Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet 2007 is a wine that took a long time to open up, but it was worth the wait.

Intense, dark purple in color, this wine is very full bodied - almost syrupy. It has a very high alcohol content and legs that just keep going. When first tasted after decanting 2 hours, the alcohol was still overwhelming the other flavors. I let this wine sit in glass an additional hour and came back to it at which point is was much more ready for drinking.

On the nose you get intense aromas of blackberry and cassis with underlying scents of licorice and caramel. On the palate you get much more of the same with the blackberry taking center stage. The mouthfeel is ultra rich - almost too rich and a little bit syrupy. The tannins are about as silky smooth as they get. After swallowing you get a very pleasant finish with more than a little bit of length to it. Overall a very nice wine that is wound quite tight at this young age. This needs a little time to mellow out or a lot of time decanting.

At a price tag of about $70, this wine is an OK but definitely not great value. It is quite good, but in this price range you can find better.