1986 Caymus, Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Bottle (750ml)

WS95 "This remains a remarkably complex and flavorful wine, but now it's elegant and refined as well, with polished tannins. Classic Caymus in that it stretches the flavors, with a range that goes from herb and tea to ripe plum and cherry. Finishing with a long, complex aftertaste and still enough tannin to carry it another decade or more.--1986 California Cabernet horizontal." JL for WS Dec 1996

RP94 "In the blind tasting, I first thought this was a Spanish wine given the intense, pain grillee, toasty oak, and vanilla aromas. After ten minutes some of the oak dissipated, allowing the wine's flamboyant blackcurrant fruit to emerge. Full-bodied, exceptionally concentrated, with a seamless, velvety texture, and a marvelously long, opulent finish, this 1986 Cabernet tastes like a jar of jam on the palate, with great purity and staying power. Although it appears to be fully mature, it will last for another 10-15 years. This impressive, sweet, creamy, exotic, and flamboyant wine merits the praise it has received. The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore." RP Aug 1996

"A classic from an outstanding vintage. Effusively aromatic. with a complex mix of cedar, wildflower, ripe cherry, plum, chocolate, vanilla and anise flavors on a full-bodied frame. Firm but supple in texture. The finish lingers, indicating greatness. Seductive now." Wine Spectator 98 Points