Wine Review – 2003 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

Caymus Vineyards has been around since 1971 and is located in Rutherford, California. They have become one of the most well known producers of elegant Cabernet Sauvignons in California and through out the world. Caymus is a favorite of collectors everywhere! Our good friends, Mike and Kelley, had a bottle of 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and they wanted to share it with us to celebrate Meg’s health and completion of her surgeries. We are very thankful that Mike and Kelley wanted to share this terrific bottle with us.

Caymus believes there is more to be gained in complexity and layering of flavors and one way to do this is to use several grape-growing sites. They farm several vineyard sites in the Napa Valley: valley floor, slopes and mountain. This wine includes fruit from eleven vineyards in the Napa Valley, including some exceptional Cabernet from the Calistoga area and from four Napa Valley sub-appellations: Rutherford, St. Helena, Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder. The blend also includes a very small amount of Merlot from the Carneros area of Napa and it was ages for 16 months in oak barrels.

After letting it breath for a while, Mike poured us all a class and we all were anxious to have a sip. But before that, I notice the beautiful dark garnet color and nice legs in the glass. It has aromas of dark cherry and leather with some floral hints that became stronger the more it opened up. It had a nice mouth feel with soft tannins and tastes of dark fruit, spice and oak with a nice smooth finish and a touch of chocolate in the aftertaste that seems to come in layers. It upholds the standard that Caymus has become known for and another great reason to love Napa wines. This wine retails around $100, but it was well worth it! It could age for another 7-10 years but is very drinkable now. This was a very enjoyable wine and we are extremely grateful that Mike and Kelley wanted to share it with us.

Cheers!