Lot 94 is one of the rarest offerings in the CAM X catalog — a first-run Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon from a highly-regarded western alluvial vineyard sourced by a producer who was hesitant to sell due to prior online speculation. Source guess redacted per Cam’s request. See also: Lot 39, Lot 44, Lot 45, Lot 47, Lot 49.
Lot 94 — 2024 Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon
Lot Overview
- Region: 100% Yountville AVA (western alluvials, gravelly loam)
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot
- Oak Aging: 70% new French oak
- Alcohol: 14.9%, pH 3.7, Malic >0.1 g/L, Lactic 0.99 g/L
- Cases Available: ~50 (wide release remainder)
- Cam Price: ~$19.08/bottle ($229/case)
- Retail Estimate: $200+/bottle
- Claude’s Source Guess: [Redacted per Cam’s request]
- Wine Berserkers Guess: [Redacted per Cam’s request]
- Drink Window: 2027–2042 (peak 2029–2038)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Dear Friends,
Finally, we got our hands on an incredible Yountville Cabernet!
Unfortunately, there are not too many details I can share about this wine. These folks were very hesitant to sell to me due to online conjecture about other wines I had purchased from them in the past. I promised to keep this anonymous and will honor that pledge so we can keep gettin’ the good stuff.
And good stuff this most certainly is (I hadn’t already assigned Lot 100, this would have been a contender). Let’s just say a highly-regarded vineyard source in the gravelly western alluvials of Yountville, extremely talented winemaking team, and no-expense-spared production all conspire here to provide us with one of the best Cabernet’s I have ever bottled at the most incredible price I have ever been able to offer.
Not too long ago, Lot 94 2024 Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon would have been somewhere in the $299-$399/case range, but today I am able to offer it to you for just $229/case!
What makes this wine unique and special? Well, to begin with, I don’t see a lot of Yountville Cabernet in the marketplace and what I do see tends to be de-classed wine and press lots. Lot 94 is first run juice, a combination of a fantastic vintage and fantastic winemaking that beautifully combines ripeness, freshness and vibrancy making for a crazy complex and mouthwateringly delicious Cabernet that really punches the umami button. And now, combine that with a $200+/bottle price tag at the ridiculously low price of $229/case and I think you’ve got a hell of a compelling offer. But that’s just me :-).
Anyhow, I can promise you this is not only world-class, tremendously complex Cabernet Sauvignon at an incredible price, but it is simply absolutely delicious wine….”gobsmackingly good” according to my tasting notes. Giddyup!
Tasting Notes
Welcome to the DEAL OF THE CENTURY!
Not only will Lot 94 go down as one of our best deals ever, but as one of the best Cabernet’s I have ever bottled. This is an absolutely gorgeous, super-complex, beautifully ripe wine from the picture-perfect 2024 vintage in Yountville and, if I hadn’t assigned it already, would have definitely been a contender for Lot 100 designation.
Not much I am allowed to say about the producer other than their price is in the low triple digits (what isn’t in Napa Valley these days), they are NOT located in Yountville, the fruit was sourced from an exceptional site in Yountville’s western alluvials (we’re talking about $20,000+/ton fruit or, at least it was), and the brand has an exceptionally talented winemaking team. Everything about this wine screams “no-expense-spared” production.
And today it can be yours for just $229/case!
You are just gonna have to trust me on this one.
Deep purple in the glass, almost opaque. Classic Yountville, beautifully fresh and super complex bouquet of raspberry, black cherry, graphite and toffee haloed by a sweet purple flower perfume. As the wine opens up, the fruit darkens on the nose, black raspberry and licorice are complexed with cedar and leather as well as notes of spicy cherry and riverstone. Supple on entry, beautifully balanced but potent, juicy and muscular on the palate with a terrific, open-knit structure with ripe, mouthwatering fruit and mineral-laced tannins that resolve like an amalgam of molten licorice and rock with blackberry pie and raspberry kirsch notes echoing through a long, chocolate and mineral laced finish with huge length and persistence. Folks, this is gobsmackingly good Cabernet and one of the most delicious Yountville Cabernets I have ever had, much less bottled myself.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status: Allow minimum 12–18 months post-bottling — 14.9% alc and 70% new oak need integration time.
Claude’s Source Guess: Redacted per Cam’s request
The producer was hesitant to sell to Cam due to prior online speculation about other wines sourced from them, and Cam has honored a pledge of anonymity. What can be said: the fruit comes from a highly-regarded site in the gravelly western alluvials of Yountville at $20,000+/ton pricing, the producer is NOT located in Yountville, their wines retail in the low triple digits, and the winemaking team is described as exceptionally talented. Yountville first-run Cabernet at this quality tier is genuinely rare in the négociant market — Cam says it would have been a Lot 100 contender.
Drink Window
Early: 2027 — 14.9% alc and 70% new oak need 2–3 years minimum.
Peak: 2029–2038. Yountville western alluvial Cab at this quality tier peaks 5–14 years from vintage.
Hold: 2042. The structure and pedigree support a solid 15+ year arc.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2027–2042 (peak 2029–2038)