Lot 858 2020 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
As always, Sonoma County continues to be a source of incredible values – Napa’s larger, more laid-back neighbor continues to offer superb quality for price relative to its more famous peer – an enticing fact in these new days of inflation (and a welcome relief to our pockets). The Alexander Valley AVA is the largest and most fully planted wine region within Sonoma and has been producing critically acclaimed Cabernet since Rodney Strong sold the first vineyard designated Sonoma Cab in the mid 70s.
Lot 858 is a single-vineyard designated Cab under its original label from the region’s benchlands, planted to gravel and sandy loam soils. After harvest and press, the wine was aged in 40% new French oak with the balance aged in first and second pass French oak for well over 20 months. The result is a wine screaming for attention in an otherwise written off market (considering all the attention its Napa neighbors command to this day).
Watch or listen as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Tasting Video Highlights:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Alexander Valley Cab
01:39 The Color
01:40 The Nose
02:14 The Palate
03:13 Drink now or cellar?
03:51 Food and Wine Pairing
Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Mulled Wine Recipe
Lot 950 Mulled Wine by CH Wine. For when it’s cold outside. Sip and savor your mug of mulled wine with Cameron Hughes Lot 950 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Download Mulled Lot 950 Recipe (pdf) Servings: 4 Prep Time: 20 minutes Difficulty: Beginner Rating: ★★★★★ INGREDIENTS 1…
Lot 911 2022 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Sourced from one of the premium Columbia Valley producers we’ve used before (any fans of Lot 910 Sauvignon Blanc?) we knew we had to have this wine the moment we tried it. It’s another fantastic deal from a region in WA where an extra-long day during the summer growing season results in a juicy, fruit-forward, but not over the top wine. Another special note for this wine – don’t be surprised when you open up the box to find your wine without its foil capsule! In an effort to move towards more sustainable practices, we’ll be starting to produce and bottle wines without the disposable capsules. While these bottles may be half-dressed, they are not half baked!
Lot 911 pours rich red, almost opaque in the glass. It opens up with a bouquet of black cherry, blackberry and cassis. Secondary notes of baking spice and tobacco lift out as you swirl your glass. The complexity on the nose at this price point is truly outstanding. On the palate this is a juicy fruit forward wine with really well integrated oak that is so subtle and just adds to the complexity of the flavor rather than over powering the fruit notes of the wine. The tannins are seamless and finishes off the experience to create this graceful, elegant Cabernet. Pair this with hard cheeses or pastas with a robust red sauce – it’ll go great with all the winter offerings you have on your table. At only $15 this is a versatile wine to keep on hand, you’ll never feel bad opening up this one on a random weeknight to go with dinner.
Watch or listen as Wanda Mann, Wine Writer and Educator, walks us through a tasting and discusses this exciting sparkling wine.
Tasting Video Highlights:
00:00 Intro
00:18 The Capsule?
00:56 The Color
01:37 The Palate
02:06 Pairing Ideas
Lot 875 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Cameron Hughes Wine Lot 875 is an exclusive Cabernet release from a top Napa house!
Napa Valley is famous the world over for exceptional Cabs, and occasionally, we come across one of the very top houses cutting bait with exclusive, tasting room only, reserve program, or single vineyard bottlings, however, the price isn’t always right. That’s not the case this go around. One of the tightest NDAs we signed late last year allowed us to find the perfect intersection of exceptional wine at an extraordinary value.
Lot 875 is produced by a house that essentially defines Napa pedigree with triple-digits running the cost of entry. All their releases are in the barrels-to-low case count quantities, so exclusive is something they embody to the fullest. As such, the quantity of what we have to offer today is hyper-limited, and all we can tell you about this wine is it’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 100% New French oak aged, and a one-off score from a discontinued program at the original winery. This is a bottle that may seem unassuming but is in fact a collector’s item.
Watch or listen as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Tasting Video Highlights:
00:00 Intro
00:32 On Napa Valley
01:08 The Color
01:38 The Nose
02:30 The Palate
03:16 Where in your cellar?
Lot 850 2020 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
When one speaks about a cult following, usually things like the movie Blade Runner, or the “Marquee Moon” album from the band Television come up in context; in our world certain Lots come to mind: 200, 609, 643, 717, just to name a few. It’s been quite some time since we finished the incredible run of fan favorite and often asked about (still, today) Lot 540. Today, we finally bring you the spiritual successor to that cult followed Lot, and considering the inflation we’re all faced with nowadays, at an outstanding price for the members of this list!
Lot 850, much like its predecessor Lot 540, is a Lodi fruit-bomb Cab that we brought in and amped up with a more-refined barrel program (Napa barrels with Lodi fruit – a tried and true pairing, just ask the cult fanbase of the predecessor). Nurtured and completed in-house by our Napa winemaking team, the result is a very approachable Cab that’s just as at home with takeout as it is with a slab of Wagyu direct from Japan (the idea of all that buttery steak umami with a wash of this vanilla-flecked, fruit-forward Cab has a few stomachs rumbling around these parts).
Watch or listen as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Tasting Video Highlights:
00:00 Intro
00:20 Lodi and Cab Sauv
01:16 The Color
01:33 The Nose
02:24 The Palate
03:23 Drink now or lie down?
04:02 Where in your cellar?
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.
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
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.
