SPRING 2008

Dear Friends,

We have three wines to offer you: our much-awaited 2004 Cain Five, NV5 Cain Cuvée, and 2004 Cain Concept—The Benchland in magnums. Each of these wines should be of interest to you, each for its own reasons.

2004 was a classical vintage year for the Cain Vineyard. The weather was relatively cool and our ultralow yield was even lower, enabling what little fruit there was to ripen gently and completely. The 2004 Cain Five exhibits all the distinctive signature elements of the Cain Vineyard: fragrant herbal notes, berry, Douglas-fir, bay leaf, anise, and tobacco notes. The tannins are firm and dense, yet exceedingly fine and supple. You’ll be able to age this wine a long time—easily more than ten years—yet you can enjoy it today. There is less of the 2004 vintage than wine from any other year in this decade, but we give those of you on our mailing list the first opportunity to purchase.

If you’ve followed the development of Cain Cuvée, you know that it is perhaps the most original and interesting Cabernet blend in the Napa Valley.

We have made the Cuvée by intention and always consciously styled the wine to be vibrant and supple, avoiding the heaviness and clumsiness to which Cabernet can be prone. The Cuvée should dance on your palate! The way we do this is too complex to explain here completely, but a few elements can be addressed. One key lies in the blend, which is dominated by Merlot, enlivened by mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and finished by carefully blending two vintages. The NV5 is primarily wine from 2005 with a bit of the denser and aromatic 2004 vintage. The blend is mellowed for an additional year in the barrel, which contributes a note of complexity. Although there is much more to know, suffice it to say that, every step of the way from the vineyard to the bottle, the Cain Cuvée is made quite differently but is treated with the same care, attention, and precision as our Cain Five.

The NV5 opens with notes of roasted nuts and coffee overlaying the perfume of fresh plums and raspberries. The wine enters particularly round and silky; as it spreads out across the palate, it leads to a long and satisfying finish. As with all of the Cain Cuvées, it will age nicely for five to ten years or more, but it is intended to be enjoyed now or in the next couple of years. (We’re enjoying the NV4 right now, just as we have run out of it.)

If you’ve had a chance to taste the 2004 Cain Concept—The Benchland, you know what a treat it is. The 2004 vintage will age particularly well and even better in magnum.

Thanks for all of your support of our work at Cain Vineyard & Winery.

Christopher Howell
General Manager/Winemaker

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