Cain Five Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend

Cain Five Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend

Son Alec and Vivianna came over to join us to watch the World Cup Semi-final. They brought pizza’s and a my half of a recent case purchase of wine he and I split - Cain Five. 

This is from Cain Five, named for the Cain Vineyard in the Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley and the five Bordeaux varietals that they grow there. The 500 acre Cain Ranch high atop Spring Mountain was founded in 1980 by Jerry and Joyce Cain. The “Five” refers to the five Bordeaux varietal grapes grown on the 90 acres of vineyards planted, and included in the Red Bordeaux Blend. 

Today the estate is owned by Jim and Cindy Meadlock and managed by Wine-Grower/GM Christopher Howell and Vineyard Manager Ashley Anderson-Bennett. The winemaking team for the most part have been working together for nearly twenty vintages and more. They produce 12000 cases annually of three labels, Cain Five and Cain Concept The Benchland, both Estate Grown & Bottled on the single Cain Vineyard and Cain Cuvée including fruit from other Napa Valley sources.

The Cain vineyard represents the terroir factors of the site - steep slopes, the thin clay soils, the high mountain elevation above the valley inversion, and the aromatic plants and forest that embrace the vineyard plots and fill most of our watershed. 

This 2014 release of Cain Five was the five Bordeaux varietals 100% Cain Vineyard, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 8% Malbec, and 7% Petit Verdot. Production was 4,977 (9L) cases, release on September 1, 2018.

Producer’s Notes - “2014 Cain Five is, quite simply, the most beautiful wine ever to have come from the Cain Vineyard. We’ve simplified the label, too. No more clutter of varietal percentages. All you really need to know is that the Cain Five came from the Cain Vineyard: estate grown—estate bottled—harvested and vinified in 2014. If you know anything about this wine, you’ll know that it is a Cabernet Blend of five varieties (hence, Cain Five), but the most important thing is that it grew in just one place: the Cain Vineyard. Five Varieties—One Vineyard.’

Producer’s comments on the 2014 vintage … 

“2014 will be known as the third and last (for us) of the three drought years: 2012, 2013, and 2014. The most shocking of these three years was 2014, when up until the end of January, we had received virtually no rain at all. And then it rained. And rained. In February our reservoirs were filled. In March, it continued to rain. With our soils fully saturated like a sopping wet sponge, the soil warmed up slowly, the vines awoke from dormancy slowly, and thus it would not be an early year. When all the plants finally came back to life in 2014, it was a glorious spring, almost like a desert bloom after the rain, with wildflowers everywhere. The vines were flush with new growth. Clearly, the soil was alive. After that worrisome winter it seemed like everything just flowed.”

Winemaker’s notes for this release - “The color is relatively dark—not opaque—with no sign of evolution. The aromas are discrete: fruity—floral—herbal—spi — and pure. On the palate, the wine has a certain density, but now the tannins have melted and this wine just flows. This is a wine for the ages. Drink now or forever.” 

At twelve years, this is subtle and refined, aging gracefully and will potentially improve further for perhaps as much as a decade or farther. 

This release was rated 96 points by James Suckling and 92 by Wilfred Wong of Wine.com.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, smooth elegant polished nicely integrated black berry and currant fruits with note of sweet tobacco, dried herbs, earthy forest floor and hints of dark mocha chocolate with smooth, silky tannins and bright acidity on the long finish. 

RM 93

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/2711521

https://www.cainfive.com/