Hosting pizza night for NYE with a bunch of non-wino friends so gonna pop X20 and X28.
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It will be interesting to hear how the Petaluma went.
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Nice bottle! Didnāt need a decant, a little bit of smokiness and astringency that blew away in the first 30 min. Nice red fruit but not jammy, nice acid, fine tannins.
At the Costco price its an incredible deal.
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In 2025:
The Phoenix rose from the ashes, yet again.
The new Intergalactic identity is Brand X!? Shhhhhā¦.
Cheers to everyoneās health, prosperity, love, and the time to enjoy them all!
Happy New Year all! 
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The last 6 bottles went down so smooth. Itās a really good wine for the price, should get even better in a few years.
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And very best wishes / great health to you, Scott, as well as to other board posters (minus the Wankers:-) for 2026
2026+ wine cellar design fantasy 
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Recommended decant time on Lot 27?
I enjoyed a bit more on day 2, but I gave it 2-3 hours in the decanter.
Are you opening up X27 today?
Cheers!
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Yes Iām checking out Lot 27 while watching the NCAA games. Wife will be watching old movies and probably drinking Herman Story.
Everybody have a great day - Cheers
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Love Herman Story though AFWE probably go nuts just sniffing and looking at it.
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What are blue chip AFWE wines?
Iām definitely the wrong person to ask. For california cabernet, thereās definitely classics out there but today itās like Matthiasson, Beta. Iām sure others can chime in way better. Corison, Heitz are probably more old school classics.
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Consulting the oracle, Iāve only had Heitz and Dunn, and thought they were both very good.
Yep. In wine-geek shorthand, AFWE = āAnti-Flavor Wine Eliteāāoriginally a (snarky) Robert Parker phrase for people who didnāt want ultra-ripe, heavily oaked, high-octane āfruit bombā styles, and it got re-adopted tongue-in-cheek by the ābalance/terroir/structureā crowd. ļæ¼
In practice, when someone says āAFWE Napa,ā they usually mean more restrained Napa: fresher acidity, less sweet oak, less jammy ripeness, more savory/mineral structure, and often better transparency of site. ļæ¼
Classic Napa AFWE-leaning examples (benchmark āold-schoolā feel)
ā¢ Cathy Corison (Napa Valley Cab; Kronos) ā routinely described as classic and restrained Napa Cabernet.
ā¢ Heitz Cellar (esp. Marthaās Vineyard) ā explicitly framed as āclassicā Napa Cabernet in current producer materials.
ā¢ Mayacamas ā widely associated with a traditional Cabernet mode and ageworthiness. ļæ¼
ā¢ Diamond Creek (Volcanic Hill / Red Rock Terrace / Gravelly Meadow) ā often discussed as classic, terroir-driven Napa with comparatively lower alcohol emphasis (especially in the āback to fresherā direction).
ā¢ Smith-Madrone (Spring Mountain) ā explicitly described as defending a restrained, elegant 1970s-leaning Napa red style. ļæ¼
ā¢ Dunn Vineyards (Howell Mountain Cab) ā āclassically builtā mountain Cabernet, structured and ageworthy rather than plush/hedonistic. ļæ¼
ā¢ Philip Togni (Spring Mountain) ā commonly positioned as a āclassic,ā ageworthy Napa Cabernet. ļæ¼
ā¢ Spottswoode (Estate Cab) ā producer language leans hard into elegance/balance/ageworthiness. ļæ¼
Modern āAFWE vibesā in Napa (newer-wave, intentionally fresher)
ā¢ Matthiasson ā repeatedly characterized by high acidity + lower alcohol + balance relative to mainstream Napa. ļæ¼
ā¢ Ashes & Diamonds ā explicitly positioning itself as a throwback to earlier Napa and often talked about as lower alcohol / fresher vs typical modern Napa. ļæ¼
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Dear CAMheads and fellow deNegociants,
Iām running out of time and I still have a lot of wine that I canāt bring with me to the UK, so Iām bringing the price down on what I have left. These are all early days de Negoce offerings, and they have been well cellared at the Caves du Vin in Berkeley. All reds, no whites.
Iāve done an inventory and it looks like I have the following bottles for sale. I am offering them now for the price I paid in 2020-22.
DN# # avail. Price
15 2 15
25 3 20
27 1 19
30 3 20
39 2 18
40 3 22
42 2 22
43 1 16
46 1 24
47 3 24
49 3 15
50 3 19
57 2 22
64 2 24
66 2 19
70 6 20
71 4 21
78 2 24
82 4 17
91 3 15
94 2 14
96 1 16
100 4 20
105 2 19
106 3 13
120 3 23
129 1 16
139 5 15
145 2 19
150 3 16
153 3 14
173 2 22
199 2 25
217 3 21
221 2 15
223 2 15
224 1 15
229 2 14
235 1 20
254 1 12
274 3 27
298 4 30
302 4 12
329 3 35
343 5 11
348 1 14
356 4 12
365 4 15
Please let me know if there is anything here that you would like. Thanks.
You can text me at 4152034469 or email at michaelsingsen@gmail.com
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What did you think of Lot 27?
Almost a whole bottle of lot 8 went into this beef Bourguignon. Leaving me just a sip. Similar tasting notes as before: craves air to dissipate heat/astringency, improved in glass swirling. Very light bodied, bright fruit, cherry, strawberry. I was going to use Lot 31, bc I thought it was more burgondian. But seem to be low, bc I couldnāt find any.
We enjoyed with:
Domaine SĆ©rafin PĆØre & Fils ā Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru āLe Fontenyā 2006
As I continue to try to learn about Pinot/Burgundy -this wine was dark and rich, dark cherry, tea, leather.
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Dn lot 340 has a similar destination for tomorrow night for brazed short ribs (I considered using 550 but Iām giving that more timed, and I know I donāt prefer 340 bc of the spicy redhots flavor I pick up).
And tonight lobster pasta with a white wine sauce using lot 330ā¦.
Yes @David_Baum im willing to acknowledge the misses and cook with them or make sangria. Iāve got about 4 major misses in dn (93, , 330, 340, 550) and a few in still waiting out (lot 50 and a few others I canāt remember). And tonight Iām drinking first bottle a moon mountain cab (not a cam offer) that retails at 80 and I bought 3 bottles for 50/btl that I bought with a few other moon mountain bottles, just to understand that areaā¦itās good bottle but also makes me comfortable with 90% of the the cam offers Iāve purchased. Iām truly not trying to start a fight here Dave, Iām trying to point out that there are people here that may be further or less far along their wine journey and palate compared to you but perhaps we most if us donāt donāt fit the villain (or idiot) arch that it seems you have bundled us in (and perhaps you are not the villain we have bundled you
in.
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How was 2021 Fission?
Iāve been eyeing it at K&L, they have it for $50. Cheers!
Opened Lot 25 (Calistoga, WB guess: Venge) last night. Have not had it much. This was a bottle I coravin poured. Last night it was not good. Tasted like overripe, almost artificial, red fruit. Had a big nose even PnP, but almost too much ripe fruit (bubble gum? Or fruit roll up, do those still exist?)
Decanted for an hour then back in the bottle and wine fridge.
Tonight itās dramatically better. Back in the decanter (itās still improving). Both dark and red fruit showing. Nice grip, touch of acidity, like a touch of leather cedar on the mid palate. Itās not quite as viscous as Iād like, slightly thin for a high end cab.
Not sure where it goes in the pantheon right now. My top tier is 24, 5, 32. Would probably put this in the next tier for now (with 27 an 21).
Would not PnP. Please donāt PnP 
(Iām jk. I just poured a whole bottle of CamX into a stew, do what you want)
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