Conundrum no longer Caymus?

[Jenise]

I'm not a fan of the wine--too much RS for me--so I have no stake in this question, but elsewhere someone mentioned that Caymus has either separated or sold off the Conundrum as it's own brand. So I checked the Caymus website and see that they only list the two cabernets (regular and Special Select) and provide a link to another website that is for Conundrum alone. The Caymus name has disappeared from the label, and the wine has it's own winemaker. Just curious, but what happened?

Jenise, the info below was lifted from the Conundrum web page at http://www.conundrumwine.com/history.shtml It looks as if this was done in time for the 2007 vintage, and that seems to be the latest vintage. Like you, I was never fond of the wine for the same reason as you. Also, I am not a big fan of blending the juice or wine from 3-4 different white wine grapes. I have never had a sauvignon-chardonnay blend that I liked, and, now they have carried that a step further by blending in some muscat too.

Lifted from the Conundrum web page history:

Conundrum is owned by the Wagner family of Caymus Vineyards, but stands on its own as a separate brand. The Conundrum winery opened in 2007 in Monterey County, close to the sources for most of the grape varietals that make up the wine. We are not able to offer tastings or tours to the public.

[Robin Garr]

Segueing off to the side now that the question has been answered, I'm not as much down on Conundrum as you guys seem to be. Off-dry wines aren't really my cup of tea either, but Conundrum (in my limited experience) does it well, with sufficient balancing acidity. I don't mind white blends either ... I know you don't like them, Jenise, and just saw Bob say the same. But it works in Bordeaux, and it works for a lot of interesting wines from Friuli, Southern France and Australia, Western Australia in particular.

In my experience, Conundrum also makes an excellent gift to people who like wine but aren't really geeks. It's just well-known enough that people recognize it, and the off-dry but not sickly sweet flavor seems to appeal to a good spectrum of people.

IIRC, the winemaker for Conundrum is Jon Bolta, who also makes his own Pinot Gris under the Lorca label.
I found it by accident at Trader Joe's when I went in to get rawhide chews for my labradoodles.
Since I do not regularly go to TJ's, I don't know if it is still there. It was $5.99, varietally true and very, very good.

The last Caymus Conundrum was much earlier than 2007. I think it was 1999 or 2000.

Its a perfectly nice wine in my book(at least the vintages I've had)

[David M. Bueker]

Yeah - they spun off the brand right around the millennium.

[Jenise]

Its a perfectly nice wine in my book(at least the vintages I've had)

Oh, I do think it's excellent at being what it is, and I understand why it earns adoration from so many. It's a complex blend and unlike any other California white out there. I just don't care for the high RS.

[Jenise]

but Conundrum (in my limited experience) does it well, with sufficient balancing acidity. I don't mind white blends either ... I know you don't like them, Jenise

I've had some white blends I've liked a lot better. Sadie's Palladium from South Africa, for instance (thank you David and Nadine), and another South African but at the budget end called Beyond Sauvignon Blanc by Buitenverwachting, and a three or four way white blend from Terlano in Fruili. But you're right that I've said that most of the time blending whites just ends up muddied without any of the inherent charms of the single varieties (or usual combos, like sem and SB in a white bordeaux blend, for instance).

We had a bottle of 1999 Conundrum the other day (it had been forgotten in my cellar), and despite the fact we were a bunch of (dry) riesling fans with very little interest in the Conundrum style, it had aged surprisingly gracefully and was actually pretty pleasant.

[Jenise]

That's interesting, Victor! Never would have bet on that.

In my experience, Conundrum also makes an excellent gift to people who like wine but aren't really geeks. It's just well-known enough that people recognize it, and the off-dry but not sickly sweet flavor seems to appeal to a good spectrum of people.

This is how I see the wine, too, Robin. My sister and several folks I know love this wine and I'm sure it's the RS. Truth be told, I don't mind a cold glass on a hot summer evening either.

In my experience, Conundrum also makes an excellent gift to people who like wine but aren't really geeks. It's just well-known enough that people recognize it, and the off-dry but not sickly sweet flavor seems to appeal to a good spectrum of people.

This is how I see the wine, too, Robin. My sister and several folks I know love this wine and I'm sure it's the RS. Truth be told, I don't mind a cold glass on a hot summer evening either.

Jon, Robin;

I agree that it is probably the RS that makes the wine liked by non wine geeks, and yes it probably does make an impression. Especially on those who has seen the wine on a winelist for $40-$50. And having agreed with the premise of the RS, I find myself saying "But a nice $20 QBA, or Kabinett would have been SO MUCH better". Maybe that is the wine geek talking?