Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (3 Liter Bottle) 2003
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Current vintages of the luxury cuvee, the Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection, are bottled much earlier than in the past and they remain one of Napa’s most classic Cabernets. The 2003’s opaque purple color suggests a wine much younger than ten years of age. Copious amounts of creme de cassis, graphite, spice box and a whiff of new saddle leather result in a classic, authoritative, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with no hard edges. This big, mouthfilling, textured, multidimensional Cabernet still tastes like an adolescent, and is capable of lasting another 15-20 years. Some tannins are present, but their sweetness along with the wine’s voluptuous character are irresistible.
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Wine Enthusiast
Young and dense, almost misleading in its soft fruitiness, but there's tremendous power, and despite the appearance of approachability, it would be a mistake not to cellar this wine. It's explosive in fruit and berry flavors, and the tannins are so melted, you could easily open it tonight. But this is a wine with proven ageability. Should begin to mature by 2010 and drink well through 2020, at least. Cellar Selection
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Wine Spectator
Supple and harmonious, with rich, fleshy currant, blackberry, herb, mocha and dill. Picks up momentum and holds onto a tight focus through the long, satisfying finish, where the tannins are rich and intense, boding well for short- to mid-term cellaring.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
I tasted the 2003 Caymus Vineyards Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon in a blind tasting of some of California's finest marquee wines—Beaulieu Georges de Latour, Dalla Valle, Etude, Harlan, Ladera, Robert Mondavi Reserve, Spottswoode—and it performed superbly (as expected). The wine was youthful—at three years of age—showing bright red and black fruits, an accent of sweet oak, and a pleasing roundness on the palate and in the finish. I expect this wine to gain complexity and to reach its crescendo sometime between the years of 2015-2020. Drinks nicely now. (Tasted: October 30, 2006, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
Finely made, this smooth and smoky cabernet has lasting herbal notes and fresh blueberry flavor. The soft tannins make the wine accessible now with a steak; several years in the cellar will allow more complex flavors to develop.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Extravagant oak lends an especially seductive sense of richness to every aspect of this very rich and outgoing wine, but beneath its layers of vanilla, cocoa and cream and cedar, their lies a nice measure of sweet, unmistakable curranty fruit. The wine is fairly rounded and accessible given its relative youth, and shows little of the austerity or tannic bite that often comes with Cabernets of its tender age.
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Learn about Caymus: the history of the winery and its famed Cabernet Sauvignon.
History of Caymus
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 Wagner’s great-great grandfather captained a wagon train to California from Bible Grove, Missouri. Working together for decades, Chuck Wagner and his parents established the family’s 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 Valley’s most celebrated wines. Made from grapes farmed in 8 of Napa Valley’s 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 magazine’s "Wine of the Year" for the 1984 and 1990 vintages.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.