[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.
 
 
________________

*Discount reflects percent off comparably priced products.

December 14th is National Biscuits & Gravy Day. Biscuits and gravy emerged as a Southern regional dish after the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), when foodstuffs and cash were in short supply. Breakfast was the most substantial meal of the day, to fuel people for the hard work ahead. Biscuits covered in gravy made from meat drippings, and possibly bits of meat, fit the bill.

Nowadays there are different types of gravy and different types of biscuits for your consideration.

We’ve got a classic biscuits and gravy recipe for you, as well as something a bit different:

Biscuits with seafood gravy.

Check out more biscuit recipes below.. You can match a gravy or sauce with them—for example, bacon and sweet potato biscuits with blue cheese sauce, or Reuben biscuits with horseradish sauce.

> The history of biscuits.

> The history of bread.

> The different types of bread: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 8 biscuit holidays.
 
 
TYPES OF BISCUITS

 
There are numerous variations on the above. Self-rising biscuits are made with self-rising flour. Cream biscuits are made with heavy cream, Sourdough biscuits are made with sourdough starter.

One note about American biscuits: These do not exist in the U.K. There, a biscuit is a cookie or a cracker. What we think of as a roll or biscuit is a scone in the U.K. Our roll is their cob. There, a bun may look like a kind of American roll, but it is sweet. A burger bun is called a bap. And so on, and so forth. Here’s a longer discussion.
 
 
MORE BISCUIT RECIPES

 
 
 
 
CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] Biscuits and gravy. You can make the dish more substantial by adding a slice of ham (photo © Betty Crocker).

[2] Biscuits and gravy topped with a fried egg. You can also add a slice of ham (photo © St. Louis Magazine).

[3] Biscuits with tomato gravy. Here’s the recipe (photo © Whitney Miller | Vidalia Onions | Facebook).

[4] A different approach Thanksgiving leftovers on a biscuit with gravy (photo © Mason Dixie Foods).

[1] Mingle Mocktails are available in individual cans (all photos © Mingle Mocktails).

[2] The line is also available in 750ml bottles.

[3] You can drink Mingle from the can, or from a cocktail glass.

[4] The recipe for this Jingle Berry Mojito is below.

You don’t have to be a drinker to enjoy Mingle sparkling mocktails, but for those who aren’t drinking alcohol, they are a delightful treat. The line was founded by a woman who gave up alcohol, but then felt out of place at social events when everyone else was drinking. Her line of alcohol-free mocktails lets non-drinkers feel “part of the group.”

Often, people who aren’t “drinking” are limited to sparkling water or carbonated soft drinks. Mingle provides something festive that makes guests feel like they’re drinking something special.

Mingle Mocktails can be turned into cocktails with the addition of gin or vodka.

Mocktail or cocktail, you can drink Mingle from your favorite cocktail glass (photo #3), or from the stylish 12-ounce can (photo #1). There are 750ml liters to sit on the bar, or to pour into a pitcher (photo #2).

Whether you’re giving up drinking for the night, for a week, for Dry January, impending motherhood, or as a lifestyle choice, you can be a celebrant at any event or occasion. And because it’s a holiday season…

There’s a Jingle Berry Mojito Mocktail recipe below (photo #4).
 
 
MINGLE MOCKTAILS FLAVORS

The flavors are sweetened with organic cane sugar and fruit juices, and include:

 
Basically, these are popular crafted cocktails, minus the booze.

The mocktails are:

 
 
GET YOUR MINGLE MOCKTAILS

Buy Mingle Mocktails for your own home, or make them a gift. You can add a greeting message in your Cart under “Order Note” section on MingleCocktails.com.

Here’s the full selection.

A partial selection is available on Amazon, Whole Foods, and other retailers/etailers. Here’s a store locator.
 
 
RECIPE: JINGLE BERRY MOJITO MOCKTAIL

There are more mocktail recipes on the company website.
 
Ingredients

1. POUR the Mingle Mojito into a shaker. Add the cucumber juice, 1 sprig of chopped mint, and a dash of simple syrup. Blend with a stirring spoon.

2. ADD ice to a Tom Collins glass, and garnish with the cranberries and the second mint sprig.