Have you ever walked into a wine store and felt overwhelmed? While the wall to wall selection is nice, it’s easy to get lost and confused. How do you know if you’re purchasing an amazing Cabernet? Then the prices hit you. Some are just crazy! Yes, I want a nice bottle of wine that I’m going to enjoy but I don’t want to spend $100 on it either. Cameron Hughes takes the stress and anxiety out of wine purchases, they also deliver some of the best wines at a fraction of the cost of the wine store, plus you don’t even have to leave home! Cameron Hughes brings it to you.
How do they do this? How does Cameron Hughes bring us exceptional wine at lower prices? Negotiation. They negotiate with the winery and vineyard to bring us the best wines while keeping the source a secret. So you’re not paying for a certain name to be on the bottle you are paying for the wine inside the bottle. Cameron Hughes literally visit hundred of wineries and vineyards to find the best wines and bring them to us, the wine-loving public, at fair prices so everyone can enjoy. It’s a win-win for all of us!
And did I mention they deliver it to your door?? Living in Minnesota the last thing I want to do is go shopping in the winter. It’s cold, pushing a cart through icy parking lots is nearly impossible. Wit Cameron Hughes I can sit back and relax, in my Pjs, read about the different wines at my leisure and pick out what I would like with the click of a finger. I like not feeling rushed or pressured. I can also read reviews of the wines by other consumers to help my decision. Or I can join the wine club and let Cameron Hughes send me wines they think I’ll enjoy each month.
So, with the holidays here we did a little stocking up for our wine cabinet. You never know who’ll be stopping by for drinks or when you may need a glass of wine to help unwind from the holiday craziness. Here are a few of my top picks.
Lot 539 – 2015 Oregon Pinot Noir – $13
Dark garnet with a bright crimson hue, Lot 539 serves up rich and vibrant aromas with a pretty red fruit mélange of wild strawberry, cranberry, and cherry beautifully integrated and underpinned by notes of fresh earth and wet stone that take on a spicy/peppery robe with air. “Quite lovely”, my British friends would say. To me, it’s the perfect blend of accessible complexity and ripe-yet-honest fruit. Succulent and juicy on the palate with a long, rich finish and classic Oregon freshness, it features a wave of ample tannins that will give it another 6-10 years of graceful aging.
STYLE: Medium, Fruity
FLAVORS: Cherry, Cranberry, Strawberry
Lot 601 – 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – $32
An excellent example of alluvial benchland Cabernet, starting with dusty plum notes (“Rutherford Dust,” anyone?), pretty acacia flower, and cherry/blackcurrant/blackberry fruit. With just a little bit of air, it blooms a gorgeous perfume of sweet, spicy florals, rich plum, and electric cherry and blackcurrant notes all riding a gravelly spine. Absolutely gorgeous and notable for its bright, well-defined fruit. On the palate, it’s densely textured, yet juicy and energetic with chocolatey plum, cherry, blackcurrant and black pepper notes suavely fleshed out in a long, sweeping finish that foretells of much more to come. The oak integration here is perfect, and while the wine is beautiful now, it definitely benefits from air and will drink much better than the 2013s did this time last year. The 2014s are amply built with energetic fruit, freshness and approachability, with exciting down the road potential.
STYLE: Full, Bold
FLAVORS: Blackcurrant, Cherry, Plum
Lot 540 – 2015 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon – $12
Deliciously dense purple color and leaps out of the glass with an effusive perfume of plum and currant, spicy licorice and blackberry, all underpinned with nice cedary oak. Crème de Cassis and blackberry fruit explode across the palate in a juicy, hedonistic flourish that will keep you coming back for more. This is the ultimate everyday Cabernet.
STYLE: Full, Smooth
FLAVORS: Blackberry, Cassis
Lot 575 – 2014 Red Mountain Red Blend – $16
Dark, almost opaque in the glass, the nose features an intense mélange of dark berry fruit, gamey black cherry, and spicy florals backed with chocolaty oak notes – everything here is perfectly proportioned and wonderfully integrated. It’s linear and focused on the palate, with nuanced cherry fruit, red rock, and chocolate notes carried on a well-structured spine of perfectly integrated tannins.
STYLE: Medium, Smooth
FLAVORS: Cherry, Chocolate
Lot 606 – 2014 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon – $29
No expense spared, Icon-level winemaking. Aged in 50% new French oak, this opaque black wine is textbook, classic Rutherford Cabernet. Sumptuous and suave on the nose, it features a gorgeous mélange of blackberry, cherry, cassis, dark chocolate and mint underpinned with graphite and mineral wrapped in lavender florals. The palate is juicy and succulent, with red and black fruit and a finely knit but resounding kirsch/mocha punch. The tremendous energy and tension that makes the 2014 vintage so exciting is present in spades. Lot 606 is now showing quite well, but would love a nice decant to stretch its legs. Of course, everything’s here and in the right proportions for another 15-20 years of graceful aging.
STYLE: Full, Smooth
FLAVORS: Blackberry, Cassis
Lot 549 – 2015 Eola-Amity Hills Chardonnay – $15
A gorgeously aromatic wine, it features an immediate nose of ripe honeysuckle, crystalline minerality, sweet cream and grilled pineapple that gains complexity, adding Meyer lemon and papaya notes with a little air. Lush pineapple and sweet cream greet the palate, but are quickly upstaged by a lip-smacking mélange of citrus, tropical fruit-slathered rock, and a long, pure finish. With a vinous, electric quality and complexity comparable to Premier Cru Burgundy, Lot 549 is an incredible value. Like its Burgundian counterparts, you’ll want to make sure not to serve this wine too cold.
STYLE: Medium, Smooth
See what I mean? Fabulous wines without breaking the bank!
It’s not too late to order some for the holidays. How about New Years? Head over and check out the whole selection at Cameron Hughes. You can pick the bottles out individual or buy a sampler with several bottles or join the club. It’s up to you! Did I mention this would make a fabulous stock stuffer for the wine lover in your life? Give them a subscription and place a little card in their stocking! Or stuff the stocking with 1 bottle of wine with a note about more to come!
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