Winemaker Notes
Gravelly Meadow is the winery's 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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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Gravelly Meadow could pass for a La Mission Haut-Brion in a blind tasting. Loads of crushed rock, earth and minerality are followed by blue fruits, none of the scorched earth you sometimes find in La Mission Haut-Brion in hot years, but beautifully pure blue and black fruits, medium to full-bodied, sweet, ripe tannins, and a layered mouthfeel that builds incrementally to a full-bodied yet elegant and incredibly pure, long finish. This is sensational stuff that should drink well for 25-30+ years.
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James Suckling
A solid red with crushed stone and polished chewy tannins, and lots of depth and intensity. Medium to full body with a flavorful finish. Chewy and solid. Real Diamond Creek character here. A blend of 79% cabernet sauvignon, 9% merlot, 7% malbec, 3% petit verdot and 2% cabernet franc.
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Decanter
Notes of cassis, rich earth and pencil shavings lead into a seamless, elegant but authoratative wine that nods to the Médoc. This is the most refined of the Diamond Creek bottlings, hailing, as its name suggests, from dry-farmed vines growing in deep gravel soils.
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Wine Enthusiast
Grown on a five-acre prehistoric river bed, the vines behind this wine struggle and yield modestly, making for an intensity of fruit and tannin. Tangy, grippy and satisfyingly bright in acidity, it shows cooler elements of dried herb, pencil lead and cedar atop a smooth, velvety palate.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Diamond Mountain is the northernmost mountain appellation in the Mayacamas Range, on the northwest side of the valley floor, above the town of Calistoga. Defined mainly by elevation, vineyards are planted at 400 to 2,200 feet.
Diamond Mountain vineyards receive plenty of sunshine at these elevations and are typically above the coastal fog line. But given its western proximity, the area still easily cools down from early morning and late afternoon Pacific Ocean breezes. The AVA (American Viticultural Area) covers 5,000 acres but just over 500 acres are under vine.
Diamond Mountain soils, mainly weathered, red sedimentary rock and decomposed, volcanic ash, are infertile, quick-draining and produce small, thick-skinned grapes, bursting with chewy tannins.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Zinfandel have great success here.
Like other sub-appellations in Napa Valley, the Diamond Mountain area had no shortage of pioneer winemakers. Rudy von Strasser led the effort for Diamond Mountain to acquire AVA status in 1999.