97pts 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

Vintage Notes

2021 Cain Five Estate, made from estate fruit grown on our mountaintop vineyard, must be our most special vintage ever. Having lost so much to the Glass Fire of 2020, this wine represents a rebirth of all that is Cain, a classic blend that will be recognizable to all who know Cain―balanced, complex aromas with a long finish.