Cam X Wine Company

Coombsville estate pretty much is the only thing. The price doesn’t really line up. Just trying to get everyone back on the Covert train, especially since we now Julian Fayard works with Stagecoach under other labels.

Re: Covert, are you positive he had access to Stagecoach fruit in the ‘23 harvest? I remember researching this when Lot 10 originally dropped and couldn’t find any mention of Fayard on Krupp’s site (or find him listed as winemaker for their recent bottlings). I know he has historically had access to top blocks, but are we sure that’s true of this vintage? Stating the obvious, but Gallo would clearly have access to those ‘insider blocks’ as the vineyard owner.

I think there’s a lot of merit to that. The only labels for Gallo which really sell for >$200 are Pahlmeyer and Orin Swift. Interestingly, they have a historical tie as a brand to Coombsville and they list their top tier wines as “Icons”. And of course, in a way, Stagecoach is their estate vineyard. Also, of all the Gallo brands, only Pahlmeyer Pièce de Résistance Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 has received a 100 point score. They have a couple 98s. I think in a lot of ways, it might be safe to say that this is the best guess. A new Icon release from Pahlmeyer.

Louis Martini Lot 1 is a $250 Gallo wine that pulls from Stagecoach, I think. Not saying Lot 10 is it, but could be, or a new icon level wine a step up from Lot 1.

My idea with Faust was that they currently cap out with The Pact which is about $125. I would think they could easily be a contender to want to produce a new upper tier wine in the $200+ range.

Of interesting note is that he capitalized Icon-level and Pahlmeyer specifically refers to a series of wine as Icons.

The only reason I push back on Faust as a guess is their Quintessa ownership/relationship…I just don’t see them offering a wine (even an ‘Icon-level’ wine) that encroaches on big brother’s price point…

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Pahlmeyer’s Icon wines are $300+, so assume Cam would have touted that. As Cam mentions this as a new project, I lean more towards a ‘Martini Lot 1’ type of bottling. Or it could be Covert. Who knows.

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12 sounds like Realm to me. They bought Houyi vineyard so it is now estate. The price probably fits. They’ve gotten high scores all over the place.

:man_shrugging:

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Cam needs to move on to offering lot 13 so we can stop debating these older lots. :wine_glass:

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Have never bought any Cameron Hughes wines before but feel like it would be foolish for me to pass on scooping up a case of my son Cameron’s birth year wines to hang onto.

Even if these aren’t “cellar for decades” cabs, I think we could find some occasions/parties to break these out! I’ll comb through the comments but anyone want to sell me on an uninformed purchase??

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That sounds like the Rose to me. Nobody cares who made it, just that it’s good and the label says CAM.

You don’t want to bore everybody at your party trying to describe all the different possible permutations of where “rip snorting rock star juice” came from.

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Also, you definitely are correct. Price and origin. I think safe to say, Covert may be a stretch but Gallo seems to be the most likely producer, either creating a new brand/label that they split with Cam (his words). Safe to say, if we all see some more likely Gallo sources from 2023, those will be the 11 wines that were referenced a long while back. Seems more likely than 11 wines from Covert.

“Martini’s top Cabernet has been largely produced from purchased fruit in the past, but the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 1 is almost half from Stagecoach. It also includes important contributions from Coombsville, Mount Veeder, Howell Mountain and Calistoga. Cherries and cassis dominate the nose, graced with faint herbal notions and a delicate framing of new French oak. Full-bodied, expansive, rich and velvety, it finishes with softly dusty tannins and hints of cocoa.”

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CAM X $149 Lot 16 2023 Napa Valley Syrah up now.

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lets just say $149 is less than one bottle of SQN :man_shrugging:t2:

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Orin Swift Scattered Stones (but just the Syrah)? Fits the dollars, sourced, and another Gallo wine. Or Krupp Brothers “Black Bart”.

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Cam, I’m begging you to be a little more sparing with the “back up the trucks”. It used to be such a solid indicator when it only applied to one in ten lots or fewer. I know, these wines are just all that good, but there has to be some way to differentiate. With that said, “best syrah I have ever bottled” puts this on auto-buy. Is it actually bottled in a Bordeaux shaped bottle? I’m assuming it’s just a mock up.

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Another easy buy-without-hesitation Lot # for me.

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B Cellars makes a S*******h Syrah in some years…

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I’ve gotten out of the sleuthing business (since I am not ready to see my skills annihilated by AI), but Kerr seems like a good fit as does Venge. I can’t believe I’m buying more wine and I can’t believe I’m only buying one case.

Easy two case purchase.

POUR SOME SYRAH ON ME!!!

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