- 1997 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red - USA, California, Napa Valley (7/28/2025)
If there’s a poster child for when Napa became NAPA!! it might be the 1997 Pahlmeyer Red Wine. On release it was a sensation, and almost affordable compared to some of the early Cult Cabs. It was big, and rich, but not a caricature. My dad got in back then, and rode the wave through the early oughts. Back then I wanted to hate the ‘97 Red, but I couldn’t. It was not in my wheelhouse, but it wasn’t crazy (that came later with the 2001 that was a reduced sauce of ridiculousness). Tonight I revisited the guidepost, and while leaning to the extreme, it remained under control. Surprisingly, at almost 28 years since the vintage, there was still ripe, uncorrupted fruit. Plummy fruit, but fruit, rather than some elixir of Slytherin. I was honestly stunned at how freshly the wine presented, where a couple of years ago the 2001 fell apart over several hours. My style of wine, no. Enjoyable as a representative sample of a movement, yes.
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Good producer, good year and consistently a wine that cellars well. Appreciate the note. Your Dad certainly strayed off the beaten track which is good to see.
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Hardly crypt-aged at 9 years. Good?
David was bullied by many of us to continue to share the “tales from the crypt” voyage.
The thread title may no longer be accurate, but it is wonderful to get a sense of sharing an experience that came from his late father.
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Yes, note separately posted.
- 2013 Kosta Browne Chardonnay One Sixteen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (8/10/2025)
Bought by my dad on release, and cellared properly since, but this was nutty and butterscotchy, and well past its prime. No good wines, only good bottles.
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I have a few of the more recent One Sixteens and don’t really see them as long haulers. They are big and oaky. Were you expecting more?
Cheers,
fred
Not really, but I had one not so long ago that was still reasonably vibrant.
It’s the crypt, so dead bodies are not that much of a surprise.
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This descriptor just made my day lol
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We’re back from the summer break for another edition of Tales from the Crypt, the Home Game!
Let’s meet tonight’s contestant. Once highly respected, it has since become the butt of almost as many wine jokes as Meiomi. It’s the Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon!
We’ll be back to talk to our contestant after these words for Long Term Care Insurance and Cremation Services!
Stay tuned!
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And we’re back! Remember with Long Term Care Insurance and Cremation Services, you are probably going to need both, so use our promo code DIEINTOFIRE for 25% off a combo deal. 
As for the Caymus, it’s definitely not dead. It’s also not a caricature. It has that ripeness that speaks to 1997 in Napa, but not the over the top craziness that happened when everyone tried to create super-sized 1997 in later vintages. No bricking. There’s a bit of heat, but it’s late summer and the house is 74 degrees. Should have popped this in the fridge to stay cool. Overall it’s a riper expression of Cabernet than I prefer, but not at all out of proportion. Thankfully dad’s Caymus buys stopped after 1999 IIRC.
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I remember when Caymus was good wine that tasted like Napa Cabernet.
When I moved my ‘cellar’ to a purpose-built wine on ground level off of my porch, I left it at ambient temp for the winter. It was a cold winter, it never got below 38° and everything was fine.
I put in an air conditioner this spring, set it at 65°, so now I bring in my reds at perfect temp for p&p. I’ll have to bring them in earlier when it turns off cooler.
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This bottle tasted like late 1990s Napa Cabernet. Given the wholesale shift of the region it was in no way an outlier.
Six years ago a bottle of this very wine showed up in our double blind tasting group. We held a vote before any wines were unveiled- it was voted the wine of the flight, and then it went into a taste off against four other flight winners. It ended up taking 2nd overall, finishing behind a Monte Bello. Caymus used to be good .
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So, lesson is that over the top was a good way to go until it wasn’t? Love when the crypt yields a smile.
fred
The ‘97 wasn’t over the top at all. I really think the turning point in Napa was 2001, not 1997.
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Reminds me of a funny story from my earlier days. It must have been 1993 or so and there was a wine shop in Sacramento at the time that I would frequent. One night the owner did a blind comparison between two 1991 Cabernets for a group of customers. Wine A was good, but a bit on the ripe side and seemed to be a touch softer. It was clearly outshined by Wine B, which had much better balance, better acid and better structure. Everyone thought Wine B was the better wine, but when the wines were revealed people started making excuses for Wine A, which was the '91 Caymus Cab. Most customers walked out with that wine in their hand as the name was much better known and people expected it to be better even though they had liked the other wine more. I walked out with a few bottles of Wine B, which was the '91 Truchard Cabernet. I haven’t had the wine in years, but I imagine it’s still probably a better wine than the Caymus.
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That’s a good story. Truchard is still around, I know a few restaurants in MA that pour the Chardonnay as an upscale glass and I’m a buyer. I haven’t had a Cab of their in at least a decade, but they are cool climate Carneros, so should be relatively immune to Ooze Monster Syndrome.
