TN: 2015 Caymus Zinfandel

Although I still own some Caymus cabernets from the 1990s, my tolerance for their changing style toward the end of that period nd the 'shock and awe' school of winemaking left me more than cold so I ceased buying their wines...with the exception of the Zin, which although also pretty fruit forward was not as pumped up and concentrated as the cabs. This is the first bottle opened from a small stash I picked up a few years ago as an experiment.

The wine is still very dark, but was not as sweet as I had feared and showed some very decent berry fruit and balanced use of oak (something that isn't really Caymus' strong suit, as they seem to think that if a bit is good, lots more must be better). Medium length, with none of the factors that created my feeling about their cabernets. Used to be decent QPR, but not so much now at $60 Can.

[David M. Bueker]

Don’t know as I ever had a Caymus Zinfandel post 1995.

[Jenise]

Interesting that you would trust Caymus on the zin after experiencing that 20 years of Caymus cabs we attended at JH's. Wouldn't have bet on it. Your note is definitely more favorable than I would have expected, perhaps especially in a vintage like '15.

Yes, that tasting put is off their Cabs for life, I think, and remember all the lignophiles (damn, blew another word I could have posted elsewhere!) oohing and ahhing over the excessive wood?

I recalled Caymus Zins in the 90s and happened to taste one of the later 200x ones at a tasting and iy wasn't bad so I followed up and grabbed a couple of bottles to see what happened to them. A pleasant surprise.

Probably should have saved it for the next blind tasting - you might not have thought it was a Zin much less a Caymus!

[Jenise]

You need to taste Carlisle. Speaking of good zins, one I dragged home from my trip to Sonoma--still have to write up notes about this winery was touted by the winemaker as "adult zinfandel". That got my attention. It's a $50 bottle that's a field blend of Zinfandel, Alicante Bouschet and Petite Sirah in the majority and minority amounts of carignane, trousseau, sangiovese, petit bouschet, negrette, syrah, plavac mali, tannat, muscat noir, peloursin, beclan, cinsault and grenache. THIS WINERY ONLY MAKES FIELD BLENDS!!! Really exciting stuff.

[David M. Bueker]

And who is that producer Jenise?

[Jenise]

Acorn. Bill and Betsy Nachbauer bought 32 acres from the Rafanellis in 1990. Production is tiny. Bill has unbounded curiosity for grape varieties and, as he put it, once he planted all the grapes he was interested in he had to figure out what to do with them. The all-field-blend approach was not so much an original intention as a solution. Sometimes it's just a matter of rows--if it's in that row, it's going to get picked and included. He grows 72 different varieties in all. His Gruner contains 22 different grapes, for instance. Loved the people, loved the wines.