by Jacob
Several years ago, I had the chance to review a sample box of Cameron Hughes wines from TastingRoom.com. Overall, those tastings were a positive experience and made me want to try more of Cameron Hughes’ wines. Cameron Hughes is an interesting winery. Instead of owning vineyards or sourcing fruit from the same places year after year, the Cameron Hughes winery locates the best available grapes and makes them into wine labeled by lot. As the winery explains:
The Lot Series of wines preserves the ultra-premium quality of the original Lot by bottling it unadulterated and never “back-blended.” Each Lot is numbered to maintain the integrity of the original wine. While each Lot varies in case quantities and price, it always delivers exceptional value.
Recently, I had the chance to buy some Cameron Hughes wine from Woot.com for about $10 bottle, including shipping. The first bottle I opened was the 2010 Cameron Hughes Lot 291 Lodi Zinfandel. The wine is bottled with a cork and has a nose of bright dark cherry with just a hint of spice. The wine is young and has almost no tannins and is jammy in the glass with more dark cherry flavor and a peppery finish (typical of zinfandel). At a little less than $10 a bottle and available at Costco, Safeway and other merchants, this is a wine to search out (15% alcohol). (Rating **** 1/2).
