Thanksgiving wine picks to please both sexes

Thanksgiving picks to please both sexes

Cameron Hughes and his wife Jessica Kogan know how to appeal to consumers with fantastic marketing and well priced quality wine

You have to find a niche in the wine world if you’re going to make any money.

Are you going to make a low-priced wine for the masses a la Yellow Tail? Or hit the uber high-end, like my death row favortie Masseto?

Or are you going to try to find a place in between?

Bulk wine seller Cameron Hughes decided that middle area was the niche he was going to explore by taking advantage of the economy.

From 2007 to 2009, there was a bit of a “grape glut” in Napa. That means tons of grapes, tons of great wine.

But if you’re a high-end wine family, you can’t put all that extra wine on the market. Then your wine is no longer hard to get and then no longer prestigious

So what do you do?

Sell the extra juice to a guy like Cameron and his wife Jessica Kogan-Hughes, who then bottled it under a different label and sold it way cheaper.

And with that, the Cameron Hughes Lot Series was born.

Great wines bottled for a great price.

With Thanksgiving and holidays upon us, we thought they would be the perfect people to ask for dinner pairings.

Thanksgiving dinner is expensive enough, so no need to break the bank with the wine too (and let’s face it, you’re probably going to need a lot of wine to deal with the in-laws.)

As a husband-and-wife business team, they understand that compromise is needed everywhere – even on the dining room table. Men and women have different palates – so it really is okay to serve different wines at Thanksgiving.

Jessica, who also serves as chief marketing officer, suggested any great pinot noir or the following wines that are lighter and fruitier:

--CAM Collection 2012 Monterey County Chardonnay: $16

--CAM Collection 2012 Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon: $16

--Lot 545 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: $29

Cameron, who is chief executive officer and a Big Napa Cab guy, said to serve a Zinfindel with the bird or any of these wines below:

--Lot 455 2012 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay: $16

--Lot 555 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: $29

--Lot 437 2012 Napa Valley White Meritage: $15

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Serve different wines and let your guests pick what makes them happy.

Benjamin Franklin supposedly said that, “Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.”

I’m sure he meant that to include the holidays.

Cent’ Anni.