Good Pinot Noir is usually pretty pricey, whether it’s from Burgundy, California, Oregon, or New Zealand. So any time you find more-than-decent Pinot at a highly attractive price is cause for a shout-out.
That’s the case with Cameron Hughes’s 2017 “Lot 678” Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. This $16 wine is a superb value with a price that’s almost unheard of in this category.
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It’s a wine to open on the spur of the moment when a lighter red is called for, perhaps for a weekday dinner of sautéed or grilled chicken breasts, pork, or salmon.
Red fruit aromas and tastes predominate here, with raspberry, cherry, and blueberry accented by floral, spice, and earth notes. Alcohol is a moderate 14.2 percent and the wine will benefit from a slight chill.
Cameron Hughes is an American négociant, or shipper, meaning that he sources wines from producers all over the wine world, attaches his label and a “lot” to them, and sells them online directly to consumers.
As far as the growers are concerned, they are not disclosed, which gives the whole thing a somewhat anonymous quality, while making the wines about the Cameron Hughes brand. But I can overlook that, given the quality of wines like the “Lot 678” Pinot Noir and another Cameron Hughes wine I reviewed recently, the “Lot 638” Petit Verdot from Washington State.
Just 1,200 cases of the Pinot Noir were produced, so order this one, as they say, while supplies last.
