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TIME VISITED: 10/29/2015, 11:00:00 AM

We started with a glass of Mer Soleil Reserve Chardonnay, while we were given a lot of back stories about the founding family, the Wagners, who are born and raised farmers.

Caymus has made Napa Valley Cabernet every year since its founding, and now focuses entirely on this varietal.  As the family grew and the children became interested in the family business, they launched other wineries offering other varietals. One of the most well-known, and a personal favorite of mine, is Meomi Pinot Noir. Meomi was started by Joseph Wagner about 10 years ago.

I discovered it in a bar in New and they offered it for $20 by the glass (pricey!), but I loved it! However, I was slightly sticker shocked when I later saw a bottle of Meomi at a wine store for only $19.99. Really goes to show how much restaurants and bars can go crazy on price mark-ups on liquor, beer, and wine. This is another subject that Wine Problems will soon discuss on our site.

Speaking of pricey, Meomi was recently sold for a whopping $315 million to Mondavi wines owner, Constellation Brands, in August of 2015. Not to worry though, Joseph will continue to be their Consulting Winemaker for the next two years and also currently has his own wine venture, Copper Cane Wines & Provisions. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to taste anything, but he does have a current 2013 release called Elouan Pinot Noir, which is on our short list to try.

Their daughter, Jenny Wagner, also got the wine making bug and started her own label, Emmolo. She makes BIG merlots! This really isn’t surprising considering the family background is Napa Cabs, but impressive nonetheless. She also makes a Sauvignon Blanc, which upon arriving, we were greeted with a glass of this. It was quite a nice start to the tasting.

What we tasted:

2014 Emmolo Sauvignon Blanc
2012 Mer Soleil Reserve Chardonnay, Santa Barbara
2014 Belle Glos Pinot Noir, Dairyman
2013 Emmolo Merlot, Napa Valley
2013 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2012 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
 

What we bought:

2014 Belle Glos Pinot Noir, Dairyman
2013 Emmolo Merlot, Napa Valley
2013 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2012 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon

Our wine educator was Jan, and she was great! The wines we tasted were all extremely good, and paired perfectly with the cheeses, nuts, and breadsticks they provided.

The Caymus winery is 100% family-owned and was established in 1972. Prior to that, they had been farming grapes on the existing property since the 1940s.

Caymus Vineyards –

This was a more formal wine tasting (reservations required) which took place not in the main tasting room, but rather in the private and elegant dining room (with white linen and all), of what used to be the family's original home.