Winemaker Notes
The rich, dark-ruby color of this wine offers a promise of the depth to come. Aromas and flavors of sweet, fully ripe black currants form the "big heart" of this wine, with notes of mocha/chocolate, black cherry, anise and spice interweaving seamlessly, first in the nose and then more explosively in the mouth. The texture is surprisingly velvety and supple for a wine of this extraction and density, attesting to the fine grain of the tannins and the balance of fruit and oak. The finish holds pure and true for long minutes, the impression of ripe fruit lingering to the end.
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Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This stunning, inky/plum/purple-tinged 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection boasts a glorious fragrance of creme de cassis, licorice, toasty oak, spice box, cassis and vanillin. Full-bodied, opulent, flashy and irresistible...
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Tasting a bit riper than one might expect of a Caymus Cabernet, this expansive bottling is both impressively concentrated and still somewhat direct and waiting to unfold into greater richness and range. Its curranty fruit and loamy, coffee and creamy oak notes all add to its promise, but what is lacking for the moment is any of the immediacy that would mark it for near-term drinking even though that is the part of what the winery was seeking when it made the wine in a riper style. Its focus is spot on and its depth is without question...
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Wine Enthusiast
This young wine is fairly tough now, and the fruit is hiding behind the oak and tannins. Like many keepers, it’s in a trough, and will go through its ups and downs. Eventually, the cherries and blackberries should emerge, but it doesn’t seem like one of the great Special Selections.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.