So being in the ‘business’ I get a chance to taste a number of wines, most I don’t mention but since these have been somewhat polarizing I thought that I might give my brief impressions.
12’ Caymus ‘40th anniversary’- I showed up at one of my accounts and was given a glass of red to ‘blind’ taste.
The nose reminded me of a Washington Merlot from a ripe vintage, not a tremendous amount complexity, but nice fruit, smelled well made, not hot, jammy or over ripe for me. On the palate I got a bit of Syrah character with a bit of rubber with a hint of pepper, the thing that really threw me off is the total lack of acidity and tannin in the wine.
It was a good and well made wine although I din’t find it distinctive or varietally correct. Taste like it was expensive, honestly I wouldn’t turn my nose up to the wine nor would I be an active buyer, the mainstream public is going to love this wine and I bet you it’s an WS top 100 WOTY.
10’ Quilceda Creek Cabernet- Caveat, I have had at least 30 bottles of Quilceda ranging from 79’ up to 99’ being the last vintage that I have tried, I’ve always found the wines compelling, very well made with good structure and balance…The nose was hot with shoe polish, there was some pretty oak underneath with balanced blue fruits, the palate was suave but nothing that really stood out, again hot in the mouth with drying tannin. Some might say that of course this has drying tannin and is showing out of balance because of it’s youth, but to me this wine was just not very good and at $170 a bummer to see how the Quilceda wines have progressed through the years. I also am guessing that this will get 95 pts and be in the top 100.
To me the Quilceda is very expensively made, you get the oak, extraction and intensity but the wine just wasn’t that good, the VA was off the charts and wasn’t very enjoyable to drink as to where the Caymus although laking personality was actually a pleasant surprise.
Drink what you like…I recently read an article about Domaine Serene (OR) where the owners claimed to like Burgundy but didn’t like the variation from year to year. Apparently they’ve solved that problem with blending of vineyards to have a “recipe” for their Evanstead Reserve. To me it’s like Caymus…it tastes damn near the same…year in…year out. Like Coke or Pepsi. However, I would rather have a range of wines over the years with some being classic, some outstanding, and some excellent…than to have no variation at all. I had a Caymus back in 2009 I think…and I was surprised that I liked it. But it’s not something that I’m going to be compelled to drink regularly. I wonder what it would taste like if wineries like Caymus or Domaine Serene made wines that weren’t science projects?
Well, not being in the business, I seldom get the chance to try either of these bottles, so cannot help with the polarization, but thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject.
Tastes for wine are all over the place. Some like flat and boring (McMannis), some like big and jammy (this Caymus I guess). there is no accounting for taste. Cellartracker likes this wine more than many here seem to. I can’t recall any young wine that has gotten more young peek-ins as this, and I am sure they exists, I just can’t recall, but neither can I tell you what I had for lunch yesterday.
Wineries with steak house appealing names have always been popular outside thses elite group of aficionados, and rightly so I guess and let’s face it, they make like a gazillion bottles a year. I have a 1L I would be interested in trying for the name of science with a few friends soon. I was sucked in by the label design. I can tell you that I have never been such a fan myself save for a few very good youthful showing examples of Special Selection. I seem to like to taste everything but always end up drinking what I like.
On a similar note as to restaurant lists, I remember in the early 80s many places had Chateau Gloria on their wine lists. After about the fifth time spotting it I asked the waiter what gives? It was a time I was a Bordeaux drinker myself and knew it to be good value so figured there was my answer; he told me he believed because it was easy so pronounce: G L O R I A, no mispronouncing fee-fee names and getting stiff and condescending looks. I believe there’s even a song about it…
We did a vertical of Rivers Marie Cabs a couple years back and found very little difference between vintages. Each tasted quite good in their own right, but the lack of variation was startling.
If anyone wants to check out he 2011 regular Caymus cab, Franco’s in New Canaan is pouring it on Saturday. It is described as “Boasting a profile of rich, lush complexity detailed by spice, plum and licorice flavors, Caymus shows fine length and weight. Over the years this wine has proven to be a timeless classic, age-worthy and a fitting candidate for any cellar.” ($65)
