First Bottle

After 12 years on temptation...we finally opened the first bottle of wine that Amy and I had bought together...on our very first trip to Napa. We went up to Napa with our wine lovin' friends and were totally clueless about wine. I was a total beer...ahem...Lagers and Ales guy. One of our stops was a small little tasting room called Caymus. So, I asked my friends that we wanted to buy a bottle and they suggested...buy Caymus, it's a pretty good wine. So, we threw down $32 for a bottle of 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon....the rest was history...boy, were we hooked...addicted...it opened up a world of fascinating experiences in wine, then food for us...especially me. Whenever I get interested in something, I'd be a fanatic about it and read all I can and learn all I can about the subject, whether it's wine, food/cooking, photography, etc... So, wine was an extremely fun hobby and to this day, it's a passion of mine...I'm no expert...but at least it's great to have some knowledge about it especially at restaurants. So, last couple of weeks, my Torontonian cousins visited (we're the pit stop for their Hawaii trip, plus they graciously brought down 2 btls of Ice Wine-woo hoo!!!). So, a few nights before they left, we had a roast beef dinner, the first ever at our house. This was the perfect occasion to bring out "The One". I was worried that it had peaked and was on the way down...I took it out, check the bottle, cork seepage...it looked good. As a geek, I took out our Riedels for this...ooooo it was good. The wine was perfect after 12 years....14 years since harvested. What a great night!...Nothing like good ol' beef and red wine!!!

This bottle had grapes from 9 different sources! Right after we bought this bottle, this particular wine was rated #8 in Wine Spectator for that year. The next year, Caymus closed their tasting room to appointments only and a regular bottle was over $70 per bottle!!! We got lucky!

Caymus and Riedels - What a combo!!! Yes, these glasses do make a different in how the wine smells and tastes. We brought out a different glass and pour a bit into that glass, everyone tried it and agreed that there was a huge difference.