This wine is a treat. We rarely get a chance to experience a mature wine with significant bottle age. We’re so used to drinking young wines—in their infancy, really—that few among us recognize how a good wine can develop in the bottle. The wine mellows, the edges soften, the bouquet blossoms. After nearly six years in the bottle, our 2000 Cain Concept maintains the strength of its youth, now enveloped by the patina of age— it has reached its perfection. Several years ago, when the wines were first released, the Napa Valley’s 2000 vintage was virtually overlooked. It came between a series of very good and great vintages (from 1990 through 1997) and the classic vintages of 2001 and 2002. The 2000 was not the most powerful vintage, nor the ripest. In fact, 2000 was relatively cool, with gentle, progressive ripening. In the best sites, where yields are naturally kept under control, the grapes will ripen slowly but surely, and the patient and attentive winemaker can capture the moment. It is precisely this kind of wine that will age gracefully. Even before we bottled it in 2002, we knew we had a very good wine, but we didn’t know how good. Fortunately, we were able to hold back a significant amount and release it after several years of bottle age. With the release of this “Library Edition,” its time has come. The Cain Concept is based on the classic benchland Cabernet Sauvignon that has made the Napa Valley famous. Inspired by our Cain Five, the Concept is, of course, a blend—with healthy doses of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot—to develop a complex bouquet and to articulate the palate. The result is still vibrant with dynamic tension, and now, with a bit of age, it is refined, rich, balanced, and seamless. Our winemaking program is simple and similar for all our wines: hand picking, gentle destemming, native yeast fermentation, thoughtful maceration, and manual pressing. The wines complete malolactic fermentation in the barrel, are blended in the spring following harvest, and are racked barrel to barrel. The 2000 Cain Concept—Library Edition was egg-white fined and bottled without filtration.
	Varietal Content: Cabernet Sauvignon 62%    Cabernet Franc 25%    Petite Verdot 9%    Merlot 4%
	About Cain Vineyard & Winery Cain Vineyard & Winery overlooks the Napa Valley from the top of Spring Mountain. The estate vineyard is planted to the five classic Bordeaux varieties—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. We produce three Cabernet blends: Cain Five (from our mountain vineyard), Cain Concept (from the famed benchlands of the Napa Valley), and Cain Cuvée (a “Cain Original” from both the mountains and the valley of Napa).
	Christopher Howell, General Manager/Winemaker
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