1994 Caymus Cabernet

I thought I'd post a short note on this. The wine is still fine, but it points out how my tastes have changed over the years.

Good colour, but a simple nose of ripe fruit with no secondary development. Sweet in the mouth with soft tannins and little flavour differentiation. Simple, as expected and the reason why I do not cellar this sort of Californian wine any more. Nothing against California - I have also ceased to collect Australian reds since they went the way of the fruit bomb in the early 2000s. I do still value the old Aussies but lament the fact that they never develop the sort of subtleties that one sees all the time in European reds.

I should also note that I do enjoy other Californian cabernets. Montelena is my favorite but I also like the big fruit style like Beringer Private Reserve when they show some secondary interest with the years.

I guess this note is really more about me and my changing tastes than it is about the wine per se. I still have a small cache of the Caymus Special Selection (90,91,92) that I should drink. Maybe roast some beast and get through some of it soon.

OTOH, sometimes their style is what is called for - was impressed enough with the 2015 Zin to buy a few bottles.

[David M. Bueker]

1994 was the dividing line for Caymus. Prior to that it was not a caricature.

Ah - then I have a way of testing that as I have more of the 94 plus a couple of bottles of the 1991. Must taste them together!

[Jenise]

1994 was the dividing line for Caymus. Prior to that it was not a caricature.

Bill and I both attended a Caymus vertical a few years back. Not every vintage was there but most the 90's decade and many later ones. The 97 and 99 showed about as well as the 94, but they were the exceptions. I recall commenting that what was especially weird was that though the 94 and 97 showed some resemblance, no other two seemed even remotely related. All weird, but differently so.

The ones I liked were the ones made by Randy Dunn, who had a much more moderate approach - lower alcohol wines that also aged well. When Wagner himself took over as winemaker, he took the shock and awe approach that seemed to work with the reviewers. IIRC that was in the mid 1980s.