Wine Q&A with The Tasting Panel #4

Watch or listen as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes, and Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walk us through frequently asked questions about wine.

It seems like only yesterday that we sold our first Lot Series wine: Lot 1, 2002 Lodi Syrah. Nearly 900 releases later, we’re still going strong.  Over the years we have heard a LOT of interesting questions about wine and we hope that Wanda and Nicole will help answer some of your questions in this educational video.

Today’s Wine Q&A topics include:

  1. Why is Pinot Noir called the “heartbreak grape”?
  2. What are some more wine nicknames?
  3. Why are there different types of wine bottles?
  4. Is wine a science or art? (or both?)
  5. Does seasonality play a role in what wine types you should drink?
  6. How do you turn your beer-loving friend into a wine lover?
  7. Why do some geographical wine sources emphasize varietal and others the region?
  8. Drink the wine now, or save it?
  9. Why is there such a variation in wine prices?

We love answering your wine questions! Keep the conversation going by sending us your questions about wine!

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HOW TO SURVIVE WINE TASTING

TASTE THE LOT SERIES WINES

Lot 921 2020 North Coast White Wine

You could drink any old Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio. Or, you could fill up on this an EXTRA-ORDINARY, rare blend.

This one was a blast to put together! Here’s the inside scoop on how Lot 921—a deliciously rare white blend—came to be. In early 2020, our viticulturist, Zeke, picked up the phone to find out a host of unique varieties originally destined for a master blender of kitchen-sink grapes was backing out of a deal. The caller offered Zeke Chardonnay and Bianchetta Trevigiana (an Italian variety) from Carneros, Viognier and Pinot Grigio grapes from Sonoma Mountain, and Grenache Blanc and Albariño from the Suisun Valley, east of San Francisco.

Zeke conferenced with the winemaking team to find out if they wanted all those varieties, and their collective thinking was immediately affirmative. They reasoned that if this legendary master blender was planning to bottle all those grapes into one blend—the Cameron Hughes team should do the same. It’s so rare that we get to flex our creative muscles with whites from California. It’s usually either Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. But not Lot 921. This white HAS IT ALL. The creaminess and ripe tropical and orchard fruit of Chardonnay; the zesty-bright acidity of Bianchetta Trevigiana; the fleshy, juicy, floral-driven qualities from Viognier and Pinot Grigio, balanced by the soft, silken, and highly aromatic notes from Grenache Blanc and Albariño. The result is pure aromatic magic. Lot 921 is a wine you could smell all day and night. And at $16 per bottle, you should drink plenty of it, too.

We’re pouring Lot 921 side-by-side with Sole Meunière or Coq au Vin Blanc, as the creamy fruit will complement the butter and cream of these dishes, while the bright acidity will cut through it. You could also enjoy it alongside fish and chips.

Watch as Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walks us through a tasting and unravels the mysteries of this fantastic white wine blend.

Wine Tasting Highlights:

00:00 Introduction
00:20 Mysteries of a White Wine Blend
00:26 The Color
00:47 On the Nose
01:08 On the Palate
01:57 Great for Pairing or as an Aperitif

Tasting Video Transcript:

00:00:08 –> 00:02:19
Wanda Mann says:

Hello, Wanda Mann here in the CH Wine Tasting Room with the really fun white wine blend from the north coast of California. This is Lot 921 2020 vintage. It’s a bit of a mystery. It’s not revealing too many of its secrets on the label white wine blend. But we’ll delve into that a little bit. But let’s look at that color.

I don’t know about you, but I see that and I think California sunshine, really golden in the bottle. As you can see. Nothing to hide, but also get a little closer so you can see the color there. In bright, kind of a burnished gold. It’s sunshine. It’s walking on the beach it’s just relaxing, it’s just chilling out. Oh, on the nose.

That same happy feeling. It’s very flirty. It’s peachy. It’s floral. I get a little bit of grassy ness, some lemon zest, a little bit of lime. This just feels like sunshine is just the smell is easygoing. It’s pretty is just like, just sip me already and stop talking. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Wow. A lot of flavor, a lot of texture. Again, I’m getting that peach on the palate. Maybe there’s some here. There’s a body to it. So I’m guessing maybe some Chardonnay is what I’ve been told. And a little bit of Pinot Grigio and that peachy-ness. Definitely the Viognier and that grassy note coming from the Sauvignon Blanc. So I’ve unraveled a little bit of the mystery, but the real mystery is how do you make something this delicious at this price point?

I love this wine because sometimes we say, Oh, I just want a simple white wine. And we think that means, oh, they didn’t really have to do much, but to take those grapes, put them together at this price point to create a really nice drinking experience. And what I love about this wine is you can enjoy it by itself or it is food friendly, I would think soft cheeses, a fresh ceviche, shrimp cocktail.

There’s so much you could do with this wine, but really just to sit and enjoy and even the dead of winter, if you want to imagine that you’re walking on the beach in California, in the sun, this is a great little virtual escape. So drink well and enjoy. Cheers.

 

SHOP LOT 921

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Lot 907 2021 Napa Valley Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine

A sparkling Blanc de Blancs made just like Champagne, from 100% Napa Valley Chardonnay grapes. We had to triple-check that the fact sheets on this great sparkling find weren’t somehow mixed up with a great traditional-method Champagne. Lot 907 is the kind of wine that makes you do a double (or triple) take: “Wait, this is from Napa Valley?!?”

Indeed it is—Lot 907 is a sparkling Blanc de Blancs made just like Champagne, from 100% Napa Valley Chardonnay grapes (with a mere four grams of sugar per liter in the Brut style). Our extended CHW team happens to include a nearly four-decade veteran sommelier and wine director who helped source this exceptional sparkler—aged in the bottle by the producer!—and offered it to us thanks to our deep industry contacts. Simply put, Lot 907 is the kind of wine that put CH Wine on the map for its incredible deals!

Shimmering visually and on the palate, Lot 907 gives much more expensive bubbles a serious run for their money. Opening with elegant floral, toast, and apple notes, the fine bubbles and lifted nose belie the tropical richness that waits once you get into your mouth. Every sip of this sparkler invites yet another, and another, and another… Let’s just say you will want to have plenty of bottles on hand, as this kind of price/quality ratio will put Lot 907 at the top of your “house pour” list this summer.

Opening with a clear light blond hue, a gorgeous bouquet, and a fine, persistent mousse, the casual observer should be forgiven for at first mistaking this for a classy, non-vintage Champagne in the glass. Aromas of white flower blossom, Granny Smith apple, brioche, and melon are met with just-ripe tropical fruit flavors, and the result is a pleasure to imbibe. The mouthfeel is classic Champagne-method bubbly, at once round, smooth and inviting, while also being energetic and buoyant. This 100% Napa Chardonnay sparkler shimmers both visually and on the palate and gives a lot of more expensive bubblies a serious run for their money.

Watch as Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walks us through a tasting and discusses this exciting sparkling wine.

Wine Tasting Highlights:

00:00 Intro
01:08 The Color
01:53 The Smell
02:05 The Taste

Tasting Video Transcript:

00:00:08 –> 00:02:37
Wanda Mann says:
Hello, Wanda Mann here in the CH Wine
Tasting Room.

Did tiny bubbles make you happy? Some of you know that song? When I was little. I loved that song.

I used to think it meant blowing bubbles that we did as kids. Now I’m like, It’s about sparkling wine. It’s about champagne.

Today I have a wine that’s made in the same method as champagne. But it is not champagne. So LOT 907 is our 2021 Sparkling Chardonnay from Napa Valley.

We hear Napa.We think big, robust reds or maybe some of those robust chardonnays as well. But did you know Napa is also known for traditional method? Méthode champagne was sparkling wines.

Now, this wine is 100% chardonnay. So if you want to impress your friends, you can say Blanc de Blancs, which means it’s the white of whites.

It’s made of 100% Chardonnay. This wine spent 15 months resting on the Lees. Now, when I see that in the description that tells me there’s going to be some complexity, some richness, maybe a little creaminess.

And when I hear Napa, I’m intrigued as well. So let’s pour some and see what this is all about.

I always say with sparkling, sometimes you want to stop and listen. You hear those bubbles kind of dancing around in the glass. And if you look, you can see them as well.

As long as that beautiful golden color just immediately makes me happy, makes me think of sunshine, celebrating and being festive. But it’s important to remember that sparkling wine is a wine. It’s not just for celebrations. You can pair it with food. One of my favorite things being in New York, I do maybe too much takeout and delivery.

I love my high, low pairings and I love traditional method wines like this one, but maybe some greasy, crunchy fried food. It is the perfect pairing. Trust me.

So let’s give this a smell. Really aromatic. Exactly what I expect that there’s richness, this ripeness, but it’s alive.

And that’s what you want in a sparkling wine. You want that vitality. You want to sense it even before you taste it. Wow. That is crisp. It’s fresh. But again, that 15 months in the leaves as a bit of creaminess at this price point, this wine, I have to say, will fool some of your really snooty friends who think that that’s not from champagne and it didn’t cost a fortune.

How could it be good? This is better than good. This is really delicious. I say, buy a case of this. You can impress someone as a gift or just to cheer yourself up when you’re having a tough day. So cheers.

Drink? Well.

SHOP LOT 907

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Lot 855 2020 Saint-Émilion Bordeaux

A Right Bank bottling that will leave you pondering; to cellar, or defend!?

Saint-Émilion, renowned for its incredible structures and beautiful landscapes, is globally recognized for its wine. Unlike the Left Bank wines of the Médoc, the Right Bank Saint-Émilion wines are dominated by Merlot, generally followed by Cabernet Franc, then maybe a little Cabernet Sauvignon or another permitted grape in the region as a winemaker sees fit. The cooler soils of the region make a great home for Merlot, but don’t always bring Cabernet Sauvignon to full ripeness, hence the Merlot dominated trend in the region – which makes these wine approachable much younger than the Médoc bottlings across the river, and subsequently a bit more popular in the marketplace.

Lot 855 comes to us from a long-established house in the region – the structures dating back a few centuries alone – and a winemaker with more notches in their belt than the average winemaker in the region. An extremely tight NDA restricts much of what we’d love to gush over regarding this wine, but we can tell you it’s grown in older vineyards (stateside, we’d call it “Old Vine,” “Reserve,” or something of the like), comprised of largely Merlot with a touch of Cab Franc rooted to sandy loams, and aged for 8 months before going to bottle. Extensive vine maintenance is observed including double Guyot pruning, bud maintenance, and leaf trimming. The result is a wine imbued with a fruited nose wrapped in all the earthy, leather terroir that makes for a fleshy and well-structured wine ready to nap in your cellar.

Much like its sister, Lot 854, Lot 855 is built to age, but excellent today with a very healthy decant, and getting a Bordeaux this young can only mean one thing: value alert!

Red fruits and leather open the nose on this elegantly extracted example from Bordeaux, underpinned by dried herb bouquets and blue fruit at the core. The entry is youthful and tightly wound at this stage – showing the need to decant for a good 3 hours+ before diving in, ultimately waking up a welcoming, terroir-laden palate with accents of fruit dancing around new leather over medium acidity and supple tannins. The finish is long and dry, begging for another sip, a slice of fatty ribeye, some duck confit, or all the aforementioned, because, why not?

Watch as Nicole Muscari, your Pocket Wine Advisor, walks us through a tasting and discusses this exciting French Bordeaux wine.

Wine Tasting Highlights:

00:00 Intro and Langhe
00:47 The Color
01:06 On the Nose
01:42 The Palate
02:28 Where in your cellar?

Tasting Video Transcript:

00:00:08:02 – 00:00:28:15
Nicole Muscari
Welcome to the CH Wine Tasting Room. I’m Nicole Muscari your pocket wine advisor and I am bringing you something truly exciting today. This is LOT 855. A wine from Saint-Émilion Bordeaux. Let’s get into it. So where is Saint-Émilion Bordeaux? Saint-Émilion Bordeaux is a designated area in the region of Bordeaux, located in the southwestern part of France.

00:00:28:17 – 00:00:48:09
Bordeaux is really divided into three areas. You have the left bank, the ultra, the in the middle, and then the right bank, which is where some 2 million lies. The real big difference is in the soil. The left bank has these gravelly soils more better suited to Cabernet Sauvignon, but the right bank has more clay, heavy soils better suited to merlo and Cabernet Franc.

00:00:48:10 – 00:01:06:12
Why is that? Well, Merlot can handle the water stored in those clay soils, so it can really take in that water to make those berries nice and big. Which is really a trait of Merlot. Now, don’t let Merlo scare you. I know the movie Sideways threw us all off a little bit, but this is the home of Merlo and really thrives.

00:01:06:12 – 00:01:27:13
And this is probably the most, if not my favorite expression of Merlot here. So we are blending it with a little bit of Cabernet Franc. Cabernet Franc is going to add some structure, a little bit of spice and acidity. So I can’t wait to get into it. But first, let’s take a look at the color. So looking at this wine, it’s a nice rich, deep ruby color, really beautiful.

00:01:27:18 – 00:01:52:20
The rim goes a little bit brick, but definitely not showing any aging quite yet on the nose. Oh, that is delicious. Now, what’s so exciting about this is I can just tell the quality of the wine just by smelling it. And what’s super exciting is that wines from this region usually are going for 2 to 3 times more the price than this wine here.

00:01:52:20 – 00:02:27:06
So the value here is unmatched. Let’s get to the nose. Bright red, juicy plums. It’s not overripe. It’s definitely more juicy. A little bit of raspberry and sweet spice, maybe some cigar box and tobacco. I’m getting some capsicum or green pepper just a little bit from that cabernet franc and maybe some dried herbs as well, like dried sage or dried thyme.

00:02:27:08 – 00:02:56:17
Wow. That is fresh. That is lively. Sometimes we think of Merlo and we think of, you know, full, full bodied wines with a lot of alcohol. A little bit too plush, a little bit too lush. But not this wine. This wine is perfectly well balanced between that great mid palate texture that is a little bit softer. But that cabernet franc is really going to just make everything super lively, lift that fruit, add this spice, add that acidity, and it’s just so delicious.

00:02:56:18 – 00:03:19:08
So where does this fit in your cellar? Bordeaux is typically known to last a very, very long time. The structure of these wines are solid. I always tell people structure of a wine is like structure of a house. You need a great foundation so the house can last a long time. And this has that foundation. It has the fruit concentration, the acidity and the tannin to really go the long haul.

00:03:19:10 – 00:03:39:22
I would recommend buying a few cases if you like fruit-forward wines, drink it. Now it’s fall 2023. This is a 2020 red, if you like that fruit forwardness drink it now. But if you like to see those tertiary notes develop over time, get a few cases and open them as you go. If I were you, I would pair this with a big chateaubriand.

00:03:40:03 – 00:03:47:12
Share it with your loved ones. Special holidays and special occasions. You really can’t go wrong. From my glass to yours. Cheers.

SHOP LOT 855

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Lot 829 2019 Langhe Nebbiolo

An incredible steal from the north of Italy!

Lot 829 came to our attention from one of the premier wineries in the Piemonte region, focusing on low-yield vines, hand-pruning to optimize clusters and ripeness, then hand selecting clusters that make it to press before aging in oak with a bit of further bottle conditioning before release. From cured meats to fried foods, from oven-roasted to charcoal-grilled meats, it’ll be harder to find a more ideal, versatile pairing wine, leave alone one at over half off the original winery’s price!

Perfectly pale garnet in the glass, the nose is everything you’d love to find in a Nebbiolo: cranberry, cherry, and rose wrapped in soft, new leather accented by dusty clay pot. The entry is terroir-driven with bright, juicy cranberry acidity, sweet tobacco, further clay pot, and tar with infinitely small, dusty, mouth-filling tannin. The finish is medium length, dry and clean, anchoring this quaffable delight right in between a solo-sipper and your next cheeseburger’s best friend.

Watch as Nicole Muscari, your Pocket Wine Advisor, walks us through a tasting and discuses this exciting Italian red wine.

Wine Tasting Highlights:

00:00 Intro and Langhe
00:47 The Color
01:06 On the Nose
01:42 The Palate
02:28 Where in your cellar?

Tasting Video Transcript:

00:00:08:02 – 00:00:31:16
Nicole Muscari says
Welcome to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Nicole Muscari your pocket wine advisor here today with LOT 829 from the Langhe. My Italian ancestors would be very excited right now. So where is the Langhe? The lake is in the region of Piedmont in northern Italy. Now, some of us know Piedmont to have Barolo. That’s probably the most well known wine here.

00:00:31:20 – 00:00:56:07
But the Langhe is just as exciting. And why is that? It produces wine from Nebbiolo, just like Barolo does. But the value here is completely unmatched. So without further ado, let’s get into the color. So what I love about this color is that it has this medium garnet. It’s a little bit translucent, and as it goes out to the rim, you see that Garnet become more pale.

00:00:56:08 – 00:01:23:09
This is very, very common for Nebbiolo. This specific color, this does not mean that it’s aged by any means. This is just a characteristic of the grape variety. On the nose. That is so delicious. This could actually fool me into thinking it was a very, very expensive Barolo because it has that classic tar and roses. And that’s what I always find on Nebbiolo wine.

00:01:23:11 – 00:01:56:04
And every time I say tar and roses, it sounds like the next hip restaurant, doesn’t it? Okay. Other than that, we have this bright red cherry almost going tart red fruit, so sour cherry, cranberry, a little bit of sweet spice and dried herb. Ooh, it’s just really delicious. Let’s get into the palate. Oof! That is great. The fruit concentration here is perfect.

00:01:56:10 – 00:02:17:22
That mid palate, it really hits. It’s like a burst of flavor. Everything that I had mentioned on the nose, those tart red cherries, those cranberries, a little bit of tobacco and sweet spice, a little bit of dried rose petals. It’s all there. What I think is very notable about this wine is it has a very, very high acidity and also very, very high tannin levels.

00:02:17:22 – 00:02:38:00
So that means your mouth is really going to dry out here. But that also means that this wine can age for a very long time. If you wanted it to, even up to five years, I would say. So where does this fit into your cellar? Well, as I mentioned, this wine can definitely age up to five years. I think if you really love that mouth drying feeling you can sometimes get from a red wine.

00:02:38:04 – 00:02:56:21
You can drink this now, but over time, those tannins are really going to soften and integrate into the wine. And I just think that’s going to be even more enjoyable. What I would pair this with, well, I always say what grows together goes together. I would put this with a truffle risotto with mushrooms. Think about those white truffles from Piedmont.

00:02:57:00 – 00:03:03:15
That would just be a perfect pairing. And now my mouth is watering for my glass to yours. Cheers

SHOP LOT 829

SHOP ITALIAN WINES

A GUIDE TO PAIRING: NEBBIOLO

Zeke Neeley in a vineyard appearing ready for harvesting

What’s Happening in the Vineyard – Harvest

Get ready for your vineyard harvest season crash-course from Cameron Hughes’s Zeke Neeley. By CHW Team We recently caught up with Neeley about what’s going on in the vineyards right now during harvest. Zeke Neeley Winemaker Zeke Neeley, the senior winemaker at Kunde Family, is also one of…

Wine Q&A with The Tasting Panel #3

Wine Questions and Answers with Nicole Muscari, your Cameron Hughes Pocket Wine Advisor, and Wanda Mann, Wine Educator. Watch as these two wine aficionados walk us through frequently asked questions about wine.

It seems like only yesterday that we sold our first Lot Series wine: Lot 1, 2002 Lodi Syrah. Nearly 900 releases later, we’re still going strong.  Over the years we have heard a LOT of interesting questions about wine and we hope that Wanda and Nicole will help answer some of your questions in this educational video.

Today’s Wine Q&A topics include:

  1. What is your “Go to” wine?
  2. Describe yourself as a wine varietal?
  3. Why do we swirl wine?
  4. What’s most important when pairing wine and food?
  5. How do you introduce a “newbie” to wine?
  6. What are some of the common misconceptions about wine?
  7. Is there a wrong way to drink wine?
  8. What can be inferred by a wine’s color?
  9. What is your wine philosophy?

We love answering your wine questions! Keep the conversation going by sending us your questions about wine!

SHOP CAMERON HUGHES WINE

HOW TO SURVIVE WINE TASTING

TASTE THE LOT SERIES WINES

Lot 950 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

It’s here folks! The wine you’ve all been waiting for – our final big, Black Label release for 2023: Lot 950 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. At CH Wine, we love to talk about the first time we tried a specific Cab, and Lot 950—a mind-blowing Napa Cabernet from the monumental 2021 vintage—was one of those wines for us. We knew immediately it would be our biggest release. Whether or not you’ve ever bit the bullet to try a $100+ bottle wine – now is your chance. Today’s release brings everything to the table that there is to love about Napa Valley Cabernet: power, structure, and incredible flavor.

Lot 950 comes to us from a pedigreed cult-level source—a winery that has been praised for decades by the major wine publications of the world. But don’t take our word for it, stick your nose in the glass and revel in the alluring scents of kirsch, blueberry, red florals, and decadent oak notes tinged with chocolate. Those same aromas envelop the palate in cascading waves of flavors. Full-bodied with elongated tannins that are as smooth as silk, layered with a plethora of boysenberry, black cherry, and blueberry compote notes. This is a hypnotic wine that demands sip after sip. You’ll want to have plenty of this irresistible red around to enjoy with rich, hearty, warming dishes like beef bourguignon, brisket, burgers, or Julia Child’s Poulet au Porto. But a wine like this doesn’t just belong on your dinner table, something this elegant also makes an incredible holiday gift. Your boss, father-in-law, or even your favorite dinner party host – no one on your holiday list will be disappointed with this wine.

You’ll want to seriously consider buying six or twelve bottles of Lot 950 because the source winery (which per usual has to remain nameless) — sells their 2021 Napa Cabernet for $100 per bottle. So, when you are holding that bottle of Lot 950 in your hands, having only paid $35, let it be your little secret. Congratulations you’ve found yourself something that wins whether you’re savoring it yourself or passing it along to friends and family!  

Watch as Nicole Muscari, your Pocket Wine Advisor, and Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walk us through a tasting and discuss this exciting release.

Wine Tasting Highlights:

00:00 Intro and Pour
00:34 2021 Napa Cabs
01:37 Half Centennial Lot 950
02:14 The Color
02:44 On the Nose
03:43 The Palate
04:39 Food Pairing
05:19 Wine Evolution
06:41 In the Cellar

Tasting Video Transcript:

Nicole
Welcome to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Nicole Muscari your Pocket Wine Advisor, and I am here with the fabulous one Wanda Mann.

Wanda
Well, thank you. I have to live up to that introduction.

Nicole
Would you like to introduce this wine today?

Wanda
Sure. Today we have Lot 950 it’s the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. What makes this wine extra special? I believe it is our last Black label release of the year.

Nicole
Oh, that is extra special. And so also a great vintage as well. 2021.

Wanda
Yeah. What made 2021 so great?

Nicole
It was just the perfect growing conditions, honestly. So Cabernet Sauvignon, as you know, has thick skins, small berries, and this weather was just perfect for it. So I think what we’re going to find is some really deep and concentrated juice here.

Wanda
You know what I love about a wine like this? Cabernet Sauvignon, We all know it. Napa Valley Cabernet is really what helped put it on the map. But again, to see that even within the valley, how vintage makes a difference, how each wine has a different expression of that vintage of the winemaker’s style. So I think, you know, we want people know not all Cabernet are the same.

Wanda
I think there’s a tendency to say, Oh, it’s Cab from Napa and to lump it in a bucket. But each one is unique.

Nicole
Absolutely. It’s really especially when you let these age for a while and then you go back and you open up another bottle. You’re really drinking history. You’re drinking that year. Each bottle tells a specific story of what that vintage was so true.

Wanda
And, you know, often Cabernet from Napa at a high quality is an investment was beautiful here is you’re getting that quality you’re getting a special wine This is the last of the series for this year and at a very accessible price point. So I think for holidays coming up, this is fall 2023 holiday season, special events, beautiful bottle with a great story, great vintage.

Wanda
Can’t go wrong here.

Nicole
No, absolutely. And I think that this is going to be a fuller bodied wine. Of course, that would be natural of Cabernet Sauvignon. But again, cozy wine for cozy season. Yes. So I love these wines.

Wanda
Is #cozyseason a hashtag?

Nicole
I think. So. What if it’s not?

Wanda
Let’s make it one. Okay, So let’s let’s talk us through it.

Nicole
Okay. Perfect. Let’s look at the color here. So it’s a really beautiful, deep ruby color, which is exactly what I would expect to find here. It almost has some purple tints. And I think that’s just because ’20, ’21, very young wine still here. This wine has a long time to go if we want it to here. So those purple tints just really making sense for the vintage.

Wanda
That is so true. When someone pours me a Napa cab, this is really the color that I’m looking for. And so it nails it on appearance.

Nicole
It sure does. And it’s even stating the glass a little bit.

Wanda
It is. It is. This is rich.

Nicole
I think it’s going to be a very concentrated wine. Right. Let’s get into it. Oh, right, right, right.

Wanda
I’m not shy with. I love.

Nicole
No. You know, this takes me right into being in New York City. You know, those really old New York City Steakhouse? Yes. Like the red carpets and the mahogany walls. I’m immediately transported there. And I don’t know if it’s just the pairing. I think historically when I do go, I love ordering Napa cabs with those steaks. So I guess that’s why it took me there.

Nicole
But that’s the beauty of wine, is that you could take it one sniff and be transported somewhere else.

Wanda
It’s so true. So much of the experience is that emotion, that feeling, that memory. But I’m glad you mentioned steakhouses, because I think really my first experiences with Napa cabs were in steakhouses because it is such a match made in heaven for a big, hearty piece of meat. You need a wine that can match up to that heft, the fattiness, the the weight of it.

Wanda
Absolutely. But you need that acidity, right? So will this wine have that acidity? When we taste it, we have to see. Okay. Okay.

Nicole
So these notes really everything that I was finding on the nose is really here on the palate. So those black plums, blackberry, juicy, ripe, not overripe.

Wanda
Exactly.

Nicole
Which I really love. There’s definitely a little bit of smoke, a little bit of toast and vanilla, I think, from that OG, which is really nice, but it’s not overpowering the fruit by any means.

Wanda
But again, I think what we’re seeing here is some really smart winemaking because it was such a good vintage, I think was really smart not to overpower it with too much oak, but just enough like a chef cooking just the right amount. Yes, he’s in an uplift the wine.

Nicole
Absolutely. Yeah. And there’s also this really nice kind of smokiness that I had mentioned that is coming from the oak. And it kind of brings me back again to that steakhouse because you get that charred piece of meat. And so I love drawing those parallels as well. And, you know, we talk a lot about meat, meat, meat. But I think there are so many other things that you in this with.

Wanda
Absolutely. I think always, you know, hearty mushroom type dishes, any type of root vegetables, bean dishes.

Nicole
Absolutely. Yeah. For our vegetarians, like a black bean burger meat. Excellent here.

Wanda
Chili, because you could have a meat chili, an impossible chili, a bean based chili. So, again, you know, it’s a very elegant wine. But as I said before, I’m a big believer in kind of the high low pairing. So while this is perfect for any fancy occasion, special meal, also, if I’m at home and I’m having a burger and I want to feel a little fancy, this will this will get me there.

Nicole
Absolutely. And as I go back to it, it’s already evolving in the glass a little bit, which is what I love about wine, too. It’s a living, breathing. I mean, we could say it’s breathing. It is an entity here. And so this is going to continue to evolve in my glass. And I think that’s another thing that’s so exciting about wine is that I can come back to this in 30 minutes and find maybe five other notes that I didn’t find initially in the wine.

Nicole
And I think that will also continue to happen in bottle over time in the cellar.

Wanda
It’s so true. I always remind people, especially when you’re opening a bigger red wine, just like when we wake up from sleep, we need time to stretch, right? And so really, that’s the beauty of that is that first sip, you take the second and a third, 30 minutes later, an hour later will be very different. And a beautiful wine does that.

Wanda
If the wine isn’t doing that.

Nicole
Yeah.

Wanda
Correct. It’s missing something. Yes.

Nicole
And this this going back to I’m now getting like really bright purple flowers and it’s just kind of great on top of that freshness and that acidity that we were just talking about, because sometimes we think about these big, bold wines and they can feel a little flabby or a little too warm, but this wine is very fresh on the finish.

Nicole
I was salivating like crazy.

Wanda
No, the acidity is really great. The alcohol is 14.5%, which also tells me this will age really, really well, because you need that structure. Yes. So you don’t want a wine where you’ve bought a case and then you open a bottle five months later, a year later, and it’s completely flat. This can go the long haul.

Nicole
Absolutely. So how long would you say in your cellar? Oh.

Wanda
You know, actually, I don’t have a cellar. I have a New York apartment. But I do manage to cellar a lot of wine using it as a verb. I would love to taste this in five years. Six years? Seven.

Nicole
I agree. I think now, if you like a fruit forward wine, the tenants are plush enough to have now. But I think that this is going to be even better in a couple of years.

Wanda
Yeah, I agree. I agree. Yeah. I think this is a really great investment that again, is not terribly expensive but really over delivers and is such a classic Napa cab. And again this is a vintage that the winemakers are talking about 2021 really excited about and this is a way to get in on that excitement. Absolutely.

Nicole
And perfect for the winter holidays.

Wanda
True so cozy season right?

Nicole
Cozy season. Hashtag #cozyseason. Well, one of four my glass doors.

Wanda
All right. Thank you. Cheers.

SHOP LOT 950

SHOP NAPA VALLEY WINES

A GUIDE TO PAIRING: HOLIDAY PAIRINGS

Lot 949 2019 Napa County Red Blend

Time to roll out the red carpet for our next release, Lot 949 2019 Napa County Red Blend is a red blend that’s here to knock out the competition. We love to talk about Red Blends from Napa because we also like to brag that we’ve got the category covered in spades. If there’s one thing we do well for Cameron Hughes fans, it’s whip up delicious red blends that over-deliver on the price point. Full stop!

When we scan the lists of some of Napa’s best red blends according to the bigtime critics out there—Food & Wine magazine, Wine Enthusiast, and Wine Spectator what we see of Napa blends is typical: no shortage of great wines—but all priced way over $40 a bottle! The other thing we noticed? We buy grapes from some of the same top producers mentioned! In one article alone, we could pick out two wines over $50 from producers where we buy grapes!  

In our Napa County red blend – Lot 949 is a field blend of Petite Sirah, Grenache, Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, and Alicante Bouchet. It’s called a ‘field blend’ because the grapes all grow together in one field, which is harvested all at once to create one wine (rather than harvesting the varietals separately and then blending the wines together). In 2019, a “beautifully classic vintage,” grapes ripened to perfection, retaining bright, natural acids.

In the glass, this translates to bright red brambly fruit, wild herbs, spices, and remarkably soft and silky tannins. One sip of this wine is like biting into a plump, juicy, farmer’s market ripe strawberry! It can evoke long-lost memories of foods you don’t eat anymore — strawberry fruit leather, anyone? Channel that nostalgia with this big, delicious adults-only Red Blend. At only $25 per bottle, you’re getting a steal of a Napa County red blend that hits in all the right places for roughly half the price of its competitors.

Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes, and Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walk us through a tasting and discuss this exciting release.

Tasting Video Highlights:

00:00 Intro to Lot 949
00:52 Red Blends
01:28 Color
01:54 On the Nose
03:29 The Palate
04:40 Food Pairing
05:23 Where in your Cellar?

A red blend to remember. Lot 949 2019 Napa County Red Wine Blend

Tasting Video Transcript:

Chris Lafleur says
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the CH Wine tasting room. I’m Chris Lafleur, your sommelier at large, and I’m here with one Wanda Mann, what are we going to be tasting today?

Wanda Mann says
We are tasting lot 949 It’s a 2019 Red Wine Blend from Napa.

Chris
Oh, I’m already excited. But this one is a little different from the other ones that you see out of Napa.

Wanda
It is. Everyone knows Napa. We tend to think of Cabernet Sauvignon. Right. What’s interesting about this blend, there is no Cabernet in this blend. It’s five really interesting grapes. And I know there’s some Petite Sirah.

Chris
There’s some Petite Sirah, a little bit of Grenache, a little bit of Alicante Bouchet. And I believe there’s also some Mourvèdre in there. So there’s lots of things to combine here and create an interesting amelioration of grape flavors and aromas.

Wanda
Great. And what I love about a blend, again, I know winemakers love that opportunity, maybe to be a little more playful to experiment, and a blend allows them to do that. And also the challenge of the blend, right? Because you have all of these different grapes with different personalities, different styles, bringing different things to the wine. So I like to think of the blend as kind of as a musical group.

Wanda
You have your basis, you have your drummer, you have your lead singer, but you need them all to come together in harmony. And a good blend does that well. It’s like your favorite rock and group.

Chris
Absolutely. I love watching George Harrison do his thing, but sometimes I want to see the Beatles.

Wanda
Exactly.

Chris
And that’s all we have here. So let’s have a look, see how it’s developing. Oh, beautiful.

Wanda
You always say the eyes drink it in first, right? So the beautiful ruby kind of shimmering in the glass.

Chris
Mm hmm. It’s not quite opaque. I can see my hand through it. Oh, here’s a salmon. Me? No CO2, no sediment. Great. Here’s a uniform. Really elegant to look at. I love how deep that color is, especially in the light there. Oh, all right. On the nose.

Wanda
Yes. Oh. Oh, that’s pretty. You know, I love the challenge of this wine, and I think this is a wine maybe that allows us to relax a little bit because we know it’s not Cabernet and maybe some of us aren’t familiar with these grapes that are in there. But you smell fruit, you smell red fruit, you smell some spice, you smell some brambly character.

Wanda
So it’s very, very captivating in that sense.

Chris
I love that you hit on that brambly character because I always associate that with Grenache and I know that’s in here. So I think we’re on the right path. And what I love about this, it smells so.

Wanda
Deep. It does.

Chris
It feels like the fruit is really concentrated. It doesn’t feel like quite overripe. It feels really crunchy. But being so deep, I feel like it’s going to unwind really well.

Wanda
Yeah, it feels very lifted. I’m not getting a heavy it’s just like a very kind of nice fruit aroma dancing out of the glass.

Chris
There’s there’s still some, like, Earth notes for me, like fresh turn, Dark Earth. I really like that. And I think there’s a touch of barrel, but the barrel to me is not driving the boss on this wine.

Wanda
Absolutely. And I think, you know, often when we talk about aging and barrel, you know, suspect shift with seasoning, Right. So there are different degrees of how you use the barrel. And I think this was used in a very subtle way, this kind of cradle and bring it all together. But I like the fact that it’s not jumping out of the glass, just a very subtle, toasty note.

Wanda
Yeah, just a hint of it.

Chris
Like I get a little vanilla, like I need, like, the edge of my on the edge, my nose. Yeah, I want to say my palate. But we’re not there yet. We’re straining ourselves with grain.

Wanda
Exactly.

Chris
But it is there, and it just kind of rounds out the fruit. I think we’re teasing ourselves too much to not taste.

Wanda
Yeah, we need to taste now.

Chris
Okay.

Wanda
It’s really impressive that balance between richness and freshness. It’s like really walking a tightrope in a nice way.

Chris
Yeah. And I think some of the best wines do that. Like, you want to walk that line of like, is this going to be too ripe? Is it going to be slightly under ripe? And you get more interesting flavors and also you keep that energy to the wine. When you’ve got good acidity, the wine feels alive. It feels ready to jump out at you in the glass and it hits the palate in a way that feels electric.

Chris
Yeah, and I love that I have a good wine.

Wanda
Also, and often hear winemakers say, you know, they want us to finish the bottle, not just because we want you to buy another bottle, but because I think we’ve all experienced that you have a wine that you really excited about, but it’s so heavy on your palate. Finishing a glass becomes a challenge. So what started out as pleasure becomes a chore.

Wanda
But this wine with that juiciness and that acidity, really, you want to keep going back. It’s not work to finish this.

Chris
It invites you to pour another glass. So I guess that that tells us a little bit about what we’re going to do when we want to buy this. Yes. How many we need to get First off, what are you going to put this with if you’re going to have this at your dinner table?

Wanda
I think it’s really versatile. That’s the other beauty of this, having some other roots. I love barbecue, but I think this will go great with pasta. You know, any type of meat dish kind of root vegetables. I love lentils. I make a lentil stew, actually. So and I think that will work really well. Has a little bit of smoked paprika in it.

Wanda
And I think that would interact really nicely with the flavors here.

Chris
Oh, yes, please. Yeah, I’ll come visit. Next thing you get this going. So just let me know. I’ll be there. Yeah, I fully agree. I especially like the barbecue now since you’ve got such a dense core. Yeah. And when I think of a good barbecue, I think about really rich sauce. That’s. That’s a perfect one for me, too.

Chris
So we know what we’re going to put it with on the table. But where’s this going to fit in your cellar? What do you think, Wanda?

Wanda
I mean, I think this is definitely an example where maybe someone who hasn’t started collecting yet. This is a great place to start because the wine is very drinkable and approachable now. But because of that acid in that structure, this can go several years. You’re the same. How many years do do you think?

Chris
Hmm. I think if we were holding this in the wine cellar for like five years, like this is right now fall 2023, I think even by the time next year rolls around, this is going to be singing and really showing itself and unwinding all of the interesting notes that are ameliorated here together. You can probably go a little longer, but I think five years is where you want to give it at the start.

Chris
So if you cannot wait, yeah, that’s that’s how long it’s going to be showing ideally. And also, you know, you don’t need to get just one bottle or even one case you can get a bunch now. So we’ve talked this up so much, you have to try it now. It’s ready to drink, get a couple of bottles and then open it again later.

Wanda
Yes. It’s always fun to see that evolution is something I write about a lot. And, you know, many folks don’t have the patience. I think you can hold a few. I mean, I think, you know, it helps with all of our wine education to see that wine is this living entity that does evolve in the bottle over time.

Wanda
So it’s fun to kind of track those differences.

Chris
Yeah. And like, good wine doesn’t belong just with the special occasion. If the wine is good enough and you want to open it badly enough, a lot of things can become a special occasion. True? Yeah. You know, you got the mail today. Cool. Special occasion. Let’s open a bottle of wine.

Wanda
Make pizza night a little fancy.

Chris
Oh, that’s a great. Well, now I’m getting hungry, I think. Let’s get a pizza. I think this bottle and.

Wanda
This one’s ours. They can’t.

Chris
This. This last year.

Wanda
There is.

Chris
More. I had a couple. So we’re going. Okay, good. And with that, we’ll see you at the next class.

Wanda
Cheers

 

SHOP LOT 949

SHOP RED BLEND WINES

DECODED: BLENDS

Lot 948 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Lot 948 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet, we’ll cut right to the chase with our black label release – it’s got everything you want from a Napa Cab: pedigree, vintage, aged in bottle, and the ability to cellar this wine still for years to come. This wine hails from the 2018 vintage (which critics have praised as one of the best in the last 40 years). But listen: Forget the critics. Forget that the source winery is an iconic estate founded in 1995. Forget that they sourced grapes from vineyards near $200+ Peter Michael Winery in Knights Valley or the Rutherford Hills above Michelin-starred Auberge du Soleil.

Just pull the cork, pour into a big Bordeaux wine glass, swirl, and stick your nose in the glass—it’s immediately ravishing, elegant, and exceptional. It reminds us of drinking triple-digit icon wines from estates in the western-facing hills of the Vaca Mountains above Rutherford and Oakville (we’re talking Hall and Alpha Omega territory!). Still, this isn’t an overblown, super heavy, inky-rich Napa Cabernet. Lot 948 is all about understated elegance, which is exactly what we’d expect from the source winery. It’s wild that we got our hands on this one. We highly recommend decanting Lot 948 because it will be tight after opening, but with some air—wow.

The tasting notes on this wine are incredible. Brambly red and blackberry fruits, toasty fennel, graphite, and cedarwood. Almost buoyant, the tannins are featherweight with a satiny-smooth texture. Tobacco nuances are lifted by river stone minerality. The subtlest notes of vanilla and baking spices round out the finish. Is it a sleeper wine? Sure is. So stock up and enjoy some this Fall, next Fall, and the next Fall, etc… you won’t be disappointed!

Watch as Nicole Muscari, your Pocket Wine Advisor, and Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walk us through a tasting and discuss this exciting release.

Tasting Video Highlights:

00:00 Intro
00:19 Lot 948 Basics
00:48 The Pour
01:06 The Color
01:23 Ageability
01:59 Napa Cab Sauv
02:28 2018 Vintage
03:05 On the Nose
04:12 The Palate
04:58 Pairing
05:51 Conclusion

A taste of opulence. Cabernet Sauvignon. Lot 948 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Indulge Today

Tasting Video Transcript:

Wanda says
Hello, Wanda Mann here in the CH Wine tasting room. And I’m joined by our Marvelous Pocket Wine Advisor, Nicole Muscari.

Nicole says
Thank you for that introduction, fancy.

Wanda
Thanks for being here with me. So what do we have in this bottle to.

Nicole
Have a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon? This is Lot 948. It’s from 2018. Fantastic. Vintage. Another fantastic.

Wanda
Vintage. Yeah. I’ve been hearing from the winemakers. The rumor through the grapevine is 2018 was excellent.

Nicole
That’s what they say. And there’s only 600 cases produced of this wine. So we are really lucky to be able to taste this together today.

Wanda
Absolutely. And I think that’s one of the things the wine does so well. Special wines, quality wines, limited production. So you’re not going to see these wines everywhere. So definitely, if you’re trying to impress with the upcoming holiday season, this is something I think that will really dazzle your guests.

Nicole
Absolutely. 2018. Five years already of aging on this wine. So I’m really excited to kind of look at the color and see if we could pick up a little bit of that aging.

Wanda
Yeah, definitely. You know, it’s a beautiful color, a little more subdued. Like, it’s not that shimmering new vintage right into it, right?

Nicole
Yes. It has more of a brick appearance. And I think just around the rim there, it’s it’s going a little bit more like brick, which is just showing a little bit of age. I think this wine I mean, I haven’t had it yet, but it could probably go for quite a long time.

Wanda
I’m thinking so, especially given that 2018 when we talk about a good vintage, that means that the wine will have good acidity, good structure, good tannins, great fruit, Right. To declare a great vintage.

Nicole
Absolutely. And I think that’s the number one question that I’m always getting asked by new wine drinkers is how do I know how long to hold on to a wine for? And I always say it’s like building a new house. You need to have a solid foundation for the house to really stand the test of time. And the same thing goes for wine, right?

Nicole
So the foundation here is going to be that acidity, that tannin and that fruit concentration. And those are all things that we find in these Napa Valley Cab Sauvs is true.

Wanda
You know, even though Cabernet has grown around the world, there is a reason why Napa has become the standout, the benchmark for quality for Cabernet Sauvignon, because there isn’t a monolith, right? There’s quality, but different vintages, different ways of expressing the essence of the grape. So I’m really excited to get into this 2018.

Nicole
Yes, absolutely. I mean, every vintage tells its own story, and I think that’s also really fun when you have a couple of these bottles and you visit them at a later date, you’re kind of drinking the story of that year, also the story of that place and the person who made it, which is also something I just love about wine.

Wanda
Exac. I’m so glad that you reinforced that. You know that the year isn’t just about the year that the grape was harvested. It is that snapshot of the season and how many things in life can we experience something in that way where you can taste the season?

Nicole
Yeah, absolutely. And every time I look at a vintage oh 2018, what was I doing in 2018?

Wanda
And that’s true, That’s.

Nicole
True that when these grapes were on the vine.

Wanda
So we give it a smell.

Nicole
Oh, we should I can smell it from here.

Wanda
I know. It’s very aromatic.

Nicole
Oh, those are some concentrated deep berries, forest berries, black plum, blackberry.

Wanda
And I love there’s an herbaceous character with that rich fruit. I love it when that quality is there, because then I know it’s not just going to be a fruit bomb.

Nicole
Exactly. I like.

Wanda
Those New York City.

Nicole
Complex. A little bit of capsicum or red bell pepper here, just some spice that also adds to that notion of freshness. I also think that there’s, you know, some baking spice, sweet spice, a little bit of cigar box and maybe some leather and tobacco, just really kind of some from the oak and some just from a little bit of aging that’s just really adding to the layers and the depth of the wine.

Wanda
Yeah, I think being a 2018 at five years old now, we still have some of that freshness, but that those tertiary flavors are starting to manifest themselves and it makes this really a much more interesting drinking experience. And I think sometimes for new wine drinkers, the concept of aging is hard to grasp. Yes, absolutely. Like why we geek out about it so much.

Nicole
So we get to that.

Wanda
Let’s get to it. Oh, nice.

Nicole
That is beautiful.

Wanda
It is the acidity right here.

Nicole
Yeah, I can feel it.

Wanda
You know, super fresh.

Nicole
All of those notes, I think, really carry through here. I am picking up on a really beautiful bright purple flower as well. But I think that this is just fantastic because you have that concentration, the depth, the tannins are quite silky and fine grained, but they’re still present, which means this is definitely still going to age.

Wanda
So true that even if we take this 30 minutes from now, the evolution in the glass as well, because of the wine like this, you know, it’s been bottled for five years. It needs to stretch, you know, come alive badly. But this is going very much in the right direction.

Nicole
I am being thrown into either the winter holidays here, which I think would be perfect for, but also taste like football season to me. So for me and my house, it’s a big deal. On Sundays we get the crock pot going, a nice beef stew or a beef bourguignon, or just something with some hearty root vegetables that just sits out on the counter all day long.

Nicole
Pour myself a nice cheeky splash while it’s cooking and then finish it off with a meal.

Wanda
Now I agree. I love a wine like this because you can really integrate it into what you’re doing at home. You don’t have to wait for a special occasion. So that hearty crockpot meal, your home and comfortable clothes have that beautiful wine. Yeah, it’s still a special moment and experience, right?

Nicole
I decided a few years ago to stop waiting for a special moment to treat myself. And my life has drastically got better. So, I mean, this is delicious. How many cases are you going to go home?

Wanda
Oh, well, you know, my tiny Manhattan apartment. I could squeeze in a case. Well, there’s only.

Nicole
600, so I don’t know how lucky we’re going to be, but, you know, I would recommend this a case or two. Open some now for the holidays and then watch this evolve over the next ten years.

Wanda
Yes, A great way to learn about wine. Take a wine that you love and watch it evolve and, you know, your palate starts to understand it better, but you just enjoy drinking it as well. It doesn’t have to be complex.

Nicole
I mean, I’m enjoying drinking this right now, so from my glass to yours.

Wanda
Absolutely. Cheers.

SHOP LOT 948

SHOP CABERNET SAUVIGNON

9 CABERNET SAUVIGNON FACTS