For
more than three decades, the name Caymus has been synonymous with the opulence,
grace and depth of flavour that great Californian Cabernet Sauvignon can
provide. The Wagner family made their first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon in
1972, after realising that this was the grape that best suited their sixty
acres of prime Napa Valley vineyards. It was three years later, in 1975, that
the new wine maker, Randy Dunn, realised that these vineyards had the potential
to yield a luxury cuvée, a ‘Special Selection' wine, made only from the finest
parcels of grapes harvested from the Rutherford Vineyards along with hillside
fruit purchased from the finest vineyards around the valley. The wine is
fermented in French oak for approximately thirty months - the results are
extraordinary. Whilst some Californian wine makers argue the case for elegance
and poise, Caymus has always been about power and extraction. The question is
whether wines made in this style have the ability to stand the test of time.
The
private dining room at The Square restaurant on Bruton Street in Mayfair played
host to a dinner organised by The Fine Wine Experience that hoped to look at
the way this iconic Californian wine has evolved
A fascinating insight into the evolution of an icon
Guests
enjoyed four flights of wines spanning the period 1975-2005, set against a
superb, meat-oriented menu devised by The Square's chef/patron Philip Howard.
Dishes included ravioli of lamb, poached breast of pigeon and aged fillet of
beef with a croustillant of bone marrow and wild mushrooms. The young wines
were characterised by their rich concentration, deep ruby colour and complex
balance of dark fruit flavours. They are generous wines, but the winemakers
manage to reconcile this generosity with a marked elegance and control and in
doing so achieve an impressive level of finesse. The 2000 vintage was the only
wine that veered towards caricature jamminess, and seemed out of kilter. Sadly, the 1984 which won the Wine
Spectator ‘Wine of the year' in 1989 was a little oxidised, this bottle clearly
past its best. Highlights included the dense, smoky, deep-purple 2005, which
clearly has a long life ahead and the 1992, which was soft, supple and complex,
with aromas of preserved fruit set against smoked meat. The 1990 was ‘classic',
perhaps more reminiscent of an Old World Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines were
highly enjoyable, but the real star of the show, the wine that gave the evening
focus, was the 1975 served in magnum. This wine was paired with a slice of
four-year-old Comté, (the only example of four-year-old Comté in the UK,
borrowed from The Greenhouse as The Square had run out of theirs - without
doubt one of the finest cheeses on the planet). The savoury, elegant 1975
welcomed the cheese's nutty charms and had the power and flavour profile to
compete and create a perfect last course. Blind, this wine could have been fleshy
maturing wine from the Medoc - it certainly had a finesse that only comes with
the best wines.
Caymus
Special Selection is clearly a wine that has moved toward power and extraction
as the market has changed and demanded more obvious examples of that style of
wine. I would imagine Robert Parker has more respect for the younger vintages
that display layers and layers of ripe fruit. The older vintages seemed subtle
and perhaps a little idiosyncratic, but provided a fascinating insight into the
evolution of an icon.
