Scott,
Not much clues here, my thoughts are Rochioli or Williams Seylem as some prestigious allocation only lists in Sonoma. However, allocation only RRV Chardonnay that lists for $55 on website seems a bit low- those are usually > $65+. Only vintner that keeps his prices a bit below market is typically Ramey. But his Rochioli Vineyard Chard is $80ish.
Cheers, Tim
Theyāve dropped Goldridge soil references on previous Dehlinger sources bottlings, including Chard #73, believed to be their Garbro Ranch.
Scott_Fleming,
I hear ya on > prices, costs of everything has gone up it seems. As Scott_B would say āgood boozeā costs more these days. Until there is some desparation event, we might not get back to deep price discounts seen 3-4 years ago. Iāve filled my cellar with those deep discounted wines from 3-4 years ago, and thoroughly enjoy those now extinct wines and prices I paid for them!
Cheers, Tim
de Negoce regulars ought to check out the thread on the DuPuis auction.
Same producer as n.424? Similar verbiage but more ambiguous on the vineyard locations for this offering.
13.9% abv and lots of red fruit discursion makes me a no thanks. Holding out hope for the next proprietary red like 429.
Yah, I want to like this but itās vague and I also donāt love sub 14% cabs. One thing that sticks out is this:
From vineyard to bottle, this winery spares no expense.
Why talk about the BOTTLE if itās not a shiner? Why would WE care about how they bottle it? Maybe it is but canāt disclose? Iām reaching but description is so vague maybe thatās why?
I would think they are not literally talking about the physical bottle. I assume they mean the act of producing the Wine until it reaches the bottle.
Robert,
Implying that it is not packaged in a box is a possibility? lol.
Cheers, Tim
Good point, I feel very confident now since they use glass. Didnāt mention anything about the closure though, After sparing no expense with the bottle they probably skimped.
Otoh, if they didnāt spare ANY expense on the vineyard then logically it must be Screaming Eagle, because they wouldnāt save a few bucks and bottle MacDonald.
Chris - was a big buyer of DeN wines early on, but trailed off. Havenāt been here too much lately. Whatās the scoop on ānew regimeā?
Hi @John_O , Not sure if I have all details correct, someone else can chime in, but approximately a year ago Cameron Hughes divested/sold/was bought out of deNegoce by what is presumed/deduced to be Martin Ray winery. Cam stopped posting on WB, and a few changes to format of website and customer service, but imo if you were not engaged here, or directly with Cam on some level, the changes to the operation/website and offers were not a significant change. During that timeframe, they did seem to have lots of bottle shop inventory that was not moving, and various sales eventually cleared most of that out. I think the switchover in who was actually sourcing the wines occurred in approximately the early 400ās.
My own personal buying spurt occurred toward end of last year, after āthe changeā, but most of the wines I bought were sub-300 dN wines that I was able to read some reviews of actual buyers here, CellarTracker, and denegociants.
Thx Chris. I hope it ended better for him than his 1st iteration.
Good summary, although from my point of view, Iāve seen zero proof that Cam was in fact fully bought out of dN and is no longer involved in dN. When asked, the folks at dN say that he is still involved and is sourcing the new wines, but no longer being involved is purely speculation. Perhaps strong speculation based on empirical evidence, but speculation nonetheless.
On that note, Iāll share that a I have been working on a new theory about what happened last summer. Iāll share it soon enoughā¦I have to type it out first!
I went back to the dN notes from bottles that I remember I like - and all are 14.5%+. I have never really paid too much attention to that, but you make a good point.
Can anyone point out some good dN (or non-dN) bottlings that are close to 14%? This supposedly clocks in at 13.9%.
Corison used 50% new french oak aged 18 month at 13.9% abv for their 2020 but couldnt find any specs for their 2022 yet. And price is somewhat fitting. Just an off the wall guess
John 0
Cam bought a new house in Kenwood on March 9th '23 when the deal for de Negoce cleared to Courtney Benham as the manager (General?) of dN.
He has a new LLC registered there called Intergalatic wines.
Cheers, Tim
I purchased a case of the 424 and had one a few weeks ago. On the pour it was pretty closed but had some good things going on, next day it was pretty solid. In for a case.
Iām actually excited by the lower alcohol, but if I wait long enough, maybe it will sell out.
I have 251 and 54 at 13.5, but havenāt tried either yet.
398 is 13.9, but also havenāt tried.