Intense notes of blackberry, cassis, and Bing cherry followed by layers of cigar box, toasty French oak and violets. Bold plum and ripe raspberry balanced with lively acidity and firm tannins usher in a flourish of vanilla and spice in a long, lingering finish. The tannins soften in the decanter adding subtle notes of brandied cherries and oiled leather. Well-balanced with beautifully attenuated fruit, this French pedigreed, First Growth-quality Cabernet is about as terroir-driven a wine as you’ll find in Napa Valley.
Chosen for its approximation of St. Emilion’s gravelly soils, this organically-farmed estate vineyard is sandwiched between Atlas Peak and Oak Knoll and situated on a broad, gravelly alluvial fan that straddles one of the creek drainages coming off of Atlas Peak and Mount George. With classic Bordelais-style super-dense vine spacing yielding only 3 tons/acre of intense, concentrated fruit, the resulting wine will be delicious right out of the bottle (once through bottle shock) but has the structure and stuffing to go another decade in the cellar.
Check-in tasting June 23, 2021 - Hurray! This wine has gone in and out of funk with cranky, leesy aromatics and an angular palate. It has come around beautifully, however, really cracking open with cassis and raspberry and a palate staining finish…this wine is a total monster with an alluvial tannin profile that will continue to complex beautifully.
Specs
Vintage: 2018
Varietal: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 5% Petite Sirah
Appellation: Napa Valley
Barrels: 25% New French and American oak, tight grain, low to medium toast
Bottled: June 26, 2020
Alcohol: 14.3%
2018 de Négoce OG N.102 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla
Tasting Notes
Dark garnet, almost opaque in the glass. The bouquet is redolent with spicy blackberry compote, crème de cassis, pepper and mineral-infused florals with a kiss of smoky oak. Rich, chewy and dense on entry with plenty of ripe fruit and lush, toasty vanilla notes from the American oak perfectly balanced against rock and tobacco. Rich and ripe with seamless tannin integration, this terrific Cabernet Sauvignon is a first-class effort.
The 2018 vintage for red wines in Washington State was about as close to perfection as it gets. Sourced from the producer’s estate-vineyard (just a stone’s throw from the legendary Seven Hills Vineyard). This release, an estate-grown, single-vineyard designate 2018 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, has a 10-year run of consistently scoring between 91-93 points from the Wine Spectator (other than the occasional 88-89 pt. blip in a lesser vintage). Granted, it was about 10-years ago and it looks like they stopped bothering with submissions once they had an audience for the wine. Nevertheless, what you have here is a Cabernet Sauvignon from a great vineyard in a fantastic vintage.
2018 de Négoce OG N.68 Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
92 points, Gold Medal ~ 2021 Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition
Tasting Notes
Dark and brooding in the glass it starts very earthy and graphitic with lots of deep plum, chaparral, herb and licorice notes flashing with black cherry, sage and leather. Powdery purple florals, crushed volcanic rock and dark earth are constant once it opens up. Smooth and surprisingly lush and full on the palate, it’s focused and concentrated with chewy tannin and bright, lingering black cherry on the finish. This will be dynamite once it coalesces.
The last offering from this stunning, high-elevation, Spring Mountain estate, N.68 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic example of the “mountain” breed. Dense and savory with elegantly delineated fruit, it reflects the extreme growing conditions of high-altitude vineyards. Here ultraviolet exposure combines with lean soils to produce wines (and especially Cabernet’s) with bold structures and intense flavors.
Of course, N.68 Cabernet is a terrific example, an achetype for the category. After purchasing the first three wines, our team was given carte blanche access and assembled the blend from components we were provided. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, if you are looking for overtly rich and early expressive, this isn’t your Cabernet. Deep, dark and delicious it is (and relatively approachable for a mountain Cab); nevertheless, the best of this wine is a couple years out.
UPDATED JUNE 27, 2021
Just cracking open but still tightly wrapped in high-altitude, mountain tannins. Soy, toffee, warm wax oak aromas dominate the dark cherry fruit…brooding, earthy mountain cab with graphite, chaparral herbs/anise/sage, dried black cherry, leather - smooth and lush full palate, focused and concentrated with chewy tannin and bright lingering black cherry on the finish. Day Two: Mountain chaparral begins to escape the abyss as the aromatic complexity emerges. Good fruit impression on the palate but it is tightly wound with bourbon oak and tannins. Look to the Fall.
Specs
Vintage: 2018
Varietal: 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 7% Petite Verdot
Appellation: 77% Sonoma County, 23% Napa County
Alcohol: 14.5%
What’s Included
6-bottles:
2x 2018 de Négoce OG N.17 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2x 2018 de Négoce OG N.102 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley
2x 2018 de Négoce OG N.68 Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
Case:
4x 2018 de Négoce OG N.17 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
4x 2018 de Négoce OG N.102 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley
4x 2018 de Négoce OG N.68 Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
As the pioneer of the négociant wine trade, de Négoce Founder Cameron Hughes has 20+ years of experience sourcing and selling ultra-premium wines direct-to-consumer. In fact, until Cameron came along, few in the US had ever heard the term négociant (the French for a wine trader).
Of course, none of this operates without the crucial ingredient of trust. And while the phrase “trust me” stands perhaps a little tarnished in today’s world, I ask for your trust and promise every wine will be as represented in the offer. - Cameron Hughes
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
de Négoce Mixed Cabernet Sauvignon - $10 = 5.88%
I’ve had a number of de Negoce wines, and they have ranged from very good to outstanding. These three I haven’t tried. The 2018s seem to be taking a lot of time to come around after bottling, but I’m going to take a shot on the mixed case. I am guessing that these are drinking pretty well right now, but if you have room to give them some more time, they will only get better.
TLDR; This is one of my favorite ways to try wines; I love the compare and contrast, experiencing the differences in terrier and the evolution of wine in a glass. So much fun, good wines that are all probably ~$20 a bottle and would be great to bring to, or host, a dinner party or tasting with friends. None are that much to my taste that I’d want to have a few added to my cellar.
We’re expecting twins in early December, so it was up to me alone to taste these. Used a Coravin to pour glasses of wine, and let them sit while I prepared dinner.
Original dinner plan was Peruvian chicken, but I knew I had to swap that out once UPS showed up early in the afternoon with not just 1 bottle to taste but 3. Enter the McWopper
# 102
Pop and pour - this was ranked #1 of 3
After ~2 hours, score of 88-89 Look: Ruby with blue tint, long legs Nose: Smoke, some white pepper, and green bell pepper.
After 2 hours, green bell pepper, graphite, and black currants Taste: hot, fine tannins, short-medium finish.
#17
Pop and pour - this was ranked #2 of 3
After ~2 hours, score of 92 Look: Purple, young, long legs Nose: black fruit/berries, vanilla, graphite, little hot (faded after 2 hours) Taste: grippy tannins, hot finish, medium length and body. After 2 hours this really rounded out and become enjoyable
#68
Pop and pour - this was ranked #3 of 3
After ~2 hours, score of 91-93 Look: Ruby, long legs Nose: damp, cedar, muted. After ~2 hours plum and mint started to show Taste: berries, fine tannins, a little hot (ABV), enjoyable acidity
@KingKoopa
That burger looks amazing. Nice 180 from the formerly planned Peruvian chicken dinner! Curious as to why you gave a lower score to your #1 ranked wine than the other two? Unless I am misunderstanding what you mean by ranked #1?
@chipgreen I probably could have made that much clearer… That was ranking of bottle, within the 3, on pop and pour. #68 was actually lowest when I first tried it but turned into the most interesting wine after being in the glass for over an hour.
Interesting offer and probably a good deal. 17 has been kind of controversial with some early notes not particularly flattering. But supposedly it’s starting to come around. I have a case of 17 I haven’t touched so guess I’ll pop one tonight. Word on the street for 68 is the components are Pride.
Brown finally let me down. Got the shipping notification on 11/19, with the expected delivery date of Monday, 11/22. Monday came and went without the bottle in UPS’s possession, and I started to worry that my Wednesday morning departure for points North by Northwest would put my labrat obligation in jeopardy. My worries were confirmed Tuesday night when I got the update from UPS: delivery delayed until Wednesday. Fortunately for y’all, I know how to decode the WCC reference numbers and my pal @drhellknow has developed a severe de Negoce habit; I had a half case of n.102 in my basement. (20% of the bottles in my basement are from de Negoce too, so you could say that it is catching…)
On pop-n-pour the wine shows a deep burgundy with a magenta edge. Warm crème brulee and cassis on the nose; faint whiff of pyrazine. Subtle dark fruit on the palate, medium body with a low tannic grip and good acidic balance. Medium-long finish, with dried apple and black tea.
My wife, who loves Saxon Brown Stonewall Block (and port) says it “smells like my grandpa: leather, vanilla and pipe tobacco. Tastes like it smells. No fruit, just earthy smoky woodlands. Like someone put the case too close to the campfire. I’d prefer more fruit. It seems like the kind of wine you’d drink if you like roast gamey meat (I don’t.)”
Over time the flavors integrated into a well-balanced Bordeaux-type blend of a lesser Left-bank appellation. The synthetic cork doesn’t inspire confidence that this wine will age gracefully for decades, but I’d guess that it will be better next year and probably better still after another. Don’t hesitate to open it now, just be sure to decant it roughly. No over-extracted fruit-bomb here, only the most demanding port-infused fruit-salad red wine drinkers will be disappointed. Overall it is an elegant, balanced interpretation of this well-known varietal that should pair well with food, though I found drinks well enough on its own. Salut!
Huge fan of De Negoce. Currently have around 110 bottles of various offerings but none of these 3 so I am in for a case. Couple data points for those researching these:
https://denegociants.com/
Has good information on original pricing of these wines and the guess of what vineyard they were sourced from. I believe prices at release were as follows:
17 - $12
68 - $18
102 - $10
However, price above are before the $2.50 per bottle in shipping a case you pay for the first release pricing.
I believe the deal here is pretty good and all-in, cheaper than what these wines were originally offered for, which, if you know the De Negoce business, is already fantastically priced.
Yea, I think Cameron is one of the brightest minds in the industry. This can be a consistent opportunity on casemates if his deals has traction. Good buying oppo IMO.
@FritzCat Ah, so, 3/12 or 0.25 gross.
That’s a bit more manageable.
I think I have, delivered, 3 or 4 cases delivered as well, with some additional still on hold.
Not impressed with 31 or 49, but 51 showing promise.
Quick note on 17 last night. Saved an ounce or two for lunch today, not quite ready to take the breakfast plunge. Popped an hour or so before dinner at 59°F. Very expressive nose. Some slow thin legs for those of you so inclined to see import there. Darkish ruby, not opaque. Black cherry, spice. Not a fruit bomb. Tannic finish but not clipped. Good acid. A little heat. Put on a little weight after two/three hours. Good food wine. With Morgan Ranch Waygu kabobs/cheesy grits/fresh picked roasted cauliflower and broccoli and a little homemade demi. No hurry to get after this, it is an '18 after all and I think it will improve. Happy to have eleven more. Thinking of pulling the trigger on a six pack to grab the other two wines.
Happy Thanksgiving! May your breasts be moist and your juices run clear
@kaolis Hasn’t changed much but I will say it seems a bit hotter today. And sometimes alcohol never really resolves itself. Overnight storage was a few ounces left in the bottle, cork back in and in the fridge.
2018 de Négoce OG N.17 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
94 points ~ 2021 Sommelier Challenge Wine Competition
93 points ~ 2021 Critics Challenge Wine Competition
Tasting Notes
Specs
2018 de Négoce OG N.102 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla
Tasting Notes
Specs
2018 de Négoce OG N.68 Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
92 points, Gold Medal ~ 2021 Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition
Tasting Notes
UPDATED JUNE 27, 2021
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$304/Case at de Négoce for 4x 2018 de Négoce OG N.17 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 4x 2018 de Négoce OG N.102 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, 4x 2018 de Négoce OG N.68 Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 13 - Friday, Dec 17
6 bottles for $84.99
$14.16/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $159.99
$13.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2018 de Négoce OG N.17 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2018 de Négoce OG N.68 Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
2018 de Négoce OG N.102 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley
@rjquillin is Cesare taking a vacation??
@klezman dunno, but after 15 minutes I did the deed to help out.
@klezman @rjquillin everyone needs a little time off…I suppose
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
de Négoce Mixed Cabernet Sauvignon - $10 = 5.88%
@chipgreen must be a thin margin to begin with.
Looking forward to rattage. Looking for a dark berry kind of cab instead of tobacco
I’ve had a number of de Negoce wines, and they have ranged from very good to outstanding. These three I haven’t tried. The 2018s seem to be taking a lot of time to come around after bottling, but I’m going to take a shot on the mixed case. I am guessing that these are drinking pretty well right now, but if you have room to give them some more time, they will only get better.
/giphy observant-grievous-hippopotamus
TLDR; This is one of my favorite ways to try wines; I love the compare and contrast, experiencing the differences in terrier and the evolution of wine in a glass. So much fun, good wines that are all probably ~$20 a bottle and would be great to bring to, or host, a dinner party or tasting with friends. None are that much to my taste that I’d want to have a few added to my cellar.
We’re expecting twins in early December, so it was up to me alone to taste these. Used a Coravin to pour glasses of wine, and let them sit while I prepared dinner.
Original dinner plan was Peruvian chicken, but I knew I had to swap that out once UPS showed up early in the afternoon with not just 1 bottle to taste but 3. Enter the McWopper
# 102
Pop and pour - this was ranked #1 of 3
After ~2 hours, score of 88-89
Look: Ruby with blue tint, long legs
Nose: Smoke, some white pepper, and green bell pepper.
After 2 hours, green bell pepper, graphite, and black currants
Taste: hot, fine tannins, short-medium finish.
#17
Pop and pour - this was ranked #2 of 3
After ~2 hours, score of 92
Look: Purple, young, long legs
Nose: black fruit/berries, vanilla, graphite, little hot (faded after 2 hours)
Taste: grippy tannins, hot finish, medium length and body. After 2 hours this really rounded out and become enjoyable
#68
Pop and pour - this was ranked #3 of 3
After ~2 hours, score of 91-93
Look: Ruby, long legs
Nose: damp, cedar, muted. After ~2 hours plum and mint started to show
Taste: berries, fine tannins, a little hot (ABV), enjoyable acidity
@KingKoopa Thanks for the rattage. I gotta say I may be more interested in that double decker hamburger.
@KingKoopa
That burger looks amazing. Nice 180 from the formerly planned Peruvian chicken dinner! Curious as to why you gave a lower score to your #1 ranked wine than the other two? Unless I am misunderstanding what you mean by ranked #1?
@chipgreen I probably could have made that much clearer… That was ranking of bottle, within the 3, on pop and pour. #68 was actually lowest when I first tried it but turned into the most interesting wine after being in the glass for over an hour.
@WCCWineGirl with 2 buns in the oven, the wife gets double decker burgers
Interesting offer and probably a good deal. 17 has been kind of controversial with some early notes not particularly flattering. But supposedly it’s starting to come around. I have a case of 17 I haven’t touched so guess I’ll pop one tonight. Word on the street for 68 is the components are Pride.
De Negoce OG n.102 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon
Brown finally let me down. Got the shipping notification on 11/19, with the expected delivery date of Monday, 11/22. Monday came and went without the bottle in UPS’s possession, and I started to worry that my Wednesday morning departure for points North by Northwest would put my labrat obligation in jeopardy. My worries were confirmed Tuesday night when I got the update from UPS: delivery delayed until Wednesday. Fortunately for y’all, I know how to decode the WCC reference numbers and my pal @drhellknow has developed a severe de Negoce habit; I had a half case of n.102 in my basement. (20% of the bottles in my basement are from de Negoce too, so you could say that it is catching…)
On pop-n-pour the wine shows a deep burgundy with a magenta edge. Warm crème brulee and cassis on the nose; faint whiff of pyrazine. Subtle dark fruit on the palate, medium body with a low tannic grip and good acidic balance. Medium-long finish, with dried apple and black tea.
My wife, who loves Saxon Brown Stonewall Block (and port) says it “smells like my grandpa: leather, vanilla and pipe tobacco. Tastes like it smells. No fruit, just earthy smoky woodlands. Like someone put the case too close to the campfire. I’d prefer more fruit. It seems like the kind of wine you’d drink if you like roast gamey meat (I don’t.)”
Over time the flavors integrated into a well-balanced Bordeaux-type blend of a lesser Left-bank appellation. The synthetic cork doesn’t inspire confidence that this wine will age gracefully for decades, but I’d guess that it will be better next year and probably better still after another. Don’t hesitate to open it now, just be sure to decant it roughly. No over-extracted fruit-bomb here, only the most demanding port-infused fruit-salad red wine drinkers will be disappointed. Overall it is an elegant, balanced interpretation of this well-known varietal that should pair well with food, though I found drinks well enough on its own. Salut!
@KitMarlot Yes, first sniff was all smoke for me.
@KitMarlot Thanks for pulling one out of the cellar to report. Safe travels.
Seems like something I’ll like.
/giphy eligible-hateful-tarzan
Huge fan of De Negoce. Currently have around 110 bottles of various offerings but none of these 3 so I am in for a case. Couple data points for those researching these:
Last years Casemates offer which also featured N.17:
https://casemates.com/forum/topics/de-ngoce-mixed-reds
https://denegociants.com/
Has good information on original pricing of these wines and the guess of what vineyard they were sourced from. I believe prices at release were as follows:
17 - $12
68 - $18
102 - $10
However, price above are before the $2.50 per bottle in shipping a case you pay for the first release pricing.
I believe the deal here is pretty good and all-in, cheaper than what these wines were originally offered for, which, if you know the De Negoce business, is already fantastically priced.
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=169722&sid=9e231fc7a77f52bfc9e98af3402d224e
Has some really good discussion around the various offerings and where they guess they come from.
I bought the previous offer, and haven’t touched them since they arrived. Has anyone dipped into the #17 from that offer?
Yea, I think Cameron is one of the brightest minds in the industry. This can be a consistent opportunity on casemates if his deals has traction. Good buying oppo IMO.
@Winedavid49 Also a great opportunity to maybe get some nice CM-labelled wine?
I’ve got 3 gross of dn, and have had 1. It was quite good. SIWBM…SWMBOWBM.
Oh, and if you haven’t succumbed to the clarion call of de Negoce, buy this, it’s a great deal.
@FritzCat
Three gross, as in 3 x 144 bottles!?
Or three bottles that were gross?
@rjquillin Or 3 dozen cases.
@FritzCat Ah, so, 3/12 or 0.25 gross.
That’s a bit more manageable.
I think I have, delivered, 3 or 4 cases delivered as well, with some additional still on hold.
Not impressed with 31 or 49, but 51 showing promise.
/giphy protective-incandescent-trout
Quick note on 17 last night. Saved an ounce or two for lunch today, not quite ready to take the breakfast plunge. Popped an hour or so before dinner at 59°F. Very expressive nose. Some slow thin legs for those of you so inclined to see import there. Darkish ruby, not opaque. Black cherry, spice. Not a fruit bomb. Tannic finish but not clipped. Good acid. A little heat. Put on a little weight after two/three hours. Good food wine. With Morgan Ranch Waygu kabobs/cheesy grits/fresh picked roasted cauliflower and broccoli and a little homemade demi. No hurry to get after this, it is an '18 after all and I think it will improve. Happy to have eleven more. Thinking of pulling the trigger on a six pack to grab the other two wines.
Happy Thanksgiving! May your breasts be moist and your juices run clear
@kaolis Hasn’t changed much but I will say it seems a bit hotter today. And sometimes alcohol never really resolves itself. Overnight storage was a few ounces left in the bottle, cork back in and in the fridge.
/giphy smoggy-longer-rifle
Wish I would have ordered more!! Can’t wait until it’s listed again.