Got some more of these Cabs in Today’s Tax sale:
#’s 232, 404 & 409.
Vintages 2019, 2020 & 2021, I’m very happy 
Was able to use my dN Credits! Now finally at the “Villages” Level.
#232 is definitely a triple Yum!
My dN/hiking buddy said he wants more #404 when it comes back on sale…He loves #404. So I got more, too.
Someone (Ivan) compared #404 with #250 & #300! ‘Nuff said…
MatthewT said #409 is good enough to order more, so I did.
Thanks MatthewT & Mark!
Cheers everyone 
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Thanks y’all for your suggestions.
I have a case of Lot 404 and I love Wilson, so no go, but:
I got a few Lot 232, a few Lot 409 which I don’t have, a few Lot 375 and 1 Lot 350.
Not that I have any storage space, and do have a SO who would frown upon a wine purchase…
By the way, Lot 375 is interesting; lots of flavor and higher acid and more “lively” than a Napa Cab. But…she says “Bandaids”…I can’t taste it, but apparently it’s strong with this one.
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Agree, thanks for the suggestions! Bought 6 of 232, 404, 409, and 414. I have a case of 409 and also think it has great potential, thanks again.
AI with English as a second language.
I was able to pick up two cases of lower priced reds & whites & have them shipped to my brother in Colorado for a family reunion this summer. All for about $300! It’s a great relief to know we will have wine to enjoy without having to scour remote mountain wine shops & grocery stores for overpriced bottles of plonk.
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I bought a mixed case of the Aussie shiraz. Found them all to be a really good value. Also grabbed a few of the Walla Walla cabs and merlot for daily drinkers. I was able to use my rewards points towards the purchase. Cheers!
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The wonderful wines I ordered yesterday, are already shipping! That’s the very Next day, so nice!
That is great service, I’m happy for that.
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Has ANYONE ever opened a bottle of Lot 350, and have then feedback. I can find no mention in any of the WB threads that mentions drinking 350, just a few that have purchased.
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This Wine Access offer seems a lot like de Negoce, except more transparency about the source. Winery price $82, WA offering at $20. Lots of hype in the write-up. Sold out in a day. If it had a de Negoce label on it, what would be the price? $15? If so, would you rather have it at $15 in a dN label without knowing the winery or at $20 with the original label?
From WA: 2018 Dolum Estates Proprietary Red Cask #11 is everything an $82 Sonoma Mountain Cabernet blend should be. Grown on a phenomenal Sonoma Mountain site in a vintage Spectator rated 99 points—the highest score ever in their vintage chart—$82 is the exact price you’ll see for this monumental release on Dolum Estate’s own website. But thanks to a sharp pencil, some sharp-elbowed negotiating, and a major commitment, we nabbed this beautifully proportioned and opulent red for Wine Access members at a STAGGERING discount!
Of course, the write-up conveniently ignores the fact that the wine is available from other retailers for $30-40.
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The last time I bought from Wine Access was about 15+ years ago. I got a case of highly hyped French red, a darling in cafes across Paris (or some such). The first few bottles were quite tasty & quaffable & I thought I’d gotten a great deal. But in less than a year, the remaining bottles were undrinkable. Sweaty gym socks that had been left in the duffel bag for a week… Never again.
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Dolum seems pretty dN like to me. It feels like one of 40 CA wine labels with artificially high prices to create discounts for flash sites.
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I’m laughing about the sweaty gym socks profile because we recently had a Cakebread Cab Sauv in a blind tasting and several people mentioned that in their notes. I’m sure it’s on the aroma wheel but with a fancy microbiological name. I should have put N.68 in the line up… top marks every time. If I could only go back to that case deal a year or so ago……
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I would appreciate some insight from those that have significant experience with de Negoce wines. I only bought #46 and #47 because I’m not crazy about mystery offerings like these. Well, I’ve now had two bottles of each and have been extremely impressed. They both really taste like a young good quality Napa cabernet and I don’t see how I could buy something of that quality for the $24 paid (including shipping).
Are #46 and #47 representative of the same price/quality that they are releasing today, or has De Negoce gone downhill? I am not super active on this 9k+ thread but I get the sense that quality has slipped. If I could pick up bottlings similar to 46/47 I would absolutely do so.
Joe.
I myself was on Cameron’s VIP list, as such, special lots were offered to the VIP list before the public. Extensive experience with de Negoce early lots and purchases. Having had an extensive wine cellar that needed updating current vintages, de Negoce came along with these terrific offerings. Purchased Cameron Hughes wines via Costco (met him in person 3 times at different SF Bay Area warehouses) and later direct via website. The 1st de Negoce offering of OG N.01 was crazy priced at $120. OK., I bought, and bought some more and ended up on VIP list via the “trust in Cam”. Never really tried those Cabernets as they were very young and recommended to be held by Cameron for a long time. Others drank them, made remarks negatively, then later regretted consuming them at early age. I’ve have just started to drink those 2017’s and 2018’s from my purchases > 4 years ago. Cannot comment on recent offerings compared to initial offers as I would not drink the younger wines anyhow. It is this board’s consenus that de Negoce without Cameron’s presence/leadership has diminished substanially. Read the current “What de Negoce Wine Are You Drinking Tonight?” thread if you have not already.
These de Negoce offers are far superior than the “Cameron Hughes” Cabernets.
Cheers, Tim
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Congrats on waiting so long to consume those. I don’t have either of those offers but have about 5 cases of Napa 17-18 reds and 10 of the 2019 Napa offering. (Plus a bunch of other ones from Sonoma and Washington state) can say most of us drank many of them too early and the reviews were mixed but i do feel like all 17-19 Napas i own are enjoyable now (and some are now fantastic) I’ve learned my lesson so most of my 21-22 purchases are untouched (as a compliment to cams quality control there were almost no 2020 Napa offers from dN bc of the smoke)
Re if dNs offers are as good as the olden days, id say the jury is still out. I’m sure the current owners have access to some great wine but cams departure made many of us nervous bc we had grown used to purchasing based on an aligned palate. And now that predictor is lost bc we don’t exactly know who is choosing the wine. It’s a little unclear when can stopped being actively involved in the buying. 380-401 have seemed really comparable to early dN but the new owners threw out some comment that implied rhey had been involved in the process selection of those lots. I’ve very limited purchases higher than lot 401…of the 2 I tried one was fantastic potential and the other I’m not yet sure.
Some of the long-timers recently raved about some of the 30% off sale offers (404 and 409 I think) and they were around for the 2 offers that you own…so perhaps some reason for optimism…then others posted their early tasting results of 450 and were less optimistic about the future. I’m still a buyer but more cautiously. I think a lot of us are holding out for a hopeful glut of high quality wine from the 2023 harvest to hit the market… I think I am planning for one or two more cases of 2022 offers (and I’d take a flier on a case of 21s if they found something interesting) then really hope for some good 2023 harvest.
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Aye, and therein lies the rub. My experience is you can’t really tell from the marketing pitch which ones will be your 46/47 and which will be the NDA disappointment we all have had. And unless you are paying the higher bottle shop price, you have to commit to at least six bottles. I’ve yet to have an undrinkable bottle, but some have been mediocre to the point if I had bought a single bottle to try out, I would not have bought any more. But these are also typically the $10-$15 bottles, so no biggie and not totally unexpected.
I think it is hard to say if De Negoce has gone downhill due to Cam leaving or different business model. It could just be a function that the early offers were good deals due to the pandemic bulk market situation and that is gone. I guess it remains to be seen if those deals where primarily because of Cam’s personal relationships in the wine biz if the wine glut materializes into a similar opportunity.
Since you said you weren’t crazy about mystery offerings, I think there is a good chance you will be disappointed unless you just get lucky like you did with 46/47. ymmv.
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This is exactly why I’m not crazy about mystery offerings. I find a wine that really speaks to me and represents a good value. But it is a total one-off, cannot be repeated. I don’t even know what the wine is, so I haven’t discovered a new producer or anything to carry into the future. I happened to get lucky and find one good wine, the end. And that is the best case scenario. So I tend to agree with you, no point in spending my time on mystery offers. Thanks!
In theory every bottle is a “mystery” offer. This forum may get some clues, but its never know if its the exact bottling, a different blend, a new wine a winery decided not to release, etc…so you can find something you like, say lot #ABC and still not be able to replicate it even if you think you know the producer.
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