Wine Labs · Market intelligence
Caymus Special Selection: History and Prices in 2026
Caymus Special Selection: how the Wagner family picks its best barrels, plus live prices from 1,841 shops, 5,060 auction sales and 998 restaurant lists.
Special Selection is the top Cabernet Sauvignon from Caymus Vineyards, the Wagner family winery in Rutherford, Napa Valley. It is not a separate vineyard or a separate recipe. Each year the family sets aside the best barrels of its Napa Valley Cabernet and bottles them as Special Selection (Caymus). The label dates from 1975.
Below is what the family has published about the wine and its history, and what it sells for today in shops, at auction and on restaurant lists. The prices come from Wine Labs data collected on November 4, 2026.
Caymus Special Selection at a glance
| Producer | Caymus Vineyards, 8700 Conn Creek Road, Rutherford, Napa Valley |
| Owners | The Wagner family |
| Founded | 1972, by Charlie and Lorna Wagner and their son Chuck |
| Special Selection introduced | 1975 |
| Grapes | Cabernet Sauvignon, from the best barrels of the Napa Valley Cabernet |
| Typical shop price | $239 (median of 1,841 sellers) |
| Typical auction price | $173 a bottle, buyer's premium included (5,060 sales) |
The Wagner family and Caymus
The Wagners farmed in Rutherford long before Caymus existed. Carl Wagner, who came from Alsace, bought farmland there in 1906. His son Charlie and Charlie's wife Lorna bought 73 acres near the family farm in 1941, and in the 1960s they replaced their orchards with vines, including a Cabernet Sauvignon clone from Stags Leap grower Nathan Fay (Wagner Family of Wine timeline).
In 1972 Charlie, Lorna and their son Chuck founded Caymus Vineyards, named after the Rancho Caymus land grant (timeline). The first release was 240 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon (Caymus). The winery is still family owned and run (Caymus).
How Special Selection began
In 1975 Chuck and his father noticed that a few barrels tasted better than the rest. They kept them apart and bottled them under a new label, Special Selection (Wagner Family of Wine history). That is still how the wine is made: it is drawn each year from the best barrels of the Napa Valley Cabernet (Caymus).
Wine Spectator named Special Selection its Wine of the Year twice, for the 1984 and the 1990 vintages, and the family says no other wine has won that title twice (timeline). The family's history and timeline pages give different years for the awards, so we leave those dates out.
Who makes it
Chuck Wagner became director of all viticulture and winemaking in 1984 (timeline) and still oversees the Caymus Cabernets (history). His children Charlie and Jenny Wagner now carry on the farming and winemaking (Caymus), and the winery credits its wines to Chuck, Charlie and Jenny Wagner (Caymus Vineyards visit page). The family describes its farming as dry farmed, densely planted and thinned for low yields, with fruit picked at high ripeness (Caymus).
Caymus does not publish vintage-by-vintage technical sheets for Special Selection on its website, so we don't list blends, oak or alcohol here.
What Special Selection costs today
On November 4, 2026, 1,841 sellers had Special Selection on offer in a 750 ml bottle. Most are in the US (1,692 sellers), followed by Japan (29) and Canada (24). Half of all offers sit between $200 and $276, and the median is $239.
Per 750 ml bottle, US dollars, November 2026.
| Channel | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Auction | $173 | Median of 5,060 sales, buyer's premium included |
| Shops | $239 | Median of 1,841 sellers, all vintages |
| Restaurants | $395 | Median of 998 wine lists |
These three prices don't measure the same thing. Shop prices mix recent and older vintages. Auction prices are what one lot sold for, with the buyer's premium but before shipping, tax and storage. A restaurant price includes service.
By vintage, shops ask a median of $194 for the 2020, the most widely stocked vintage (194 sellers), and $230 for the 2019. Older vintages cost more in shops, between $280 and $375 for the 2009 to 2016. At auction the gap narrows: every vintage from 2009 to 2020 sold for a median of $158 to $227.
Medians per 750 ml, 2009 to 2020. Vintages with at least five shop sellers and five auction sales.
| Vintage | Shop median | Auction median |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | $303 | $174 |
| 2010 | $289 | $227 |
| 2011 | $375 | $162 |
| 2012 | $287 | $177 |
| 2013 | $299 | $181 |
| 2014 | $295 | $159 |
| 2015 | $295 | $170 |
| 2016 | $280 | $178 |
| 2017 | $240 | $162 |
| 2018 | $244 | $159 |
| 2019 | $230 | $158 |
| 2020 | $194 | $170 |
| Vintage | Shop sellers | Shop median | Auction sales | Auction median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 16 | $303 | 243 | $174 |
| 2010 | 13 | $289 | 263 | $227 |
| 2011 | 10 | $375 | 150 | $162 |
| 2012 | 11 | $287 | 241 | $177 |
| 2013 | 13 | $299 | 168 | $181 |
| 2014 | 7 | $295 | 118 | $159 |
| 2015 | 8 | $295 | 77 | $170 |
| 2016 | 25 | $280 | 77 | $178 |
| 2017 | 52 | $240 | 69 | $162 |
| 2018 | 72 | $244 | 62 | $159 |
| 2019 | 119 | $230 | 56 | $158 |
| 2020 | 194 | $194 | 8 | $170 |
Per-vintage shop figures leave out stores whose listings do not state a reliable vintage. We quote a median only when at least five sellers or five sales stand behind it.
At auction
We have 5,060 sales with a recorded price, at 39 auction houses, from January 2003 to November 2026. K&L Wines (1,551 lots), Acker (644) and Hart Davis Hart (543) account for the most. Half of all sales fall between $149 and $206.
The 1994 is the most traded vintage, with 274 sales and a median of $178. The two Wine of the Year vintages still sell often: the 1984 has 55 sales at a median of $245, and the 1990 has 161 sales at $186. The 1975, from the year the label began, has 12 recorded sales at a median of $403.
The yearly median rose from $154 in 2016 to a peak of $204 in 2022, then eased to $174 in 2026. Volume has grown: 2025 had 670 sales, the most of any year.
All vintages, per 750 ml, buyer's premium included. 2026 runs to November 2.
| Year | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | $154 | 64 sales |
| 2013 | $169 | 110 sales |
| 2014 | $157 | 162 sales |
| 2015 | $183 | 130 sales |
| 2016 | $154 | 142 sales |
| 2017 | $161 | 263 sales |
| 2018 | $163 | 230 sales |
| 2019 | $155 | 397 sales |
| 2020 | $161 | 375 sales |
| 2021 | $195 | 332 sales |
| 2022 | $204 | 328 sales |
| 2023 | $200 | 411 sales |
| 2024 | $186 | 440 sales |
| 2025 | $175 | 670 sales |
| 2026 | $174 | 624 sales |
| Year of sale | Sales | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 64 | $154 |
| 2013 | 110 | $169 |
| 2014 | 162 | $157 |
| 2015 | 130 | $183 |
| 2016 | 142 | $154 |
| 2017 | 263 | $161 |
| 2018 | 230 | $163 |
| 2019 | 397 | $155 |
| 2020 | 375 | $161 |
| 2021 | 332 | $195 |
| 2022 | 328 | $204 |
| 2023 | 411 | $200 |
| 2024 | 440 | $186 |
| 2025 | 670 | $175 |
| 2026 | 624 | $174 |
On restaurant lists
Special Selection is on 998 restaurant wine lists in our data, collected between January 2025 and November 2026. Almost all of the lists with a known country are in the US. The median list price is $395 a bottle, and half the lists price it between $297 and $500.
Special Selection in the Caymus range
Caymus makes three Cabernets. The Napa Valley Cabernet is the wine Special Selection is drawn from. The California Cabernet started with the 2021 vintage and uses fruit from sites across the state (Caymus).
| Wine | Shop sellers | Shop median |
|---|---|---|
| Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley | 5,997 | $90 |
| Caymus California Cabernet Sauvignon | 1,884 | $56 |
| Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon | 1,841 | $239 |
Caymus also makes a small Napa Valley Zinfandel in honor of Charlie Wagner (Caymus). We don't quote a price for it here.
Buying Special Selection
The family sells Caymus wines through the Wagner Family of Wine shop. Every tasting at the Rutherford winery includes Special Selection, and reservations are required (Caymus Vineyards visit page). Older vintages, back to the 1970s, sell regularly at auction, usually for less than shops ask.
See all Caymus wines on the Caymus Vineyards producer page. See live Special Selection prices and auction history in Wine Labs market data.
Data methodology: Wine Labs data, November 4, 2026, for "Caymus Vineyards Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley". Shop prices are live 750 ml offers from online merchants and wine shops, one price per seller per vintage (the lowest), with each chain counted once, and with multi-bottle packs and the winery's own shop left out. Auction prices are sold lots with a recorded result, buyer's premium included, per 750 ml bottle, with mixed lots and flagged outliers left out. Restaurant prices are one bottle price per restaurant. All prices in US dollars. History is from the Caymus and Wagner Family of Wine websites, linked above.