Winemaker Notes
Gravelly Meadow is our lowest yielding vineyard. The wines are described as "earthy, cedary, jammy and ripe blackberry with a spicy expansive finish."
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
The five acres at Gravelly Meadow are part of an ancient riverbed, the coolest site of Diamond Creek's three main vineyards. It produced a hendy 2007, almost off-putting in its power at first. The flavors progress from the richness of new oak toward a grape and soil expression similar to the fruitiness of black mushrooms. It's sleek, juicy and dark in tone, the finesse of the wine already making it delicious, while the tightness of the underlying structure suggests years of development ahead.
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Wine Enthusiast
This baby Cabernet plays tricks on the palate, showing appealing soft, delicious complexity, then retreating into a cloak of tannins, and then emerging again with sweet fruit and spice. It's bone dry, although the cherries and blackberries show a baked-into-the-pie caramelized sweetness. Give this bottle a good six years in the cellar and it should continue to evolve far longer.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Showing real kinship with its mates insofar as it eschews high ripeness in favor of defined Cabernet fruit, this wine strikes us as the deepest and most complex of the bunch. It leads with aromas of dark fruits, toast and dried herbs and follows on with layered, like-minded flavors that are presently blunted by youthful back-end tannins. Its overall balance and structure are such that we have no qualms about setting it aside for another five or six years.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.