With its slow, even ripening, and extraordinarily long 'hang-time,' 1998 brought some marvelous qualities: Deep fruity wines, round, sweet tannins, without the heat of the alcohol, the overripe 'jammy' aromas, and the harsh, clumsy tannins that sometimes mark the Napa Valley¹s warmer vintages. Not everything, of course, but some of our wines were extraordinary—these form the core of our Cain Five blend for 1998. Essential then, was the process of careful selection and blending that goes into each vintage of Cain Five. As always, we compose the blend following three essential desiderata: Complexity, Balance and Persistence. We feel that in a 'difficult' vintage, we have turned in a deep, round, classic beauty of a Cain Five, which will age well for many years to come.Each varietal of the Cain Vineyard is hand harvested, and vinified separately. The fruit is carefully destemmed, delivering a high proportion of whole berries directly to the tank. After a prolonged (two to four weeks) gentle maceration, the free run wine is drawn off. The best of these lots form the essence of the Cain Five.

In November, the different lots go individually into traditional Bordeaux coopered Franch oak barrels. After three months in the barrel, the wine is blended in March, following extensive blending trials. It receives a traditional élévage of quarterly barrel to barrel rackings and light egg white fining in the second winter prior to an August bottling in the second year.