🏷️ Lot Overview
Wine: Lot 53 2024 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Alexander Valley – Pocket Peak AVA
Vintage: 2024
Vineyard Elevation: ~1,300–1,500 feet
Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petite Verdot
Oak Aging: 50% new French oak
Alcohol: 14.5%
Production: ~125 cases
Cam Price: $149 per case
Retail Context: $60–$100+ single-vineyard equivalent
🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes
Lot 53 2024 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon hails from the same producer as Lot 37 Cabernet Sauvignon and Lot 52 Santa Lucia Highlands Gamay Noir (which I highlight here as there are a few cases left at the futures price…there are also, as of this writing, about 16 cases left of the Lot 55 2024 Yountville Malbec to boot).
Lot 53 comes to us from a small boutique outfit and the wines are produced in a no-expense spared, ultra-high-end custom-crush facility with all the bells and whistles including 50% new French oak. Everything we have purchased has been extremely well-made, artisan-crafted for complexity and represent a pretty damn good value even at the producers price points (the Cabernet’s, for instance, would be selling as $100+/bottle single-vineyard designates at just about any other winery in the region).
Which obviates the point that, under our program, it will be an incredible value. Duh.
As I mentioned previously in the Lot 37 release, Lot 53 hails from a 1300+-foot elevation vineyard in the newly formed Pocket Peak AVA of Alexander Valley. The vineyard performed admirably in both the 2023 and 2024 vintages but produced two distinctly different styles, as one would expect. Whereas Lot 37 featured beautifully perfumed aromatics combined with an elegantly rendered-yet-robust mountain structure, Lot 53 is a ripe-yet-complex, plush-yet-powerful and decidedly delicious Cabernet Sauvignon that reflects the warmer vintage while maintaining all the grace and beauty of Cabernet Sauvignon grown at altitude—the best of both worlds if you will.
Folks, if big, bold, rich and ripe Cab is your thing, then I cannot recommend Lot 53 Cabernet Sauvignon enough. It is extremely well made, incredibly enjoyable even now with all the stuffing and structure to age another decade in your cellar and is indeed an incredible value at $149/case!
Only 125 cases available so get your giddyup goin’ on!
Tasting Notes (Website)
Sourced from an epic vineyard site at 1,300–1,500 feet elevation in the mountains of newly formed Pocket Peak sub-AVA in Alexander Valley, Lot 53 is the rich, ripe counterpart to the ethereal and elegant Lot 37.
As previously mentioned, the producer is a small boutique operation and this is first-run Cabernet produced at an ultra-high-end custom crush facility and raised in 50% new French oak cooperage. We purchased the entire 2024 bottling blend.
Deep ruby core with a purple rim in the glass. The bouquet is immediate and ripe, almost boisterous, with chocolate-covered cherries, plum, and white floral perfume wrapped in classic French oak tones of cedar, leather, and cigar tobacco. Rich, ripe, and juicy on entry with gobs of plush, big-grained tannins carrying ripe blackberry and cherry flavors beautifully integrated with chocolatey oak notes. If big, bold, rich Cabernet Sauvignon is your thing, this is a do-not-miss.
🧠 ChatGPT says:
🔍 Source Guess:
Same producer as Lot 37 and Lot 52 — small boutique, estate-level Alexander Valley / Pocket Peak mountain Cabernet program
🎯 Rationale
- Pocket Peak AVA specificity: Very few producers farm at 1,300–1,500 ft in this newly defined sub-AVA, strongly narrowing the field.
- Custom-crush + boutique scale: Ultra-high-end custom crush, sub-200 case lots, and consistent sourcing across Cabernet, Gamay, and Malbec point to a focused, multi-AVA boutique operation rather than a large estate.
- Stylistic continuity: The contrast between Lot 37 (perfumed, elegant) and Lot 53 (plusher, riper) is textbook warm- vs cool-vintage expression from the same site and winemaking hand.
- Retail framing: Cam’s repeated reference to $100+/bottle single-vineyard equivalents aligns with producers selling through allocation or DTC rather than broad retail.
I’d frame this publicly as “same producer as Lot 37 / Lot 52” and stop there unless Cam explicitly green-lights deeper attribution.
⏳ Drink Window
Early Enjoyment: 2026–2027 (already generous and plush, especially with air)
Peak Window: 2028–2035
Hold Potential: Through ~2038 in strong cellars
My Call:
⏳ Drink window: 2026–2038, with the sweet spot squarely in 2029–2034