The Revelation

Several wines moved and touched me in several ways but the one that gave me my first vivid emotion was probably Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 1987. In 1992 I was attending a tasting course hosted by Sandro Sangiorgi (my first mentor: an amazing connoisseur, a passionate teacher and a true wine lover) on the great wines of the world: we tasted several gems from French, Germany, Spain, Chile, Australia and USA. Every single one was truly amazing but when we got to the Caymus I had  an epiphany: it was powerful yet subtle, complex but immediate and direct, fruity, spicy, full bodied without being heavy and with a breathtaking, endless after mouth. It kept evolving for the twenty-something minutes that I managed to have my glass last and all the time it didn't stop to amaze me. In a sense, it was not a perfect wine but it was absolutely fascinating. Probably, for my taste of today, it was too oaky (yes, I was into oak at the time...) but it showed me what a wine could be (and compelled me to visit Napa 3 years later).