met up with Dave's friend Allen, and Ben Goldberg for a fine repast including Tuscan delights!

We began with a pair from Chianti, the 1990 Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico and the San Giusto a Rentennano Chainti Classcio Riserva.
http://www.snooth.com/wine/badia-a-coltibuono-chianti-classico-1990/
http://www.snooth.com/wine/san-giusto-rentennano-chianti-classico-riserva-1990/

The Riserva was a finer wine, fleshier and rounder though the Badia a Coltibuono was just so ready, so transparent and peaking that I found it irresistible. I have a soft spot for catching wines at their peak and it was an itch that this bottle scratched!

We followed these up with a pair of Brunello;

http://www.snooth.com/wine/col-dorcia-brunello-di-montalcino-1990/
http://www.snooth.com/wine/azienda-agricola-la-torre-brunello-di-montalcino-2001/

The Col d'Orcia was beautiful, almost fully resolved with remarkable freshness and detail, a bottle I could spend all day with. The La Torre on the other hand had just entered it's drinking window and should ultimately prove to be a better bottle than the Col d'Orcia, in some 10 years or so. Perfectly rich and ripe with great balance and structure it was a delight to try.

We ended the reds with a pair of youngsters, both still in the flush of youth.
http://www.snooth.com/wine/fattoria-dei-barbi-brunello-di-montalcino-riserva-2003/
http://www.snooth.com/wine/nando-chianti-classico-riserva-2004-3/

Both still benefited from the ample baby fat of youthful fruit, The Nando was a rich, oaky, fruit filled Chianti destined for early consumption while the Barbi offered good depth in a difficult vintage with just a touch of the tough tannins that so many wines of the vintage carry.

Finally with a nice array of dessert we shared a bottle of Vin Santo
http://www.snooth.com/wine/felsina-vin-santo-1990/

It was a gorgeous wine, rich yet balanced, complex yet fresh, absolutely smashingly good and much better than my last bottle. The finish was both lingering and ethereal. Hauntingly good stuff and worth the admittedly high tariff.

And that was it, the end to another Snooth dinner. Intimate and friendly, joining friends new and old. I enjoyed the wines, the discussions and the chance to spend some time with fellow Snooth members.

Until the next time...

Cheers,

Greg

Cameron Hughes Wine

This past Sunday Greg Dal Piaz from snooth.com had a sampling of some of the new Cameron Hughes wines. Here's their website's mission statement:

With an obsession for quality and innovation, Cameron Hughes Wine, founded by Cameron Hughes and partner Jessica Kogan, 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, we rescue those 'Lots' do some stylistic blending and get it to you at a great price.

Our company produces and markets wine under Cameron Hughes Lot Series, Hughes-Wellman, RockRidge, and Evergreen. 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.

Our company is founded on the concept that excellent wine should be available at a value price. We know that it’s hard for the wine lover to know how to navigate the scores, prices and hype about wine out there. By working with vineyards around the globe we bring our customers the finest values and new exciting wines that give them the unique status of truly being "wine insiders."

Sounds to me like a way to get really good wines for very low prices. I believe if purchased by the case (mixed) the average price per bottle is $10. I had the chance to try 5 red wines from Cameron Hughes new "LOTS":

Lot 98, a 2007 Campo De Borja 60% Grenache/30% Syrah/10% Mourvedre blend from Spain: 14% alcohol, jammy acohol on the nose, palate of cherries, pepper, black fruits and oak, mild tannins.

Lot 93, a 2004 Tempranillo from Spain: Deep purple, ultra fruity nose very nice aromas of violets and flowers and red cherries/ red fruit on the palate, really nice.

Lot 86, a 2006 Lodi Zinfandel from California: Nose: warm, wood, jammy on the sweet side of dry, juicy and chewy, also very nice.

Lot 72, a 2005 Meritage from California: Nose: sweet, earthy aromas with a Bordeaux model.

Lot 75, a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa California:, Nose: oak, Fig Newtons (Eric G called it), raisins, slightly bitter on the palate.

All were very good, my 2 standout favorites were the Spanish Tempranillo and the California Zinfandel.

Cameron Hughes Wines

From Wikipedia:
Négociant
A négociant is the French term for a wine merchant who assembles the produce of smaller growers and winemakers and sells the result under its own name.

Cameron Hughes is a Negociant in the wine world, delivering small "Lots" of high-end wines at very affordable prices. He’ll shop around the world’s best wine regions, including France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, and California to find some very good juice in bulk that a vineyard might sell for $55 per bottle and sell it for $15. He sells directly to consumers on line thru his website and retails mainly at Costco.

I had the pleasure of meeting him yesterday to sample some of his newer releases at the Snooth offices in NYC. To me they were all great value wines. Here are some of my abbreviated tasting notes:

Lot 108 Napa Valley Chardonnay 2007 $14
Apple, pineapple, lemon rind and pear aromas with lemon verbena and grapefruit on a creamy fresh finish.

Lot 159 Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2008: new release $14
Musky aromas, citrus, creamy oak.

Lot 125 Napa Carneros Pinot Noir 2007 $18
Aromas of dark cherries, mineral/petrol with flavors of black pepper, raspberry, chocolate and a creamy caramel finish.

Lot 129 Campo de Borja Garnacha 2007 $16
Leather, red fruits, wood bark, dark cherry fruits, smoke, violets, slight carbonation.

Lot 135 Central Coast Syrah 2007 $12
Animal, bright fruits, dark berries, strawberries, red licorice.

Lot 169 Napa Valley Merlot 2007: new release
Blue fruits, candy cane, some heat, blueberries, oak, structured.

Lot 147 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $15
Dry, tarry, some minerality, tight, attractive aromas of leather, sachet d'Épices and black cherry, with violet notes and oak.

Lot 149 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $22
Super intense perfumes of flowers especially lilac, powdered violets, sweet juicy blue fruits and cassis. My favorite of the group.

Lot 154 Lake Country Zinfandel 2006: new release $13
Bubblegum, vanilla, banana and blueberry

Cameron Hughes Lot 147 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

My tasting notes from the Snooth Blind Cab Tasting last week for this Cameron Hughes were not extensive, but it was my favorite out of the third flight:

Aromas of Chocolate along with a barnyard earthiness showing a slightly vegetal palate with hints of ripe tomato. 15.2% alcohol.

Cameron Hughes Lot 143 Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet 2007

More tasting notes from the Snooth California Cabernet Sauvignon Blind Tasting earlier this month. Made from 90% Cabernet, 6% Tempranillo, 4% Syrah... on the nose chocolate, cherry cola, cassis, violets, super dry on the palate but with cedar, cigar box and ripe black fruits, and a floral note, nice acidity, short to medium finish.

Hughes notes:
In this economic environment, more and more wineries are presenting their wines to us, so one could say that as the economy gets worse, our selection gets better. Lot 143 is one of the first acquisitions of Sam Spencer, (our new wine maker) after originally bringing us Lots 1 and 2 back in 2003. Sam has focused on stepping outside of traditional brokerage channels to find the upper-echelon wines that tiptoe around the frenzy of the wine-sourcing market.

This lot in particular has been nothing less than mind-blowing. It comes from a $95 per bottle program, so with a little fine-tuning by Sam, becomes one of the best wines we offer at $22 per bottle. We just submitted it for reviews and should have the results by the end of 2009. I would be shocked if it scored anything less than 92 points. The grower group responsible for this wine has consistently scored in the mid 90s and with 2007 being one of the best years that Napa has seen, making this wine truly exceptional.

Cameron Hughes Lot 116 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

My tasting notes from the Snooth California Cabernet Sauvignon Blind Tasting earlier this month yielded this natural winner for me.

Ruby colored, with a dark bouquet of vanilla, cassis, menthol/eucalyptus, and white pepper, and dry earthy tones displaying wholesome fruity flavors, combining together to produce a full-bodied, balanced Cabernet with ripe cherries lingering as a finishing touch.

14.5% alcohol, $22/bottle retail

Cameron Confidential:
From an 85 dollar bottle-program and the virtuoso wine maker that brought us Lot 133 2008 Atlas Peak Chardonnay, this primary blend is of a completely custom facility in Napa. Sourced from some of the best vineyards in Mount Veeder, Oakville, Rutherford, and Spring Mountain, this wine receives continual 91, 92, and 93 point scores. It does sit at the high point of our pricing at 22 dollars, but is absolutely worth every penny. Remember: this is not leftover barrel lots but the actual bottling blend from an $85/bottle program.

Cameron Hughes Lot 138 Santa Barbara Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

From the third flight of the Snooth Blind Cabernet tasting, a noticeable 14.9% alcohol level, aromas loaded with oak, black raspberries, cassis and a dry dusty palate. Flavors waft with a bit of cassis, mint, pencil lead, and black fruits, nice... but just a bit short on the finish. Might need a little time.