Wine Testament

“I live for moments that make me say “Holy sh*t, come check this out!” -Winemaker from Los Olivos, CA.

If you talk to anyone that’s into wine (like really into wine), they will tell you about a transformative experience that they had with a specific wine. A magical moment, a moment where they stop and think Wait this is Wine? They will likely be able to tell you when, where and what type of wine it was. I had one of those experiences.

I was at a business dinner in Savannah, GA in February 2024. I had organized the dinner, but I was not the host because I had a coworker with me who was much more senior than me. In fact he was the grey haired guy who was #2 at the company. The guy was named Paul and he was the VP of Sales & Marketing. Paul is the kind of guy that is always well dressed, full of charisma and incapable of not leading and guiding every conversation. I took the back seat and let him tell his stories.

I remember I was feeling under the weather and although I was excited to participate in the dinner, I also looked forward to the moment when I was back in the hotel room….left alone to myself to hopefully overcome this mild illness that seemed to be getting worse.

You’ll get through this, hopefully no one can tell that I’m sick.

I hope it’s a cold….crap I have another day left of this conference.

I took a Dayquil capsule….the back says I can’t have more than 2 drinks while taking this product. Well, 2 drinks it is then.

We sit down at the table and Paul orders two bottles of wines: Caymus Cabernet, and Far Niente Cabernet. (Both of which I was unfamiliar with at the time). These could have been wines you could buy from Aldi for $5. I wouldn’t have known any different.

But the labels did look fancy, so probably not something I could buy at Aldi I thought.

We proceed to have our glasses filled. Looks like a Cabernet to me, I like Cabernets. I take a sip, unaware and uninterested in assessing the aromas of the wine.

Holy sh*t…..I thought to myself.

This wine has depth.

Dark fruit, plush, smooth. What is this depth that I’m tasting? It’s as if there’s a first floor to the flavor, then a level below it.

Paul leans over to me with a pleasant smirk and a nudge “This wine is sooo good“

I nod in agreement. I’m still stunned at this point.

I look around the table and everyone is having similar reactions. I’ve never been at a table where everyone had this type of reaction to the wine.

Here’s the thing:

I wish I could tell you it was a different wine….

You will not Wow anyone in the wine business by telling them that you’ve had Caymus.

Caymus Cabernet is THE Corporate, Steakhouse, I don’t know anything about wine but I’m at a business dinner, Wine.

The last few times I had it I thought it was overly sweet, containing an above average amount of residual sugar for a Cabernet (~10g per liter I looked it up).

It’s also ~$80 a bottle…..so the value is questionable.

BUT this was the wine that kicked things off for me.

I can lie to you, but I can’t lie to myself. Caymus is what did it for me.

Till next time,

-Connor