Winemaker Notes
Red Rock Terrace, a warm microclimate, is 7 acres of north facing vineyard. The red tinted soil is high in iron content. The wine from Red Rock Terrace is the most accessible and earliest drinkable of all Diamond Creek's wines.
Red Rock Terrace has velvety tannins. The wine is rich and well balanced, medium dark ruby color with cherry, mint and black currant flavors.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace is deep garnet-purple colored with a drop-dead gorgeous nose of crème de cassis, warm plums and blueberry compote with touches of chocolate box, licorice, vanilla pod and coffee beans plus wafts of cedar and cinnamon toast. Full-bodied and rich with gorgeous super ripe, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, it finishes very long and very spicy.
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James Suckling
This has amazing aromas of red licorice, tar, lead pencil, dark berries and blackberries. Full body, a very soft texture and fine-grained tannins. Lovely freshness and brightness. Sweet and sour underneath. A wine that gives such enjoyment already but it will improve nicely in the bottle.
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Vinous
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace is redolent of cherry, iron, white pepper, dried herbs and earthy notes that are nicely layered. There is a bit of low-level Brett that masks the fruit just a touch. If served alone, that would not even be perceptible, but next to the Gravelly Meadow, it is. Even so, the 2015 has aged exquisitely.
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Wine Enthusiast
Exotically earthy, this block designate is defined in graphite, tobacco and cocoa powder, with a gritty, grippy profile of tannin at its core. Savory, soft and supple in nature, it also shows concentration and structure within a full-bodied frame of mountain ripeness.
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Wine & Spirits
A cool energy often suffuses the fruit from Diamond Creek’s Red Rock, a north-facing hillside of iron-rich soil. The cool exposition is enhanced by Pacific air that courses through a cut in the Mayacamas and follows the path of the creek. This 2015 has a little less of that energy than usual, and more concentrated richness, tied, perhaps, to three years of drought. It’s saturated with pure black-currant flavor and undertones of herbs. The tannins are tough and supple, ready to sustain the wine as it ages.
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Wine Spectator
Smooth and supple, with modest plum, black cherry, spice, dried herb and crushed rock flavors, presented in an easy-to-drink style that slowly reveals tannic muscle. Best from 2020 through 2032. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
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.