Luke,
My question stemmed from the fact that so many dN wines seemed to have sold out so quickly and so many CamX wines seem not be doing the same (per a statement upthread which got me thinking . . .)
That said, there is NO DOUBT that there is a plethora of great deals to be had - and yep, at bigger and bigger volumes as well. I don’t see this letting up anytime soon . . .
Cheers
For anybody new to this if we are using dN as the model to follow I wouldn’t go years without at least trying and enjoying some of these. dN was mostly very fruit forward leaning plush hedonistic type wines.
These aren’t traditional bdx or Rhone in structure that really demand age to open. They are open from my experience.
Whether you might prefer them with 5 years is another story, but they are ready to consume fairly early.
Will they last 20 years, some no doubt will. There are notes of people aging Columbia Crest for 20 years with good results as well.
I recently found a mixed case of early dN that we just drank through and tbh I didn’t think they were any better or worse than I remembered.
Of course since we haven’t tasted X yet I’m just speculating from my previous experiences. ymmv of course.
Yes, just to clarify as a founding member of the drink dN too early-family, many of them are open for business (some exceptions like #350 come to mind), but I also don’t see them falling off a cliff in the next 3-4 years. They are wines that will be fun to follow over the years with no pain if you drink a few too young. I just popped a 2022 Scarecrow knowing it’s nowhere near ready from my 3-pack. That one hurt a little.
20 years really isn’t that long for wine, especially with good closures that dN (and I assume CX) uses.
The real question - and this is not just dN or CamX wines but a lot of ‘modern’ wines - is HOW these will age over time. Will they truly ‘evolve’ as wines of ‘yesteryear’ did or simply ‘soften’ a bit as the fruit subsides? I’ve been amazed to read how many 20+ year old Napa wines have remained nearly ‘just like new’ year after year - and this is definitely due to more modern winemaking techniques and ‘tricks of the trade’ . . .
I opened up a 1965 Charles Krug Napa Cab a few weeks back from one of my bros’ birthdays and it was magical in the way that older wines can evolve - truly curious whether we will continue to see that ‘evolution’ in many modern wines . . .
Cheers
As Cam says - “buy with confidence”. I have background in commodity markets. We are here to buy when the sellers are weak. Like all markets the wine market will also turn. Production will be taken out ( lowest quality first) new brands will emerge to absorb good juice, currency may adjust to encourage exports , something will change.l to rebalance the market.
The window is open to create a cellar for 15-20 years of good drinking (I’m 50). The cycle is slow but my view is that in 5-7 years we will re read these blogs and ask ourselves why we didn’t buy more not less.
My issue is cost of carrying these wines. Here in Chicago I can’t find storage for less than $3bt/year which is my limiting factor in the strategy.
Cam does a great job finding quality.
Many 2003 Bordeaux (and heck, 2009 as well) were said to be overripe, modern, flabby, and would not age well. That would probably be my anchor on how wines of this style can evolve, and there are some amazing 2003 Bordeaux right now (even though the purists probably hate many of them).
Bit on 17. Cam says he’s giving it away, but my credit card was charged. @JDutko, what story did you come up with? Did it work? Will it work? Do you have a spare bedroom?
Have you looked at Devon? My locker there works out to just less than $2/b/yr.
I have no doubt that these ‘23s can/will age a bit, but I simply don’t need them to. I have a cellar full of ageworthy bottles already…these Cam X bottles simply fill another need and should be a step up from the wines we normally have in this part of the “program.”
Very true - but the ‘techniques’ have changed quite a bit since then . . .
Cheers
Just received #12 today.
5 min after opening…
I got berries on the nose.
The palate shows a mouth full of tannins and some acidity. Sour cherries, red fruit. Alittle soapy.
Gonna wait until tomorrow, give it 24hrs.
Definitely has potential, but I’m not running back to buy a few more cases right now.
Tannins are definitely there.
THE FIRST CAM X REVIEW EVER!!!
We have a thread for them, fyi:
But wow! HISTORY IS MADE!
I’ll be the first one to hate!
ITS IN BOTTLE SHOCK WAIT 3 MONTHS!
First order in to kick the tires. Took a nice splash of whites and rose. Wasn’t sitting out on purpose, just trying to cut back and that just fell to hell. Still have quite a bit of very early DN laying around.
I delayed shipment on all my other purchases, except for this 1 case of #12.
#12 seems the most controversial…
So I wanted to test it out just in case #12 sold out in 3 months.
It’s definitely not horrible. It’s got potential.
so far so good.
as you would expect opening it so young.
Mumble mumble, but I, mumble mumble, but we, mumble mumble, balance sheet management!!
Ok, I’ll sleep on the couch…
Interesting, to me, that Cameron Hughes wines are now using a ‘CAM’ label also. ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.’ - Oscar Wilde
Pulled the trigger on more Lot 17 before the pending price increase. Over the past 24 hours (since I pulled the trigger on initial Lot 17 purchase), I kept seeing other offers/discounts/sites, but kept coming back to…(mostly) bottling blend, fruit from site that must not be named, and Cam’s comments about ‘giving it away’ (which, mysteriously, I can no longer find). Bottom line = I couldn’t think of a better way to spend $12, so doubled (quadrupled, actually) down. 
It’s got to be better than the 550, amirite?
And I paid nearly twice as much (compared to Lot 17) for that garbage. ‘In Cam we trust’, until proven otherwise.
A little soapy and not horrible. Now there’s a ringing endorsement 
