Thursday, February 25, 2010

2007 Lot 152 Cabernet, Cameron Hughes, Alexander Valley

Nice representation of a cab from Alexander Valley/Sonoma County.  Sweet cherry aroma, dark cherry on the palate and smooth tanins, light pepper finish.  I had my favorite dinner of steak au poivre smothered in sauteed crimini mushrooms.  I add a little A1 Steak Sauce.  The raisony/orange tastes of the A1 Sauce blend well as a food pairing with Lot152.  The dinner pairing was so good, I almost drank the entire bottle myself.  Grab these other Cameron Hughes wines that have been discounted to move.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

2007 Lot 149, Cab Cameron Hughes Wine, Napa

Video Wine Tasting
Like a Rutherford or an Oakville cab, this wine is super fat. There are certain types of wine that we send in to the critics, looking for low- to mid-90-point scores—and this is one of those wines. This wine came to us from the same winemaker that crafted Lot 143, another great Cabernet from Howell Mountain. Lot 149 comes from Mount George (located just back behind Napa proper), which has recently been a trending region in the wine world. We sourced this wine from a vineyard located just next door to famous Cabernet producer Jarvis—it has amazing soil for vines, but it just hasn't been assigned an AVA yet. If you like an enormous Cabernet, this one is a steal for $22. - Cam

2007 Lot 164 Cab, Cameron Hughes Rutherford

Nice!  Who can argue about a great cab from Rutherford for around $20 bucks?  This was a true showing of the Napa cab grape  Full bodied, fruit and smooth yet spicey finish.  I had this with one of my favorite dinners of grilled rib eye and sauteed mushrooms.  I love A1 Steak Sauce because of its raisony/orange flavors.  I put a bit of this while sauteeding the mushrooms.  Don't skimp.  Sauteed a pound of mushrooms with garlic and parsley.  Sauteed a pot of sweet onions too.  Smoother the steak and drink a bottle of this cab.  Lot 164 will not disappoint.  CHwine has some great deals on line now.  Lot 164 medium plus to full body.  A great Rutherford wine.  Great value!
Vintage: 2007
Appellation: Rutherford
Grape: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol by volume: 14.5%
Production: 650 cases
Release date: December 15, 2009
Drink/Hold: Now and through 2029

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Sunday, February 7, 2010

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1999 Schug Cabernet Sauvignon

Wow. How wonderful to be able to enjoy a 1999 Schug from Sonoma Valley. This winery is a great place to visit www.schugwinery.com. I have great memories of visiting this winery several times throughout the last eleven years. This wine ages well, be secure in the fact that this is a hand-crafted, low production winery. You can drink now but store and age for later celebrations.

2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmody McKnight, Paso Robles

I opened this bottle in celebration of my daughter having her 1st child, my 1st grandchild, four days ago.  Her husband BBQ's a steak and I thought what better time than to open a special bottle of 10yr cab from Paso.  I had the pleasure of working at Carmody McKnight over 6 years ago in 2004.   The property is a must see and must tasting through all the wines, understanding the terrior in this special place.  A beautiful location for weddings, picnics, celebrations. I remember driving in the gate for the first time and thinking, yikes, how pretty, I am actually working here!  Being from the Bay Area, this scenery was certainly amazingly wonderful.  In addition the family who owns the winery is also the most caring people.  I just loved them when I worked there.  And, they take you in as family. As for the 2000 cab, it is tasting very fine.  The tannins smoothed out, the fruit is perfect, chocolate, cherries, and a pepper finish.  A licorice nose starts out the pleasure of how amazing this wine has stored over the ten years since it was bottled.  Unfortunately I did not buy a case of this.  Carmody McKnight's winemaker, builds these wines for laying down.  Make sure you buy a case of their cab, cab franc and blends.  They are gold medal winners.  Save these for a special occasion like me.  I love this winery.  So please visit and ask for Kathleen.  Her dad and mom are also so very talented.  Gary Conway is an outstanding artist and designs all the wine bottle labels.  Some of his art work is also at the winery.  It certainly is worth the trip.  Please click on www.carmodymcknight.comhttp://www.carmodymcknight.com for a great adventure.  They are the winery before you get to Justin Vineyards.  Justin bought 90 acres from the Conways in the early 80s and planted grapes.  Gary Conway followed, planting grapes, after having many other adventures.  Long story. Now CalPoly has been studying the terrior and other nuances about this special property of volcanic intrusion and limestone soils.