Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/457084
46 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 competitive, usually lower margin dollars and quite frankly, Prairie Creek's coverage model did not fit that category." Encouraging Stanger to represent a brand with gravitas was foremost in Howard's plans. "I convinced her that we need to have her name connected with something real, not just something to stick her name on. By all means, we wanted to avoid an endorsement type of relationship and have her truly invest in the brand, emotionally and financially." As a wine drinker, it made sense to couple Stanger with some decent juice. "I advised her that we shouldn't buy wine outright, but instead seek out someone who could be invested in our label. Finding a négociant was the answer, and Cameron Hughes was the key to sourcing truly good wines." Hughes and his wife Jessica, who is instrumental in helping to market their brands, fell in love with Stanger's enthu- siasm. The name of the wine label is P.S. Match, a play on Patti Stanger's initials, the matchmaking concept and the idea that wines are made for matching . . . with food. The packaging for P.S. Match is inviting and, according to Howard, not easy to produce. "The embossed metallic foil on all the labels and the pearl white label on the Chardonnay were labor-intensive and expensive, but it fits the lifestyle of the end consumer. It looks and feels like fine jew- elry or that special accessory that adorns a simple black dress." At Ago Restaurant in West Hollywood, being seen is important to many of its high-end cus- tomers. General Manager and Wine Director Abel Santillian is keen on the emerging category of sweet red wine. "It's a step up in sophistica- tion for Lambrusco," he notes. P.S. Match red is a balanced, naturally frizzante-style Italian red for our Southern California customer looking for something refreshing on our year-round warm days. We pair this wine with cheese plates and our signature fried calamari. The sweetness balances out the saltiness." Served by the glass at happy hour, P.S. Match, at 5.1% abv, allows for a second glass, according to Santillian. –M. M. Making a Match in L.A. Cameron Hughes, The Vinous Matchmaker A s we sat down with Cameron Hughes to chat about P.S. Match and Patti Stanger, one thing struck me: This guy knows his stuff. We often see the wine industry approached in carefully packaged sentiments—geeky, romantic or business. What was refreshing in our conversation with Hughes was his frank and intelligent approach to wine as a bit of all three. Perhaps the fact that he looks at his role as a négociant here in California through the lens of the European négoce model helps smooth over the typically rough gaps between "winemaking" and bulk blending. "In Europe it's the model," Hughes explains of the négociant system. "All this land stayed in families, but most weren't born into the 'asset class'"—a financial status that would afford these stewards of the land the ability to make wine from the fruit grown on their acreage. The négociant system in Europe enabled quality wines to be made from these small parcels of land and sold on the open market. The idea of a négoce or a négociant here in the U.S. is an interesting beast and has more to do with surplus than with small growers. "Wineries are never built perfectly to scale," notes Hughes. Indeed, with vintage-to-vintage variation, winemakers never know what designs Mother Nature has on crop yield. The bulk market is a healthy and lucrative outlet for wineries not wanting to bottle all of what they produce. Since Hughes established his company in 2001, he has worked to cultivate relation- ships with some of the best growers and winemakers in California, where he sources finished wine for his blends, in addition to making wines under contract from fruit sourced from vineyards around the state. These relationships, and the trust they require, are crucial to the process, and undoubtedly why Hughes has created the most sophisticated and quality-driven négoce program in the nation. "There is a challenge telling a story without 'telling the story,'" Hughes shares, with a wry smile. Indeed there is a bit of mystery involved in the whole process, as the identity of most of the producers from whom Hughes sources his "juice" remain a tightly guarded secret so as not to dilute the winery's brand image. To Hughes, his is the ar t of the blend. "Between clonal selection, vineyard blocks, oak regimen or grape variety, all wines are blends in their own way." Hughes continues, "This palate of blending components gives flexibility to pro- duce really fantastic wines." Hughes's takeaway? "You are only as good as your last lot, which creates honesty in production." And keeps things interesting, no doubt. —Karen Moneymaker P.S. Match California Chardonnay ($14) is a pretty wine whose fruit is primarily sourced from Monterey County's cool growing region. The acid is precise and this light-bodied, pillow-textured white bounces on the palate. It offers up constantly evolving scents that include lemon-honeysuckle and baked apple with nutmeg. Abel Santillian, Wine Director at Ago in West Hollywood. PHOTO: ADAM JAMES