When I initially bought cases of 230 and 240 I preferred 240 however over time 230 has become the better wine of the two and I’ve moved 240 to cellar defender status while I try to reserve my bottles of 230. Thankful that I got a couple of cases of 230 on sales before they disappeared from inventory
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448…this is a meh wine for me…decent enough I guess, I just like a little more zip, maybe 1 left
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Anyone had 78? I’ve got a handful and will try soon. In doing a little dive I’ve got a take…
De Negoce N. 78 is 2018 Beringer St. Helena Home Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
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Alcohol 15.1% - Exact match
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100% Cabernet - Exact match with some note
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Per Cam’s notes its 97% Napa Valley and 3% Diamond Mountain - Yes, the St. Helena Home Vineyard is released as a Single Vineyard, but per TTB regulations single vineyards must have 95% of grapes from named vineyard that leaves 5% room
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Beringer is known to include small percentage of Diamond Mountain grapes (specifically from Armstrong Ranch) in its Private Reserve (example: vintage 2017 (2%).
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Note Beringer is very lean on its details for Single Vineyard releases. I can’t find an official “tech sheet” and the website varies in detail from vintage to vintage and label to label.
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21 Months, 100% French Oak (48% new) - Very Close match with note
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Cam notes 50%, but this seems like one of the vague sleight of hand wording choices to make it hard to match - Rounding to 50% seems logical
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Current price of $150 - Very Close match
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Not sure what price was in 2020 at release, but $140 seems pretty reasonable and/or Cam released first and was estimating the Beringer?
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St. Helena Home Vineyard is a famous vineyard and located at about 400 feet elevation - Very Close match with note
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This matches Cam’s description of ‘legendary vineyard’ and within “1000 feet outside the Howell Mountain AVA”. I believe this was a creative word choice to confuse. I don’t think (I tried searching) there are any ‘legendary vineyards’ that are 1000 feet (as crow flies - horizontally) from the ‘border’ of Howell Mountain AVA. Thus, I believe the “1000 feet outside” actually refers to vertical elevation feet and Howell Mountain threshold is 1400 feet thus the 1000 feet matches exactly.
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Why even mention Howell mountain? Beringer has many vineyards on Howell and includes Howell fruit in Private Reserve as well as Single Vineyards. There is also 2% additional that could have been added to still meet the 95% single vineyard threshold. Plus, Howell is more marketable than St. Helena IMO.
Open to opinions, but based on the information that can be fully vetted there are some exact matches. With other information that is less fully verifiable I believe between the Beringer data and Cam’s descriptions the plausibility of this being the match is pretty high.
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Kevin,
I had tried 78 a few months ago but thought it was not ready yet. I had high expectations for this one given Cam’s write up and it’s the same wine as producers blend, if I remember correctly.
Your write up makes a lot of sense but de Negociants has 78 as Charles Krug Howell Mtn Reserve. I don’t remember the back and forth when we were trying to figure out the source.
I had the 2018 Beringer St. Helena Home around 6 months ago and thought it was great. It was a solid 91-92 point wine so I hope you are correct as I have 8-10 bottles left of dN 78 from the moving sale.
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I did see the note about it possibly being the Charles Krug. I couldn’t find much about where that guess came from in a quick search. From what I could find though that wine was 15.4% which is what had me start looking in the first place. I also couldn’t find any link to Diamond Mountain for Krug and it seems the fruit for their HM is for sure located within the AVA limits.
That’s for sharing your experience with the 78 and the Beringer. I’m planning to try one of the 78 soon and will share once I do so!
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Lot 253 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Coming up on 4 years in the bottle, PnP. #5/6.
A bit volatile at first, blows off in time. This 2019 is ready for me.
Rich & Delightful booze! 
Great deep palate, framed with the sweet Oak barrels! Drink now, can still age awhile.
with NY Steak
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Are there any guesses on Lot 525? Can’t find them if there are.
Thanks
Larry.
Hard to say here as they’ve been more secretive on sourcing. “100 pt winemaker” and description with secret Bordelaise varietals, location, all makes me think it’s possible to be Quintessa?
Cheers, Tim
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Lot 38 is really good. I was put off by some bad reviews a few years ago, but if it really is from Pride (and this was pretty high conviction if memory serves) I figured it would need time. Glad I waited. No rush but I’ll fire at will with the remaining 11.
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OG N.76 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
opened Monday and had a glass, then was out of town til today
drinking now, and this wine is just gorgeous after sitting in opened/corked bottle at room temp for 4 days
I think I have most of a case of this still, and will put these in the rotation
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Thursday Night Football- Niners/Rams. Classic NFC West division game. Timed this bottle to finish in 4th Qtr, Went to OT- and 9ers win! Sweet.
- 2019 de Négoce Pinot Noir OG N.70-D - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains (10/2/2025)
Popped and poured with some leftover spaghetti and TNF Game 9ers-Rams.
Nose: Sour cherry, some earth- not real earthy as a red burgundy usually is. Enjoyable.
Color: See through garnet. Nice color.
Palate: Pick up some strawberry/raspberry with crunchy tannins, medium acidity. Medium plus length finish. For the price paid $216/case then $199/case later deals - solid bargain in Oregon PN from Chehelem Mountain. (90 points)
Posted from CellarTracker
4 Likes
My fingers have been very sticky, due to the ongoing herb harvest.
Recently:
Lot 192 2019 Knights Valley Cabernet
Nice now, can age it longer.
with NY Steak.
OG L 329 Sonoma Coast 2019 Pinot Noir
Really has mellowed out. Delicious!
with Spaghetti
OG N.64 2018 Calistoga “Hillside” Cabernet
Fantastic now, complex.
with Beef back ribs
On deck:
2021 Eleveur Pinot Noir Twin Hills
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OG Lot 175, 2019 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Strong, Interesting flavor, complex, but perhaps not “balanced”…is that normal for WA Cabs?
Night 2, didn’t fade, still spicy.
Overall, delicious and unique, just not what I expected. 90+ points.
Thanks Scott and Randy for the tasting notes on lots 64, 192 and 175. I’ll being going through my buried cases of dN soon and want to pull out the lots to be drank in 2026. It helps a lot to know which ones are in their drinking window. I only have 6 bottles of lot 64 that I paid $26.50 for, so don’t want to drink too early. Sounds like I can start drinking 1 a year or so.
At the same time, I’ll be burying 11 cases of Cam X so I can’t get to them for at least another year.
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Friday evening dinner- this wonderful Napa Cab- those OG Napa Cabernet Lots up to “50” were all desirable and delicious. Only Lot that “missed the mark” for me was OG N.41- which I gladly swapped with Scott Boyd.
- 2018 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.20 Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/3/2025)
Notes consistent with April 2025 tasting, this time, aromatics and nose shined through more. I don't subscribe to "bottle variation" on that, likely more wine temperature and preparation of wine prior to serving.
Double decanted 30 mins prior to dinner.
Nose: Spicy dark berries and cassis mixed with earth & florals.
Color: Opaque and dark in glass. Stains sides of glass. Dark color of 337 Clone evident.
Palate: Cassis, blackberry, a bit of mocha provide plush entry with solid tannic finish lasting over 30 seconds. Incredible Napa Cabernet experience yet again from the original curator of de Negoce Cameron Hughes. Should drink well for another 3-4 years. (92 points)
Posted from CellarTracker
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OG N.22 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet
5+ years in the bottle, #4 of 6. Into the decanter 45 minutes before serving.
This excellent CS has now opened up to reveal very succulent and complex dark mountain fruits! Tonight shows with a mild acidity that is balanced out with plenty of Tannins from both grapes and Oak.
Double yummy & ready now for my tastes.
Said to be Robert Craig, it is similar to Lot 468 | 2018 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, however it’s, 41% Napa Valley (hillside vineyard just below Atlas Peak AVA) 39% Atlas Peak AVA 11% Calistoga AVA 5% Pritchard Hill AVA 4% Howell Mountain……
with Ribeye
Scott,
I agree with you on dN 64. I think wines like 64 and 60, which were not the most hyped wines by Cam initially, have really evolved into some of the better of the first dN 100 wines. I was initially expecting wines like 100, 50 and 40 to become some of the better wines but they still have not turned the corner yet IMHO.
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Yep, I really love #64, ended up with 3 cases, 10 bottles remaining.
100 is nice @ $16 each. Missed 60. #50 is a Meh, so far.
Cheers
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Lot 145. 2018 Moon Mountain Cab Sav. This wine seemed to have lost its fruit. Very little depth and was in general disappointing
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I thought Lot 145 was a 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (90% Cabernet, 10% Merlot 60% St. Helena, 40% Rutherford 50% new French oak 14.8% alc. Bottled January 26, 2021). I’m looking forward to opening the first of this case mid 2026.
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