Caymus Vineyards house spotlight
The official Wagner Family of Wine channel presents Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the Caymus house behind the 1-liter 2023 Napa Cabernet, not a Special Selection or other cuvee claim.
1 Liter 2023 Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, USA
Chuck Wagner's Napa Cabernet in a full liter, cocoa and cassis, a 2023 50th-anniversary pour you can share at the table.
The 2023 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet in the 1-liter 50th-anniversary bottle is cocoa, cassis, ripe berries, and a plush, ready frame, now $90. Same Caymus house, a third more wine. Not Special Selection.
A liter of Caymus, not a 750-milliliter speech
This is the uncommon 1-liter format, not the standard 750. Multi-site Napa fruit, valley-floor lushness with hillside backbone, bottled as Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet. Cocoa, cassis, cedar, a smooth plush finish. It is not Special Selection. It is the house Cabernet in a bottle built for the table.
The house
Charlie, Lorna, and Chuck Wagner opened Caymus in Rutherford in 1972. Chuck still makes the Napa Cabernet. Charlie and Jenny farm with him.
The bottle
This is the 1-liter 50th-anniversary format. A third more wine than a standard bottle, same Napa Cabernet fruit from multiple sub-appellations. Not Special Selection.
The wine
Valley-floor lushness, hillside backbone. Cocoa, cassis, ripe berries, toasted oak. Hang time is the house method.
The drinker
Cocoa and cassis first. Serve near 64 F. No ceremony. Ribeye on the grill.
Cocoa, cassis, and a bigger pour
The house writes layered, lush aromas of cocoa, cassis, and ripe berries. The 2023 liter adds blackberry, toasted oak, cedar, and a smooth rounded texture meant to drink now.
A long season with extended hang time, freshness, and polished phenolic ripeness. Fruit from multiple Napa sub-appellations, valley floor for lushness, hillsides for backbone. The 1-liter is that wine in a larger pour.
Cocoa, cassis, ripe berries, blackberry, toasted oak, cedar, spice.
Plush, approachable young, ripe tannin. Hang-time Cabernet in a 1-liter bottle.
Smooth, dark fruit. Serve near 64 F. The liter is built for the table.
Hang time, then a bigger bottle
Caymus farms this Napa Cabernet across multiple sub-appellations. Valley-floor material brings generosity. Hillside parcels supply backbone. Official notes point to low-fertility soils, some dry farming, high-density plantings, crop thinning, and ripeness-led farming. The 1-liter does not change the house method. It changes how much you pour.
In the glass that reads as blackberry, cassis, dark plum, cocoa, vanilla, cedar, and a smooth rounded texture, immediately appealing rather than austere.
Serve near 64 F in a Bordeaux glass. The liter does not need a long decant. It is built for the table, not a speech.
From 240 cases to a 1-liter pour
Caymus was founded in 1972 by Chuck Wagner and his parents, Lorna and Charlie Wagner Sr., and remains family-owned in Rutherford.
The Wagners have farmed Napa since the nineteenth century. Caymus was 1972, 240 cases of Cabernet, family-owned ever since.
Chuck still lives on that land and still makes the Napa Cabernet. Charlie and Jenny Wagner farm and make wine with him.
The 1-liter 50th-anniversary bottle is that house Cabernet in a format built for the table. Same fruit. Same hang time. A larger pour. Not Special Selection.
Ribeye on the board, salt on the finish
Plush Napa Cabernet wants char, fat, and a little salt. A straightforward grilled ribeye lets the cocoa and cassis stay in front. A tonnato variation adds caper brightness when the wine needs contrast.
Two plates. One classic grilled ribeye. One ribeye with tonnato sauce. Both can take cocoa and cassis.
Serve near 64 F in a Bordeaux glass. The liter does not need a long decant.
Perfect Grilled Ribeye
A hard grill, rosy center, coarse salt. A Napa table without the restaurant markup.
Why it works: Char and fat match cocoa and cassis while Cabernet tannin cuts the crust.
View Recipe for perfect grilled ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Grilled Rib-Eye Steak with Tonnato Sauce
Caper-and-anchovy brightness against a plush Napa Cabernet.
Why it works: Salt and umami lift the ripe fruit so the finish stays lively instead of sweet.
View Recipe for grilled rib-eye steak with tonnato sauce (opens in a new tab)Put a liter of Caymus on the table
Chuck Wagner's Napa Cabernet. A full liter. Cocoa and cassis at ninety dollars.
Put six in the cart. This is the Caymus house Cabernet in a 1-liter bottle, not Special Selection, built to close the proof at the table.
