Cameron Hughes Wine

Founded by Cameron Hughes and partner Jessica Kogan in 2001, this is an international negociant in the true European model, sourcing wines from many wine regions of the world and offering several brands including The Flying Winemaker, Hughes Wellman, RockRidge, Evergreen, and the Cameron Hughes Lot Series. Cameron Hughes, whose background was in the bulk wine industry, buys oversupply quality wine from top wineries and resells it for bargain prices.

In the 2007 vintage, three Carneros Pinot Noirs were offered under the Cameron Hughes label: Lot 110, Lot 125, Lot 142, all priced at less than $18. The fruit came from some excellent, but secret, sources. In 2008, business boomed during the recession. There was more supply and consumers were focused on value and wineries were reluctant to sell their own labels at deep discounts, yet needed the cash flow. In 2011, Cameron Hughes Wine will bottle 120 wines, for a total of 400,000 cases.

Sam Spencer is now a partner and full-time winemaker for the company, which operates out of Geyserville, in Sonoma County.

Hughes never discloses the source of his wines preserving a winery's anonymity. The winery source is often high-end, but the winery may need to move out surplus inventory, generate cash flow or make full use of capacity. The wines are of high quality and cover a variety of styles.

The wines are sold online (the French wine offerings are only available online) and distributed through large retailers such as Sam's Club and Costco in 38 states.