Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon 2011

Professional Ratings

• 96 Vinous

  The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace is an infant. In a vintage in which so many wines are on the lighter side, the Red Rock is deep, powerful and super-expressive. It is also incredibly young and still in need of cellaring! Dark and vibrant, with soaring aromatics, the 2011 is absolutely gorgeous. This is a fabulous bottle of the 2011, far better than what I remember tasting when the 2011 was first released.

• 95 Decanter

  Nose of redwood forest, pine needles, red currants and black cherries. The palate is elegant, high-toned and tight even at 10 years of age. The tannin structure is focused yet finessed, gently unfolding over a layered finish. As with Diamond Creek's other two Cabernets, this is built for the long-term and only just starting to show secondary characteristics. Drinking Window 2021 - 2036

• 94 Wine Spectator
  A remarkably pure, ripe, sweet and juicy red, with vivid and silky dark berry fruit, unfolding to black licorice, anise, cedar and loamy earth flavors, all the while keeping the fruit at the forefront. Drink now through 2024.
• 94 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace is composed of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec and 1% Merlot. It was aged for 22 months in French oak, 100% new. Medium to deep garnet in color, wonderfully sprightly black and blue fruit notes come bounding out of the glass—blueberry pie, crème de cassis and baked plums—with hints of camphor, chocolate box, pencil shavings, unsmoked cigars and cardamom. The medium-bodied palate has wonderful harmony and fantastic freshness, delivering a compelling ferrous character among the spicy black fruit preserves, finishing long and savory.

• 93 Wine Enthusiast
  From a seven-acre section of the vineyard, this offers plenty of saddle leather and cedar amidst spicy cardamom layers, a soft, juicy core and tingling acidity. The structure and weight suggest the ability to cellar comfortably through 2020.
• 91 Wine & Spirits
  The north-facing vines at Red Rock Terrace produced a minty, herbal cabernet in the cool 2011 vintage, what one taster described as “righteously old school.” Scents of menthol and madrone build on the fat texture of the fruit and the cool richness of the tannins. There’s plenty of ripe fruit and tannin to absorb the greenness of the vintage and convert it into stony, mineral grip. This should age in fascinating ways.