2012 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

What the heck, it's Thursday so why not open up a good bottle of wine to enjoy?  Today I've decided to open a bottle of 2012 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, their 40th Anniversary bottling which I bought a few years ago and squirreled away.  Now when this wine was released there was some controversy as it seemed a bit different from the normal Caymus Cabernet, but hopefully it's had a chance to settle down over the past three years.  Let's see how this one tastes!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass, classic color for a Napa Valley Cabernet.  The nose presents lovely aromas of prune, black cherry, mint and oak.  The wine is somewhat subdued at the outset, with a bit of blackberry and cassis that transitions to some earthy notes of tar and oak midpalate, but then the finish is a sudden rush of prune and fig that just seems to explode in your mouth.  The tannins are nicely integrated, providing for a velvety smooth finish, but I think it must have been the rush of dried fruit at the end that so many found off-putting.  I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of the fruit rush, but I can appreciate it.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, it's a solid effort, but a bit too much concentrated fruit for my taste (call me crazy, but I'm more of the old world, dry red sort of wine fan).  This wine would be great with barbecue or a nice lobster mac & cheese, but tonight I'm enjoying it with a rare grilled prime ribcap, along with the last of my elephant garlic scapes, grilled purple cauliflower and a big baked potato.  Cheers!