“Approachable, balanced, great now, but will continue to age well“  -  terms used to describe good wines.  Or, in this case,  modern, negotiant  winemaker Cameron Hughes.

 “I love good wine, but I’m basically cheap”, says the relaxed young man sitting across from me.  “I was brought up  with frugal, mid Western (US) family  values where I learned to look for bargains without compromising on quality.  I found a way to make it work for wines.”

 We had the pleasure of hosting Cameron at a VIP wine tasting at Aligra Wine & Spirits last week.  As fans of his wines and his unique concept for bringing great wines to market at good prices, Grant and I  were intrigued -  Who is the man that has developed a completely modern approach to selling wines?

After completing English and Philosophy degrees at university, Cameron worked with his father in a direct marketing campaign selling wine one summer.  He discovered he was very good at selling, and loved wine!  He then went on to work for a wine importer in France.  The company was blending and exporting wines to the US and eventually Cameron was asked to look after their California market.     No thanks!   Instead, he and Jessica (who is now his wife and business partner) decided to do their own thing and bought 500 cases of wine on speculation and tried selling them from out of the back of his car.  That was in 2001.  In short order, he self- admittedly ran the company into the ground.  However, the lesson was learned:  Investing in a product in advance of sales just doesn’t work.  You have to have it sold before you buy it.

He developed his idea further and together with a huge desire to bring good quality wines to market at great prices, his Lot Series was born.

“A bottle of wine doesn’t cost a lot to make.  It’s everything else about that wine that makes it expensive”.  Experience in the bulk wine market from his days with the French importer, opened up winery doors for him to interface with many growers and wineries where he concentrated on selecting the upper 1% of their quality juice for his bulk wine operation.  He incubated his sales distribution with Costco in California and Texas using a “here today and gone tomorrow, retailer within a retailer” philosophy.  Average consumers were now able to pick up quality bottles of wine from premium wineries at a fraction of the price.   The “virtual” wine company was born. The concept is about value and keeping overhead, distribution and sales costs at a minimum.  Cameron boasts that he has the overhead of a 10,000 case a year winery selling in excess of 30,000 cases annually. 

He continues to be actively involved in sourcing, blending and selling the wines.  His Lot Series contains juice from some of the best vineyards and wineries in the world.  You won’t know from which brand name winery the various Lot wines hail from as that’s part of the deal; to protect the integrity of the wine sold under its true brand name.   Lot Series wines are often $10.00 - $30.00 (and often a lot more) cheaper than these branded bottles, but contain the same wine! 

When selecting wines, Cameron, who  admits to having no formal wine education and learned about wines by tasting them,  insists that his wines reflect a true expression of their terroir and place.  He is open to trying different blending styles, but really wants the wine itself to find its own voice.

He finds current trends in US wine making “disturbing”.  To sell more wine, sweet style reds are being developed where sugar is added to make it more palatable for new wine drinkers.  “Red wines by their nature are not meant to be sweet.”  Certainly sourcing riper fruit and creative blending can produce what may taste sweeter on the palate, but adding sugar is simply not the profile he’s going for.  His personal style and taste leans toward many great Spanish varietals and the cool climate wines from Chile.

In terms of the Canadian market, he is really enthusiastic about how well the wine industry is faring here and says that Alberta is his biggest market.  He likes the dynamic and innovative ways that Alberta gets the wines in front of consumers through both retail and restaurant distribution.  He travels here from his home outside San Francisco two to three times a year.

“There’s a lot of diversity with wine right now.  Great opportunities for consumers who are generally a lot more educated about their tastes and choices than even ten years ago.”

When not on the road selling and promoting his wines, Cameron enjoys relaxing and entertaining at his home with his wife and business partner Jessica, or skiing or playing on the beach with their two young daughters and their chocolate labs.  I’m told that wine is usually involved.

 For a selection of Cameron Hughes Lot Series Wines visit Aligra Wine & Spirits, Entrance 58, West Edmonton Mall.

For tasting notes on the wines tasted on June 30th, visit www.aligrawineandspirits.com   Media page