[1] Lovers of California and Washington wines can find great values from de Négoce (photo © Kym Ellis | Unsplash).

[2] De Négoce’s value proposition (photo © de Négoce).

[3] There are excellent values in red, white and rosé wines (photo © Ray’s Boathouse) .

[4] 2018 Napa Valley Mountain Meritage, a $98 value* for $29, 56% off (photos # 4, 5, and #6 © de Négoce).

[5] 2019 Russian River Valley Chardonnay, $50 value* for $19, 70% off.

[6] 2020 Russian River Rose of Pinot Noir, $30 value* for $14 (53% off).

Cameron Hughes has been working in the wine industry for more than 20 years. In his newest venture, de Négoce, négociant Hughes buckles down on his goal of offering high-quality wine at deeply reduced prices. (There’s more about that below). But first: What’s a négociant?

Négociant means trader in French. A wine négociant is a wine trader, better known as a wine merchant. There are two types of négociants:

 
If you’re a fan of French wines, some of the best-known Burgundy producers are négociants: Maison Louis Jadot, Maison Joseph Drouhin, and Bouchard Père & Fils, for example.

These brands own their own vineyards, but also buy grapes from neighboring growers to increase their output.

While the title of négociant is most closely associated with France, there are négociants all over the world, from California to South Africa.
 
 
HOW DO YOU BENEFIT FROM NÉGOCIANTS?

A good négociant is able to sell higher-quality wines at lower prices than a vineyard or winemaker can sell directly.

They work with smaller, family-owned vineyards that don’t have the resources to bottle and sell their wines at a reasonable price.

Négociants have economies of scale.
 
 
DE NÉGOCE NÉGOCIANT

Cameron Hughes founded de Négoce in 2020, offering wine lovers a unique opportunity for buying luxury wine at affordable prices.

De Négoce became the #1 direct-to-consumer wine brand in the country in just one year of business.

De Négoce was named 2021 Wine Company of the Year in the 18th Annual Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition. The company also received an unprecedented 53 medals, 35 of which were platinum and gold with 90 to 94-point scores for wines priced from $12 to $29.

The brand’s focus is sourcing excess exceptional wines from iconic and boutique wineries, and selling them directly to consumers at prices of 60% to 80% off.

How can the prices be so low? As a négociant, de Négoce cuts out the middlemen.

Most of the wines are from California: Alexander Valley, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Sonoma Mountain and others. There are also wines from Washington’s Columbia Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Just a few examples of the wines and values*:

 
Wine Futures

In addition to purchasing bottles of wine, de Négoce also sells “wine futures,” where you can save 60% or more by buying wine before it’s bottled.

This practice, known as en primeur (wine futures in English), is well established across many wine regions in France: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmont, and the Rhône Valley, as well as Port in Portugal.

You pre-purchase bottles at very deep discounts before the wine is ready to be bottled prices. You rely on the reputation of the winery or the négociant to sell you a quality wine for 70-90% off retail.

Here’s more about de Négoce wine futures.

Here’s a beginner’s guide to wine futures.
 
 
NEXT STEPS

The wines are offered by email, and can sell out in an hour. Head to the website to sign up.

Check out the Bottle Shop: wines in bottles currently for sale.
 
 
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*Discount reflects percent off comparably priced products.