| Winemaker's Notes
Dark youthful purple color. Nose of berries, cassis and brown spice expresses crushingly rich, homemade, rustic yet supple characters. Flavors have nuance of ripe Cabernet grapes, cocoa, dark chocolate, vanilla and cassis. The abundant array of flavors is supported by fine grain chocky texture. This vintage exhibits a balance in abundant ripe tannins and serious fruit grape skin extraction and French oak provides a tasting experience that begins delightful, broadens and expands on the palate a brooding, supple, finely textured wine.
Rutherford 32% Atlas Peak 15% Oak Knoll 14% St Helena 9% Yountville 6%
The last 24% of the appellations are located from less known areas of the Napa Valley finding these sites has revealed unknowns within the valley that continues to surprise us with great wine quality. - Chuck Wagner, Owner/Winemaker
Accolades
98 Points, James Suckling 2008 vitage
"Caymus Vineyards Special Selection is a reference point for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. According to Chuck Wagner, the patriarch of Caymus Vineyards, it is a blend of the best Cabernet lots in a given year. Until the 2009 vintage, Caymus Vineyard SS had been 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, but Chuck is now adding a small percentage of Merlot to soften the wine and make it a little more approachable when young. I tasted the three most recent vintages of Caymus Vineyards SS and I found them all opulent and almost exotic in character. The 2009 was the most exciting with an intense and powerful finish of wild fruits and velvety tannins."
94 Points, Wine Spectator
"Beautifully crafted, rich, intense and powerful, yet supple, graceful and polished, offering a generous core of spicy blackberry, black licorice, wild berry and light cedary notes. Full-bodied and expressive, this is both approachable now and sure to improve for several years. Drink now through 2020."
94 Points, The Wine Advocate
"The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection is the first example of this cuvee to include Merlot (about 14%) in the blend. The Merlot component has given the wine a cocoa/chocolate nuance to its black currant, licorice-infused fruit. The tannins are velvety soft and the wine is beautifully textured and full-bodied. It is ideal for drinking now and over the next 15 years."
93 Points, International Wine Cellar
"Bright, full medium ruby. Black raspberry, bitter chocolate and licorice on the nose. Lush, sweet, concentrated and mouthfilling; not nearly as porty as the basic cabernet, with seamless dark fruit flavors showing more energy and depth than the regular bottling. The finish is smoothly tannic, chocolatey and very long. Like a liquid confection, even at this early stage: this really saturates the mouth. This is so sexy now that it's hard not to wonder whether the wine's potential flavor complexity has been compromised by its uncanny early sweetness. But it certainly has the stuffing to age. "
92 Points, Connoisseurs' Guide
"In the full-blown style adopted by this wine some time ago, this newest version is rich, deep, full of concentrated black cherry and currant aromas and filled out at every stop by creamy, caramelly oakiness that might have been a bother if the fruit were not so very convincing. Full in body, fleshy in feel, viscous to the max on the palate, this wine is no shrinking violet, and while there will be those who find it somewhat over the top, it will be welcomed as a first-rate success by those who like a little heft in their wines. It is sure to reward years of cellaring." |
