Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Professional Ratings

• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Current vintages of the luxury cuvee, the Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection, are bottled much earlier than in the past and they remain one of Napa’s most classic Cabernets. The 2003’s opaque purple color suggests a wine much younger than ten years of age. Copious amounts of creme de cassis, graphite, spice box and a whiff of new saddle leather result in a classic, authoritative, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with no hard edges. This big, mouthfilling, textured, multidimensional Cabernet still tastes like an adolescent, and is capable of lasting another 15-20 years. Some tannins are present, but their sweetness along with the wine’s voluptuous character are irresistible.
• 93 Wine Spectator
  Supple and harmonious, with rich, fleshy currant, blackberry, herb, mocha and dill. Picks up momentum and holds onto a tight focus through the long, satisfying finish, where the tannins are rich and intense, boding well for short- to mid-term cellaring.
• 93 Wine Enthusiast
  Young and dense, almost misleading in its soft fruitiness, but there’s tremendous power, and despite the appearance of approachability, it would be a mistake not to cellar this wine. It’s explosive in fruit and berry flavors, and the tannins are so melted, you could easily open it tonight. But this is a wine with proven ageability. Should begin to mature by 2010 and drink well through 2020, at least. Cellar Selection.
• 91 Wine & Spirits
  Finely made, this smooth and smoky cabernet has lasting herbal notes and fresh blueberry flavor. The soft tannins make the wine accessible now with a steak; several years in the cellar will allow more complex flavors to develop.
• 90 Connoisseurs' Guide
  Extravagant oak lends an especially seductive sense of richness to every aspect of this very rich and outgoing wine, but beneath its layers of vanilla, cocoa and cream and cedar, their lies a nice measure of sweet, unmistakable curranty fruit. The wine is fairly rounded and accessible given its relative youth, and shows little of the austerity or tannic bite that often comes with Cabernets of its tender age.