About Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2018:
Each year, the vinery sets aside the best barrels of their Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley to produce Special Selection. Caymus Vineyards Special Selection is the only wine in the world honored twice as Wine Spectator magazine’s “Wine of the Year.”
Tasting Notes:
Caymus Special Selection 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is a luxurious wine that boasts a rich, dense ruby color and a complex aroma profile. The nose is filled with dark fruit notes of blackberry and currant, interwoven with hints of black licorice, anise, and crème de cassis.
On the palate, the wine opens up to reveal an earthiness, with brown spice, cigar box, and ripe dark fruits that linger throughout the extracted and long finish. The texture is opulent and rich, yet has a velvety quality with supple density. The wine’s rich, fine-grained tannins are balanced with ripe fruit, acidity, and oak, resulting in a harmonious and well-rounded flavor profile.
Growing Notes:
Primary production is Cabernet Sauvignon grown on low-fertility soils on both the valley floor and the mountains that surround the valley. Attention to viticulture details, some dry farming, high-density plantings (with some blocks spaced as close as meter x meter), thinning of the yield, along with healthy vines and harvesting at an elevated degree of ripeness – all of these elements produce a unique and singular style of Cabernet.
Winemaking Notes:
Every year, Caymus winery selects their best barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon to produce the Caymus Special Selection, although this wine is not produced in difficult years. A premium wine with distinguished elegance. This is a high allocated wine.
About The Winery:
The Wagners have roots in Napa Valley dating back to the 1850s, with a long family history of grape growing and winemaking.
In 1972, Chuck Wagner started Caymus Vineyards with his late parents, Lorna and Charlie Wagner Sr. Working together for decades, they established Caymus Cabernet as one of the region’s most celebrated wines. Today, Chuck continues to produce two world-renowned Cabernet Sauvignons, Caymus Napa Valley and Caymus Special Selection.
In addition, Chuck is head of winemaking for Bonanza, a California Cabernet Sauvignon that celebrates the endless discovery of vineyard land throughout the state. He also produces Caymus-Suisun Grand Durif, a Petite Sirah from neighboring Suisun Valley. A “hidden gem” wine region only a short drive from Napa, Suisun has become the Wagners’ second home, with exceptional growing conditions for a range of varietals.
Since Caymus Vineyards was founded, the Wagner family has worked with the soils and climate of Napa Valley to develop techniques for farming grapes and producing fine wine. They are now applying those techniques to making a range of wines from other parts of California and beyond. Their winemaking business remains entirely family-run, and two of Chuck’s children, Charlie and Jenny Wagner, now work alongside him.