"The Wine Glut," Cameron Hughes and NoVA Costcos

[Joe H]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575210080165312598.html is the link to a recent Wall Street Journal article on the wine glut and one man trying to sell a serious amount of wine at a fraction of the price. You can buy from his website or from the handful of Costcos in the East who sell it. The website notes that Fairfax and Sterling each carry two of his cabs along with several other wines. Pentagon City and Leesburg are more limited; no mention of any other Costcos in the area. I have not tasted this yet but look forward to trying it.

[B.A.R.]

I always enjoyed the Spencer Roloson wines, partucularly those from Madder Lake. Sam is whipsmart and has a keen eye for opportunity in the wine industry. His involvement intrigues me, but I get a little nervous when the pedigree is only referenced by the mysterious "price" of the raw product. Just because it's expensive, doesn't mean it's good. And just because it's good, doesn't necessarily mean it's worth it. Off to Costco this weekend, will diligently drink everything I can find and report back.

[zoramargolis]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575210080165312598.html is the link to a recent Wall Street Journal article on the wine glut and one man trying to sell a serious amount of wine at a fraction of the price. You can buy from his website or from the handful of Costcos in the East who sell it. The website notes that Fairfax and Sterling each carry two of his cabs along with several other wines. Pentagon City and Leesburg are more limited; no mention of any other Costcos in the area. I have not tasted this yet but look forward to trying it.

I had the Rutherford cab the other night, which I got for $12 at the Pentagon City Costco. It was pleasant and drinkable, but it didn't knock my socks off by any means.

[mr food]

I had the Rutherford cab the other night, which I got for $12 at the Pentagon City Costco. It was pleasant and drinkable, but it didn't knock my socks off by any means.

I ordered a case of various reds a few months ago-howell mtn, mt veeder, diamond mtn. Good QPR but didn't blow me away either.

[Joe H]

I ordered a case of various reds a few months ago-howell mtn, mt veeder, diamond mtn. Good QPR but didn't blow me away either.

Well....we tried three different wines and they were all worth the respective $10, 12 and 14 that I paid for them. Not a single one tasted like it should have cost much more. Comparing this to, say, Altos Luzon, Juan Gil, Columbia Crest Grand Estates. or even Estancia cab on sale I believe that all of these fall short. Did the $12.99 cab taste like a $30 or 40 Napa cab? No. Did it taste like a $20 Napa cab? No, not really either. Will I buy another bottle of this stuff? No. The $10.99 and $12.99 cabs at Costco were fine; they just tasted like $10.99 and $12.99 cabs.

Certainly, nothing that we drank tasted like we were buying wine for twenty cents on the dollar. Or thirty cents on the dollar. Or, to be honest eighty or ninety cents on the dollar. Overall, given the expectations fostered by the WSJ article we were really disappointed. Simply, nothing drank like we were benefitting from a "wine glut."

Now, if the $12 cab had been $6 that would have been another matter... Still, there is much to be said for some Spanish and Washington state wine at a discount.

[Joe H]

This is my most important post in this thread. Last night I opened Lot 136 which is a $15 CA (Rutherford?) cab. I purchased this directly from Cameron Hughes as part of a sampler case. It is penny for penny the best value of any wine that I have ever tasted. Period. It tasted for all the world like a $50 or 60 wine. 14.9% alcohol, extremely full bodied and jammy yet smooth. I cannot rave about this wine enough. It is EVERYTHING that I expected his other wines to be and were not. In fact halfway through the bottle I picked up the phone and bought two more cases of it, having them shipped to me in October. An UNBELIEVABLE VALUE AT $15.00.

I am now inclined to believe that Costco is a kind of surplus inventory; in fact the three bottles of Costco were virtual swill compared to the Lot 136. In the future I'll try another bottle or two from Costco but last night Cameron Hughes lived up to the WSJ billing buying directly from them. The sampler has three more wines at $12 and $13 price points along with a $50 Hughes Wellman. I am really looking forward to the Hughes Wellman now! The $12 and $13 bottles will be interesting also.

[zoramargolis]

This is my most important post in this thread. Last night I opened Lot 136 which is a $15 CA (Rutherford?) cab. I purchased this directly from Cameron Hughes as part of a sampler case. It is penny for penny the best value of any wine that I have ever tasted. Period. It tasted for all the world like a $50 or 60 wine. 14.9% alcohol, extremely full bodied and jammy yet smooth. I cannot rave about this wine enough. It is EVERYTHING that I expected his other wines to be and were not. In fact halfway through the bottle I picked up the phone and bought two more cases of it, having them shipped to me in October. An UNBELIEVABLE VALUE AT $15.00.

I am now inclined to believe that Costco is a kind of surplus inventory; in fact the three bottles of Costco were virtual swill compared to the Lot 136. In the future I'll try another bottle or two from Costco but last night Cameron Hughes lived up to the WSJ billing buying directly from them. The sampler has three more wines at $12 and $13 price points along with a $50 Hughes Wellman. I am really looking forward to the Hughes Wellman now! The $12 and $13 bottles will be interesting also.

I sincerely hope it turns out that the two cases you just ordered are the self same wine that you enjoyed the other night.

[dcs]

I sincerely hope it turns out that the two cases you just ordered are the self same wine that you enjoyed the other night.

It looks like each lot is a single production. FYI, if you sign up for the e-mail list, you will get a 10% off coupon.

[Joe H]

Now it is Saturday night of the Memorial Day weekend and I've opened the $50 Hughes Wellman which has implications of Screaming Eagle or of some other impossibly expensive CA cab. Having scrolled the internet for others' experiences I opened the bottle at 4:45 and decanted it at 5:30. At 6:00 I poured my first taste. It is smooth. Extremely smooth. Byut it lacks the layers of flavor of, say, an '06 Groth Reserve or the concentration. Frankly, it drinks like a very good $50.00 wine which it is. With several neighbors I've also opened the lot 138 Santa Barbara cab and it is fine, well worth the $12 or so that it costs. But it is not a $30 or a $20 wine. Nor is the Hughes Wellman a penny more than the $50 asked.

Right now the lot 136 looks like the exception. An incredible exception but an exception nevertheless. Cameron Hughes is not the lifetime bargain that we have all hoped for. At least not most bottles of it.

[Joe H]

www.chwine.com

In the spring I took delivery of three bottles of the 136 as part of a Wall Street Journal sampler special. ( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575210080165312598.html ) It was remarkably good-for the price. A $35 to 40 wine masquerading as a $14. Everything that Cameron Hughes was suppose to represent. Several neighbors and myself "sampled" all three bottles and I ended up buying two more cases which I put on hold for the summer-and just took delivery of on Friday. Last night I drank the first bottle from those cases.

Worth the wait, simply a remarkable bottle of wine for under $15. Before anyone starts thinking about buying this full bodied red please understand that they are sold out. In fact it is now showing up on restaurant wine lists for $65 and $75, a remarkable markup that still won't disappoint anyone buying it.

The lot 172 is something of a different story. At the bottom of this post I am including Cameron Hughes comments about it. Reading this on their website and believing that there might be another 136 out there I spent the $22 they wanted per bottle. And bought the necessary case. Please note that they promoted this as a "big" red.

As I type this I am sipping the 172 which has now been open for over an hour. It is a very good wine, well worth the $22 I paid. I'd put it in league with, say, Franciscan, Starmont or Sterling-all wines which Safeway and Harris Teeter try to sell for $30 a bottle or more. All wines that I can buy at Costco or Total or on line for $15-19. Starmont at, say, $18 or 19 is a better value than the lot 136 at $22. Northstar Merlot which Costco sells for $19.95 blows away all of these, by the way. (Costco at Pentagon City had 400+ bottles of this last week...)

My point is that Cameron Hughes presents its wines as absolute bargains that sell for a fraction of what they should. Having now opened at least ten different wines I can agree with this: for the lot 136. But not for the other nine. The lot 172 is a very good wine but it is no more special than what I can find if I search a bit in local stores or surf the internet for a good price. They are selling their wine for a fair price, perhaps even a good price. But the vast majority of them are not the absolute steals that the Wall Street Journal article suggested.

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This is what Cameron Hughes website says about the 172:

Taste: Beautiful, dark scarlet center with a matching rim. Aromas of ripe, dark fruit with a touch of sweet vanilla occupy the forward bouquet. The wine offers deeper flavors of blueberry on the palate, reverberating the lush fruit and vanilla bean essence that is elevated by rich French oak. This is a well-structured Cabernet with tannins soft and supple.

Cameron Confidential: This cab comes from a high-end program that has been making great Cabernet for years, so we were lucky to get our hands on some cab this good. We sourced this wine from an $85-per-bottle program out of Atlas Peak. The most valuable aspect of Atlas Peak is its high elevation. Grapes grown at this high elevation, above the natural fog line, experience much lower daytime temperatures than those on the valley floor, allowing the grapes to stay cool while gaining maximum sun exposure. As a result, mountain growers can afford to harvest later and pick for optimal flavor without the risk of overripe fruit and excessive alcohol. While this strategy benefits many varietals, no grape variety develops as well in mountain conditions as Cabernet Sauvignon.

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[Mark Slater]

Lot 136 is on the list at Ray's: The Steaks for $36. Lot 74 is $25. Both are delicious bargains.