Medium red with mahogany highlights. Balsamic, black currant bouquet. Soft , smooth flavor. Beautiful drinking now, but I’d drink it soon. Good length. Beginning to show a little age and declining fruit. Still, the remaining fruit is ripe and almost sweet. This held up much better than I thought it would.
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In my cellar since release. This was the last vintage made largely by Randy Dunn at Camus before he left to start his own label in 1985. Fresh and youthful for a 38 year old. Medium garnet with ever so slight bricked edge. Rich, soft and complex with good depth and length. Layers of spice, chocolate, blackberry, cassis and touches of cedar, coffee and tobacco. Beautifully balanced and elegant. My last bottle of a full case purchased on release for ~$42. Lovely and by no means over the hill.
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Clearly past its prime, but thoroughly enjoyable. The color is fairly brown, light reddish. Prune and raisin. Decanted for an hour. Vinegar initially, but faded after a while and turned very pleasant. Cheers!
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This had been kept in a cold cellar, purchased on release. We popped and poured into the decanter, then finished over an hour or so. It could have used more time as the wine still needed to open a bit, but this bottle was unusually dark purple in color, with fairly classic notes of cassis and blackberry fruit. Still some fine firm tannin left, perhaps not surprising as the wine was made by Randy Dunn, I’m told.
Musty nose. Wine definitely at peak or beyond but still a good wine with bordeaux texture. Not the strongest wine tasted in this dinner. An '87 Dominus just killed it, so did an '83 Spottswoode. But the Caymus held up well.
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Still nice, but not displaying the layers of soft, ripe, cassis and blackberry tasted in previous tastings, the wine offers coffee, licorice, smoke, earth, cassis, truffle and dark berry aromas. A bit on the austere side, the wine finishes with slight tart, cherry, cassis and cranberry. Drink up.
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Dark red-garnet. Strong, complex and leathery nose of well-oaked ripe currant-y fruit, chocolate, vanilla, spearmint, sassafras tea, cedar, tobacco, pile o' damp Fall leaves. Low tannin, low acid. Fat in the mouth with the barest hint of a sweet-sour acid balance, the ripeness is central to the pleasure and the herbal notes sustain the interest. Went well with lunch of braised rabbit with a bacon-sweet potato-onion-sage-pecan hash.
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In my cellar since release...beautiful deep garnet color, with only a bit of brick at the edge of the glass. Nose had hints of chocolate and plenty of red fruit at 2 hours. Still had tannin and fruit with more of the chocolate on the palate. Thoroughly enjoyed it with grilled NY strip steaks. The big surprise was the next day. After being open for 20 hours I tried the remaining wine in the decanter and was shocked by the expansive nose with huge chocolate , blackberry and plum as well as tobacco. Taste was velvety smooth again with yummy chocolate, tobacco and blacberry. I find top Cali Cabs (Ch. Montelena, Diamond Creek. etc.) from the 80's often are better the next day. Don't be afraid to let them breathe.
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initial Impression: Magnificent nose, then some funk which I expect will blow off. Taste is rich, refined, mature fruit, leather, coffee and a whiff of barnyard that should also blow off. This is ready to drink now, it can only decline from here.
30 Minutes: the funk has blown off revealing a silky, rich, complex experience fully reflective of mature CA cabs. At 24 yrs., this has become all it can be and is thoroughly enjoyable. Salut!
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Exciting to find this wine very enjoyable. In my cellar since release--never quite got around to it. Despite being "old," the bottle was high neck fill, the cork extracted in one piece, with very minor discoloration. A concerning moment when the color appeared too browned, but fruit aromas literally DID leap from the glass. Initial taste showed some jamminess, noticeable acid, not much tannin. After two hours (undecanted), found its balance. A great pleasure to drink. Can only imagine what I missed by not doing this five years ago.
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Tasting 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Very deep red color with a touch of orange in the glass, seems to have a minty nose tonight, minty quality on the nose seem to go away, chalk took over at that point, slightly dull but chalky taste the rest of the night, touch of raspberry wine on the palate, medium amount of very soft tannins, lovely, raspberry fruit on the long finish. My #2 tied of 4.
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With MPL and Singer & Foy survey of '84 cabs. Darkest wine of the tasting. Black ruby. Nose is good, with licorice in evidence. Still, not the equal of some others smelled today. Comes alive on the palate. Very complex, rich; fabulous. Loads of rich fruit. Fine wine. Its reputation is well-deserved. 5-11-18-8: 92/100.
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With MPL, BLR and Diane at my house in Pacifica--left work early. Gorgeous ruby color. Absolutely gorgeous, stunning nose. Wow! Extremely complex, so rich and deep. How can wine get this good? Ripe. Staggeringly concentrated, massive and rich. Just wonderful and drinking beautifully now. Caymus might have the best cabernet vineyard in Napa Valley. 5-14-18-9: 96/100.
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With MPL and BLR at the office. Absolutely black ruby color. Quite opaque. Fabulous, sublime, intense aroma. Very young. Quite rich on the palate. Tannic, but surprisingly elegant and accessible. 5-12-17-8: 92/100.
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12/17/2023 - VinhoVerde Likes this wine: 93 Points
Medium red with mahogany highlights. Balsamic, black currant bouquet. Soft , smooth flavor. Beautiful drinking now, but I’d drink it soon. Good length.
Beginning to show a little age and declining fruit. Still, the remaining fruit is ripe and almost sweet.
This held up much better than I thought it would.
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12/24/2022 - oldwines Likes this wine: 94 Points
In my cellar since release. This was the last vintage made largely by Randy Dunn at Camus before he left to start his own label in 1985. Fresh and youthful for a 38 year old. Medium garnet with ever so slight bricked edge. Rich, soft and complex with good depth and length. Layers of spice, chocolate, blackberry, cassis and touches of cedar, coffee and tobacco. Beautifully balanced and elegant. My last bottle of a full case purchased on release for ~$42. Lovely and by no means over the hill.
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7/3/2022 - Hawkeye_Addict Likes this wine: 93 Points
Clearly past its prime, but thoroughly enjoyable. The color is fairly brown, light reddish. Prune and raisin. Decanted for an hour. Vinegar initially, but faded after a while and turned very pleasant. Cheers!
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8/15/2021 - jviz wrote: 95 Points
This had been kept in a cold cellar, purchased on release. We popped and poured into the decanter, then finished over an hour or so. It could have used more time as the wine still needed to open a bit, but this bottle was unusually dark purple in color, with fairly classic notes of cassis and blackberry fruit. Still some fine firm tannin left, perhaps not surprising as the wine was made by Randy Dunn, I’m told.
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9/29/2014 - napasoutherner Likes this wine: 93 Points
Musty nose. Wine definitely at peak or beyond but still a good wine with bordeaux texture. Not the strongest wine tasted in this dinner. An '87 Dominus just killed it, so did an '83 Spottswoode. But the Caymus held up well.
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6/17/2014 - jrmalone wrote:
Wonderful nose, past prime but very drinkable
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3/13/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 90 Points
Still nice, but not displaying the layers of soft, ripe, cassis and blackberry tasted in previous tastings, the wine offers coffee, licorice, smoke, earth, cassis, truffle and dark berry aromas. A bit on the austere side, the wine finishes with slight tart, cherry, cassis and cranberry. Drink up.
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2/25/2011 - Hodby wrote: 94 Points
Dark red-garnet. Strong, complex and leathery nose of well-oaked ripe currant-y fruit, chocolate, vanilla, spearmint, sassafras tea, cedar, tobacco, pile o' damp Fall leaves. Low tannin, low acid. Fat in the mouth with the barest hint of a sweet-sour acid balance, the ripeness is central to the pleasure and the herbal notes sustain the interest. Went well with lunch of braised rabbit with a bacon-sweet potato-onion-sage-pecan hash.
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11/14/2009 - oldwines wrote: 93 Points
In my cellar since release...beautiful deep garnet color, with only a bit of brick at the edge of the glass. Nose had hints of chocolate and plenty of red fruit at 2 hours. Still had tannin and fruit with more of the chocolate on the palate. Thoroughly enjoyed it with grilled NY strip steaks. The big surprise was the next day. After being open for 20 hours I tried the remaining wine in the decanter and was shocked by the expansive nose with huge chocolate , blackberry and plum as well as tobacco. Taste was velvety smooth again with yummy chocolate, tobacco and blacberry. I find top Cali Cabs (Ch. Montelena, Diamond Creek. etc.) from the 80's often are better the next day. Don't be afraid to let them breathe.
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3/14/2009 - psmith wrote:
Mature, if not a bit old. New world styling with resolved red fruits and cedar notes. Somewhat hollow in the middle. Enjoyable.
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1/28/2009 - jlgnml wrote: 92 Points
Les Degustateurs (Custom House Chicago IL): Must and off on the smell. On the taste it was fine but two in the group did not rate.
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6/20/2008 - mtennenbaum wrote: 94 Points
initial Impression: Magnificent nose, then some funk which I expect will blow off. Taste is rich, refined, mature fruit, leather, coffee and a whiff of barnyard that should also blow off. This is ready to drink now, it can only decline from here.
30 Minutes: the funk has blown off revealing a silky, rich, complex experience fully reflective of mature CA cabs. At 24 yrs., this has become all it can be and is thoroughly enjoyable. Salut!
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3/26/2008 - David J Cooper wrote:
Dark red. Old cabernet nose. A bit one dimensional, lots of flavour and stuffing but still kind of a one note song.
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7/23/2007 - Italiana wrote: 92 Points
Exciting to find this wine very enjoyable. In my cellar since release--never quite got around to it. Despite being "old," the bottle was high neck fill, the cork extracted in one piece, with very minor discoloration. A concerning moment when the color appeared too browned, but fruit aromas literally DID leap from the glass. Initial taste showed some jamminess, noticeable acid, not much tannin. After two hours (undecanted), found its balance. A great pleasure to drink. Can only imagine what I missed by not doing this five years ago.
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12/30/2001 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasting 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Very deep red color with a touch of orange in the glass, seems to have a minty nose tonight, minty quality on the nose seem to go away, chalk took over at that point, slightly dull but chalky taste the rest of the night, touch of raspberry wine on the palate, medium amount of very soft tannins, lovely, raspberry fruit on the long finish. My #2 tied of 4.
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6/1/1991 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 92 Points
With MPL and Singer & Foy survey of '84 cabs. Darkest wine of the tasting. Black ruby. Nose is good, with licorice in evidence. Still, not the equal of some others smelled today. Comes alive on the palate. Very complex, rich; fabulous. Loads of rich fruit. Fine wine. Its reputation is well-deserved. 5-11-18-8: 92/100.
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3/13/1991 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 95 Points
Caymus Special Selection 1975-1986+ (San Francisco, Ca.): Rich, almost forwward fruit, very elegant and very fruity on the palate, well balnced, chocolate taste, velvet taste, big body, great wine.
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5/16/1990 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 96 Points
With MPL, BLR and Diane at my house in Pacifica--left work early. Gorgeous ruby color. Absolutely gorgeous, stunning nose. Wow! Extremely complex, so rich and deep. How can wine get this good? Ripe. Staggeringly concentrated, massive and rich. Just wonderful and drinking beautifully now. Caymus might have the best cabernet vineyard in Napa Valley. 5-14-18-9: 96/100.
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5/3/1989 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 92 Points
With MPL and BLR at the office. Absolutely black ruby color. Quite opaque. Fabulous, sublime, intense aroma. Very young. Quite rich on the palate. Tannic, but surprisingly elegant and accessible. 5-12-17-8: 92/100.
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