Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Wilfred Wong 93
The just-released 2019 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet could be the 49th vintage of this iconic brand I have tasted (I'll have to check my notes, I may have missed one or two)my favorites have been the 1972 and 1973 vintages. Over the last two decades, the wines have amused me as they have taken intriguing turns in the road. The 2019 vintage, the winery's best in recent times, is exciting and profound. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows up with the lasting power of black fruit and licorice. Its layers of persistent and formidable fruit could turn a semi-vegetarian into a carnivore. (Tasted: January 29, 2021, San Francisco, CA)-WW

Wine Spectator 92
A rich, showy style, with a very creamy texture to its mix of warmed vanilla, plum and boysenberry puree, and melted black licorice flavors. A mocha notes swirls around the fruit on the finish. Drink now through 2028.-WS

Caymus has a signature style that is dark in color, with rich fruit and ripe, velvety tannins as approachable in youth as in maturity. We farm Cabernet grapes in eight of Napas 16 sub-appellations, with diversification enabling us to make the best possible wine in a given year. This Cabernet offers layered, lush aromas and flavors, including cocoa, cassis and ripe dark berries.-Winemaker Notes

In 1972, Chuck Wagner started Caymus Vineyards with his parents, Charlie and Lorna, with a humble plan and an uncharted future. The Wagner family were farmers with deep roots in the Napa Valley in 1857, Chuck Wagners great-great grandfather captained a wagon train to California from Bible Grove, Missouri. Working together for decades, Chuck Wagner and his parents established the familys work ethic, appetite for innovation, down-to-earth sensibility, and deep appreciation of the pleasures of good food and wine enjoyed with family and friends.
Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon
Today, Caymus Cabernet is one of Napa Valleys most celebrated wines. Made from grapes farmed in 8 of Napa Valleys 16 appellations, the wine has a signature style that is dark in color, with rich fruit and ripe tannins as approachable in youth as it is in maturity. Chuck Wagner continues to make two world-renowned Cabernet Sauvignons Caymus Napa Valley and Caymus Special Selection. Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon is the only wine in the world to be honored twice as Wine Spectator magazines Wine of the Year for the 1984 and 1990 vintages.-Winery Notes

Caymus Vineyards produces two Cabernets Sauvignons – a "Napa Valley" and the venerable "Special Selection". Both Cabernet bottlings have aromas and flavors which can only be achieved through "hang time" – a technique which chances the loss of crop if early winter sets in. Leaving the fruit to "hang" on the vine unusually long develops suppleness, increases color, and matures the tannins of the grapes. The wines are abundant in textural tannins yet soft as velvet. Crop thinning, allowing measured sunlight to reach the vine's fruit zone, and waiting for increased ripeness are all part of our viticultural practices. Caymus Cabernets offer a wide array of aromas and flavors including cocoa, cassis and vanilla.

Caymus Special Selection is the flagship wine of the Wagner family and is comprised of the very best barrels of the vintage. This wine is not produced in difficult years. Caymus Napa Valley is more representative of a standard Cabernet of Napa Valley, as it is a bit less precocious than the Special Selection, but still delivers big. Caymus prides itself on producing wines that are as approachable in youth as well at maturity. Both the "Napa Valley" and "Special Selection" Cabernets are produced under the winemaking hand of Chuck Wagner.