Cameron Hughes rolls up his sleeves and scares up another winner. Taking advantage of the surplus of good wine in California, and in the rest of the wine producing world, Mr. Hughes buys up premium wines that otherwise would be clogging the storm drains of Northern California. This is wine sitting in storage because there's just more of it than can be bought up by 'slackers and 'slackettes. The wine makers don't want to lower their prices, 'cause they feel they'll lose the cachet they've spent years building up. They want to maintain the market for their labels. So, instead of spending precious resources (money) storing wine and insuring it, they sell it to Mr. Hughes at a much reduced price. He puts his label on it and sells it for the price it should go for, given the law of supply and demand. The wineries get rid of it and the attendant costs, Mr. Hughes gets nicely rewarded, and we, wine loving 'slackers that we are, get some bloody good wine at bargain prices. See the Wineslacker's previous posts on Cameron Hughes' Lot 15,16, and 17.

Now comes Lot 23, 2002 Meritage. And the Wineslacker is here to sing it's praise. Meritage is a made up term to describe a Bordeaux-style blend of reds. This wine is 75% Merlot, 14% Cabernet, a little Petite Verdot, a touch Malbec, a kiss of Cabernet Franc. And man, is it good. Who ever made this wine got it right. The bouquet is beautiful. Dried roses, spice and cedar. In the mouth it's intense dried fruit, spice and firm, but not overwhelming tannins. The finish is a long, pleasant, dry cigar box flavor. There is great balance in this wine. The fruit is intense, but without a touch of sugar. There is structure and balance from the very start. It's a pleasure just by itself. With its structure, it'll be interesting to see what a couple of more years might bring. But who's kidding who. The Wineslacker won't have any left to try.

Here's the best part. You can pick this little biscuit up at your local neighborhood Costco for just about $10. Oh, impossible, you think. Not. If you don't have a local neighborhood Costco, get it directly from the Hughes man himself, from his website. Just get some, before it be gone.