Home |
Caymus Cabernet
Caymus Vineyards has made Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley since the winery was founded in 1972. Charles F. (Charlie) Wagner, his wife Lorna Belle Glos Wagner and their son Charles J. (Chuck) Wagner built their winery among vines planted on the family’s ranch in Rutherford, a district long recognized for producing high-quality Cabernet Sauvignons.
Charlie Wagner planted most of the Cabernet vines in the mid 1960s, before this variety was universally considered the “king” of Napa Valley wines. He acquired the loose-clustered, intensely flavored clone he planted from Nathan Fay, a well-known grower in the Stags Leap area. “I liked the character of Nate’s wine, and he told me to help myself if I wanted some budwood,” Charlie explained. “He was a generous man, and he knew I wouldn’t injure his vineyard.”
The Wagners’ first production of just 240 cases came from the 1972 harvest, and Caymus has released a Napa Valley Cabernet in every vintage since. In 1975, the Wagners produced their first “Special Selection,” made from the outstanding Cabernet lots of that vintage. Special Selection is produced only in vintages that Chuck Wagner, who directs all of Caymus’s vineyard and winemaking operations, feels are appropriate for this designation.
For both the Napa Valley and Special Selection bottlings, the goal is a balanced wine that tastes delicious when bottled but can improve with age. Chuck Wagner attributes the quality of the wines to farming and winemaking techniques developed over the decades. These techniques are open to change if improvements can be made, even if doing so requires replanting a vineyard. The Wagners’ 60 acres of estate vineyard remain at the core of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, but Chuck Wagner believes that much is gained in complexity and layering of flavors by not restricting fruit sources to a single site. As a result, Caymus has taken over farming control of selected other vineyards within the Napa Valley, some on the valley floor and some in mountain locations as high as 1,600 feet in elevation. Each vineyard block is farmed according to the specific needs of its soil type, climate, slope and orientation. During the growing season, the vines are thinned in multiple passes in pursuit of concentrated wines with dark color, intense flavor and textural structure. The Wagners also have long-term relationships with several Napa Valley growers whose location and viticultural practices produce grapes of the quality Caymus requires.
Attention to the character of grapes from different vineyards continues in winemaking. Decisions are made lot-by-lot about maceration times, fermentation temperatures, the type and toast level of French oak barrels, and the length of barrel aging. Finally, selected lots are blended to make the wines Chuck Wagner believes best express the vineyards and the vintage.
Printer Friendly Version