97 Decanter

"The 2021 Cain Five is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec, and 4% Petit Verdot, sourced entirely from surviving grapes in the Cain Vineyard atop Spring Mountain. It’s not yet released and will be available in 2025. This wine has that beautifully savoury quality so reminiscent of Cain, with its distinct brettanomyces character, but with a youthful vibrancy, featuring crushed violets and very fresh tarweed (a plant growing all around the estate property), reminiscent of sage and thyme crushed together with white pepper and hints of loamy earth. It is incredibly fresh and vivid on the palate, with tar-laced berry fruit, crunchy acidity, and potent tannins that display intense muscularity. The vineyard site consists primarily of thin clay and sandstone soils with extreme exposures, made even more pronounced after the Glass Fire of 2020. Tasted with Chris Howell and Katie Lazar, winegrowers and co-general managers of Cain Vineyard & Winery, who are the driving forces behind Cain and have been for years. I’m sharing a statement they issued in an email and news release to provide context for readers about this vintage: 'Today, we are thankful to be able to offer you our 2021 Cain Five, the 32nd vintage of Cain Five, and it is a classic. We are especially thankful to have this first vintage following the devastating Glass wildfire of 2020. Though we could only glean just three hundred cases, we are deeply gratified to discover a true Cain Five, worthy of this magnificent place and four decades of work.'"