Dave,
I usually wait two years in bottle before sampling most big Napa Cabernets. So have not tried any. If you’ve perused the early days of “What de Negoce wine are you drinking tonight?” Many purchasers blasted through nearly a case only to dismiss that Cabernet as “$12 wine” And yes. it is, in the end. But slowly there were signs of regret after some tried these wines early on, then last couple bottles something turned the corner after a year + from getting them.
Cheers, Tim
I hear what you’re saying. I bought a decent amount of De Negoce back in the pandemic fervor days and I basically enjoyed drinking them all, young and old(er). This was my first time opening a bottle and thinking it an unpleasant drink.
Maybe it will shape up in time. I split a case with my brother so worst case I’m out $75 or whatever.
Regarding X17, per camxcellar.
For what it’s worth?
Drink Window
Early: 2027 — 15% alc and 85% new oak over 19 months needs 2+ years minimum.
Peak: 2030–2040. M5 Stagecoach Cab consistently peaks 7–15 years from vintage.
Hold: 2045. Cam says 15–20 years and the structure absolutely supports it.
My Call: 
Drink window: 2027–2045 (peak 2030–2040)
It’s wild to think about drinking a wine in 2045.
God willing!
In 2045, I plan to be a youthful & drunk 89 year old!
In 2056 at age 100, My hope is to get shot in the back by a jealous husband….
God willing?
Though we’ve been offered some very tempting CX Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia Bianca white wines, ~ is it time to revisit wines from past endeavors as Viognier and possibly an Albariño? Obviously, CH knows what sells, but I find it fun finding alternative selections if available.
I could also go for some Roussanne or Grenache Blanc as well, though might have to dip into to Paso region for that
I completely agree. A lot of dN and CamX buyers are drinking them way to early. I’ve bought 25 cases of CamX but have only opened 2 bottles so far. However, I have a cellar with a lot of older wines, including '17 and '18 dNs, that I’m drinking while I wait. For me, the improvement with age is worth paying $700 a year to store 20 cases of wine in a wine storage facility.
You will have more cab and you will like it! 
so maybe Whitehall Millennium MM Vineyard ?
We all make decisions on storage costs regarding wine, but why not just put them in the coolest part of your house (assuming you have a basement) and drink them in 7 years instead of 10?
I know you can do the math but it’s turning a bargain into a $50 bottle of wine. There’s always going to be bargain $50 bottles of wine.
Of course there’s never going to be Opus for $50 ever again.
My first guess was Peju Rutherford Reserve based only not the fact guessed it for a Malbec earlier and this isn’t explicitly a producer blend.
He does say “ this bottling” which could be read as a bottling blend.
What about Flora Springs?
Where are you located? That’s expensive storage. I’m paying $360/year to store 28 cases. That’s after the teaser rate blew off. I’ve got to think that wine storage facilities are losing business too. I’d try to renegotiate or look into driving a little farther. My facility isn’t the most convenient, but since I go there once a year tops, I don’t really care.
Whitehall Millennium MM vineyard seems to tick most of the boxes
Whitehall MM doesn’t seem to fit on price or blend. I was thinking sequoia tonella or st supery rutherford estate, but doesn’t seem like either of those sold at $175 on any release.
I don’t see any Malbec in their MM releases. And more new oak.
Flora blends more regularly for their Rutherford Hillside Reserve. I’m not sure they have used Malbec in this one but they have in other wines.
Excluding the idea this is a bottling blend…since it wasn’t described as such…the other reasonable guess is Nickel & Nickel North Rancho Vineyard Cabernet. Family owned, multiple vineyards everywhere. About the right alcohol and NFO, have another vineyard more south and more expensive in Rutherford appellation. Priced exactly at $175. Pretty sure the scores fall in line well.
I think it’s Round Pond Estate 92% Cab / 5% Petit Verdot / 3% Malbec no Merlot, no Cab Franc. That Cab+PV+Malbec-only recipe, with restrained ~40% new oak, is a specific house signature. Family-owned and operated. Gravelly Rutherford bench soils are their whole identity.
Round Pond’s named single-vineyard flagships (Gravel Series: The Vow, Scholar’s Gate, Secret Garden) are 100% Cabernet, and their estate blends list at roughly $70–130, not $175. So the CAM X bottle is more plausibly a declassified estate/reserve-tier lot than one of the exact 100%-Cab Gravel bottlings.
archetypal “Rutherford Dust,” west-bench, Cab/PV/Malbec, $175, mid-90s is essentially Beaulieu (BV) Rutherford/Georges de Latour, but BV is Treasury-owned, so “family owned and operated” rules it out. The real source is a family estate cut from that same cloth, which is what points me to Round Pond.
I’m not sure that Round Pound has 2 estate vineyards in Rutherford…nor that they would be considered west rutherford bench, but the rest makes some sense.