Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
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Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesVery bright and aromatic with blackcurrants, lilacs and red currants. So perfumed. Full-bodied and layered with a fine-velvet tannin structure. Hints of new wood and sandalwood. Creamy texture. Such beauty. Juicy. Best after 2025.
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace opens with a striking bouquet redolent of crushed red berry fruit, cinnamon, blood orange and mint. Medium in body and silky, with tremendous fruit purity, the 2019 impresses with its finesse and open-knit personality. There's good energy and tension, but the Red Rock in 2019 is, unusually, a wine of total sensuality. I loved it.
From a riper, more Californian vintage, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace offers up scents of black cherries, cassis and hints of vanilla. It's medium to full-bodied, a bit more tannic than the Gravelly Meadow, with ample concentration and a long finish, framed by rich, velvety tannins. Rating: 96+
Shows wild blackberry and blueberry compote, along with streaks of warm earth, singed alder and smoldering cast iron. Densely layered through the finish, with a chaparral hint peeking in. This will need some time to stretch out fully. Best from 2024
16% Merlot; 4% Malbec; 4% Petit Verdot; 1% Cabernet Franc. Very much in line with expectations for Diamond Creek Cabernets in that it is a deep and expressive wine whose considerable richness does not owe to overly pushy ripeness, this edition of Red Rock Terrace is a carefully composed wine that trades extravagance for very keen Cabernet Sauvignon definition. By no means a lightweight, it has plenty of substance and size, but it is also sophisticated and wonderfully refined. It is destined to age effortlessly for a decade or two, yet, of the 2019 Diamond Creek trio, it is the one that looks likely to arrive at its polished peak first.
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.
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.