Engaging, with prominent singed vanilla and mocha flavors leading into a plush, supple core of warmed plum sauce, cassis and black cherry compote. The fine-grained finish lets the fruit cruise, while the mocha note takes the final encore. An obvious style that always wins fans. Blind 2013 California Cabernet retrospective (February 2023). Drink now through 2032. - JM

Inky dark purple core with a sliver of translucency at the rim. The bouquet is stuffed full of black and blue fruit along with sweet oak and secondary aromas of crushed granite and dark tilled earth. The palate confirms the primary fruit with some added red cassis. There is pleasant acidity, silky round tannins and sweet baking spices that linger on the finish. Made to drink now, the Caymus Special Selection is a crowd pleaser and will cellar nicely for the next 10-15 years.