2017 Cayuse Flying Pig

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 93.6 points

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  11/13/2023 - ron m wrote:

  Excellent bottle. Surprisingly light but with good focus and persistence. Red-toned, more raspberries than cherries, with a solid dose of meat and barnyard. It is 50% cab franc but didn't give much green / bell pepper notes. Funky, but not like a Chinon, felt more like a left bank Bordeaux. Great texture, savory finish. Highly enjoyable.

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  3/21/2023 - jhieb Likes this wine: 96 Points

  This wine is drinking perfectly. Smooth and powerful. Wish I still had more of this, as age has definitely helped plump it up.

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  5/10/2021 - blacktruffle Likes this wine: 93 Points

  I bought this wine for its Cabernet Franc and whole-cluster fermentation after I tasted the 2016. This wine has more Cabernet Franc, but I taste more Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2016 has a black raspberry component and darker stems that are missing here. There is noticeable bottle variation in the Flying Pig both from vintage to vintage and within a vintage. The 2017 is great if you like Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2016 is just great.

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  9/30/2020 - jhieb Likes this wine: 93 Points

  I had an '04 FP a few years ago, which I was not overly impressed with. Fun of course, and a unique wine. Going into this wine, I wasn't sure what to expect. After an hour, this wine started to really open up. Intense barn and meat notes on the nose, and huge pillowy fruit. This will be a fantastic wine in another 3-5 years. I prefer the Cayuse Syrah, Grenache, and Tempranillo wines, but that doesn't take anything away from this wine.

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  1/5/2020 - Jay Hack wrote: 93 Points

  Just a baby. Decanted for an hour and then followed for two more. Each sip is better than the previous one. This is what a left bank Bordeaux would taste like if only they had enough sun to ripen the grapes. Excellent craftsmanship with balance even at a young age. Tannin is manageable. Not really fruit driven at this stage of development. A bit of almost Barolo violet on the nose. The palate has a bit of chocolate, dark brooding red fruit and a very smooth presentation shockingly lacking in rough edges despite its youth. ABV is 14.1%, which is far from excessive even though more than a left bank wine.
  
  Why is it called Flying Pig? Because the winemaker, Christophe Baron, was asked when he would make a cabernet in Washington State and his response, predictable for a Frenchman who grew up in Champagne and trained in Burgundy, said, "When Pigs Fly." I'm guess that in 10 years this will be a 95+ point wine. It's my first Flying Pig and I've never had an old one, so I can't be sure.
  
  I opened this for my own wine challenge on Wineberserkers. Every year, Frank Murray III starts a wine challenge in which one of us chooses a theme, others drink wine to the theme, and the challenger must donate to charity for each TN posted on the theme. FMIII starts and then a handful of us follow. My charity this year is Kids Kloset, a local program to provide clothes to underprivileged kids in the area. My theme is Big Red Wines and Flying Pig definitely qualifies. Check out Wineberserkers.com under the caption "Week 6 Virtual Tasting Series for Charity - Big Red Wines for Kids' Kloset Program of (914) Cares JAN 3-10" for more details.

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