Our take
Caymus Suisun The Walking Fool Blend California Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Region
- California
- Shelf barcode
- 0017224710011
Our take
What we make of this bottle
Caymus Suisun The Walking Fool is a red blend of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, sourced from Suisun Valley, which the Wagner family calls its second winegrowing home, a half-hour's drive from Napa, by the brand's own account. By Caymus Vineyards' account, the winery dates to 1972, when Chuck Wagner opened it with his parents, Lorna and Charlie Wagner Sr.; the Wagner family owns and runs it still.
Across our September 2026 checks, the lowest observed price was $37.99 and the highest $46.49. On the store listing, 2 ratings put it at 5 on a five-point scale.
The wine's name has a family story behind it: Caymus-Suisun says Jenny Wagner, its winemaker, named the blend for her great-great-grandfather Johannes Glos, who came to Napa Valley in the 1880s and was known for traveling by foot, earning him the nickname “the Walking Fool.” The current release on the winery's shop site is the 2024 vintage, described in the producer's own tasting note as “smooth and lively, with juicy raspberry, notes of espresso and softly fine tannins.” The winery's own online shop lists the bottle at $38 for a standard 750 ml, a separate figure from the grocery-store prices in our checks above; no alcohol percentage is given on the page.
Our call: a reasonable pick if the family story and a confirmed blend are enough to hang a red on; this is Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from Suisun Valley, named for a specific ancestor by a named winemaker, Jenny Wagner. Pass if you want a proven track record instead; the two ratings on our record are a start, not a reputation, and no alcohol percentage has reached us for this bottle.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$46.49
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$37.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$39.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Family ownership
Caymus Vineyards says Chuck Wagner and his parents, Lorna and Charlie Wagner Sr., opened the winery in 1972. The winery remains owned and run by the Wagner family.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know California.
California on the label is useful provenance but weak detail about place. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.
What the name means
A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.
How grapes grow here
The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.
What lies under the vines
At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.
How large the region is
- Reusable question
- Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?
Places within the region
- Resolution limit
- County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.