Diamond Creek, Red Rock Terrace, Napa Valley

SF Wine Tasting Meetup - Jan 2026 (San Francisco) : I absolutely love Diamond Creek, so was very excited for this! Picked up notes of fresh and dried plums, dried cherry, alongside elaichi (cardamom). This was definitely a good bottle drinking nicely, but did fall a tiny bit short of my expectations. I may have been alone in that opinion though. 91 points.

1997 vintage

SF wine gathering with Palisades Canyon (Mission Bay/SOMA) : Second DC, after one of our group brought a 1999 VH to the prior Reddit tasting. Very similar experience here, with luscious but restrained mostly dark fruit (cassis, currants, cherry-berries) and a slight red fruit note, florals, baking and other spices and leather. Long, complex, and like the Abreu and Martha’s, contemplative in all the best ways. Only sipped on its own about an hour half into the tasting. Great drinking …

1997 vintage

In prime form - opened with scorched earth and iron, softened into dark and savory fruit - delicious. My mostly burgundy drinking friend described it as sexual chocolate. Not exactly sure what that means, but it didn’t seem out of place, and yes, he meant it as a strong compliment. Showing its age but with plenty left. Out of magnum.

2005 vintage

Ruby in color, nose of graphite, cedar, plumbs. A bit of primacy still present. 20 minutes of air and is singing. Lovely now, feels may be even better in two or three years as takes on more mature notes. Great wine.

1991 vintage

Very Bordeaux like on the nose. Slight red fruits on the nose but showing a lot of age. Palate is gorgeous. Red fruit, subtle but Extremely strong. If that makes sense. This wine is spectacular. Long finish. Beautiful balance. Tannins are soo soft an acidity just keeps coming. Long story short. Freaking beautiful.

1997 vintage

Celebrated my daughter’s birthday with a blind tasting of a 2018 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace, a 2009 Vieux Chateaux Certan and a 2021 Vice Versa Georges III. All three wines showed very well, with the Diamond Creek earning WOTN. The VCC was by far the most refined of the group, the VV clearly the most gripping and powerful, with the DC showing amazing complexity. My thoughts going forward are that the VV needs to be held for a few …

2018 vintage

Decanted briefly before serving which works well. Intense bouquet with dark cherry and red currant fruit. Densely packed with leather, spice, liquorish and softwood trees. With aeration this also reveals notes of tobacco, even more leather and a somewhat darker fruit accents. Fresh palate with juicy blueberry fruit and, despite the age, soft structural, perfectly integrated tannin. This was quite excellent and pure joy to drink – fortunately a bottle that was in much better shape than the Volcanic Hill …

1997 vintage

Superb- wine of the day

1997 vintage

Some funk

2018 vintage

There is no reason not to enjoy this now. With a 1-2 hour decant, it's absolutely mesmerizing and complex for the entire evening. Bold, but with old world Cabernet characteristics.

2018 vintage

One of the bottles I provided for a co-hosting with Mark at the City Club wine group. Always a treat to open a birth year wine. I had this last year and this bottle seemed to have more stuffing. It was less muddled/clay driven and more distinctly black fruit and spice heavy. Next to a ‘79 Montelena, it wasn’t as full-bodied, but it certainly had more tannin. The tannic finish was quite pronounced and bolstered throughout the lunch. Mid-palate was …

1988 vintage

JD Friday Wine Group - SA and MF co-host (City Club FW) : Served blind - leather on the nose, and a good bit of sediment in the glass. Deep red in color, and slightly bitter palate. Much less fruit than the Montelena before it. Still has high tannins, and medium+ acid. This one still has a long runway. I guessed a super Tuscan, 15+ years old. Quite wrong.

1988 vintage

BYOB Vinklubben Vinminnen 15 : Vinminnen 15

1991 vintage

Corked, and what a shame it was. Good stuff under the hood. Better luck to you…

1991 vintage

WINE & SPIRITS TOP 100, SAN FRANCISCO (San Francisco, Ca.) : Nose of red cherry, black cherry, spring flowers, and hints of cigar box and saddle leather, same on the palate, big body, very tasty, mouth filling fruit, lovely fruit, needs six years to peak, a a medium amount of soft tannins on the finish and aftertaste, tasted four times today with the same results.

2018 vintage

Soul-searching in Napa. Beta-Jasud, Roy Piper, Detert, Elyse, Diamond Creek, Favia, Opus, Gargiulo, among others!; 1/17/2022-1/22/2022 : Tasted at the winery, note copied below. "Red fruit but also some iron aromas, dried blood, still some good secondary notes. Hints of cigar and tobacco. Palate is incredible. Pretty flowers, red raspberry, cherries, lots of red fruit. Carries through with the finish with acid and tannins. Not a flimsy wine at all, but so gentle and refined. 94 "

2018 vintage

Touch of Brett, very French in style, beautiful fruit. Still very young.

2018 vintage

WS 94

2018 vintage

per Robert Parker

2018 vintage

Wine Spectator 40th Anniversary; 10/21/2021-10/23/2021 (Marriott Marquis) : We were referred to this table by a friend pouring who really loved this wine. A wine meant to age. More red fruits and minerals and a bit more alcohol (which I'd like to see blow off or come down).

2018 vintage

Delicious. Still very full of fruit. Tried with 96 Mondavi which was great but softer.

1997 vintage

Subsequent notes on this wine from five years ago. Deep, dark reddish-garnet in color with slight clearing at the edges. Fill, forward & fragrant nose of ripe fruit aromas of dark cherries, blackberries & cassis with classic overtones of cedar, floral notes of violets, earthy/dusty, graphite/iron, tobacco & leather, minerals, herbs, eucalyptus/mint, cocoa, spices, & a touch of oak & vanilla. Full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, ripe fruits of dark cherries, blackberries …

1991 vintage

decanted -

1997 vintage

The marathon runner with energy to go for distance

1991 vintage

corked

1988 vintage

Tasted blind, this wine had a deep purple/red center with reddish rims. Clearly, this still looked rather young. The medium+ intensity nose showed black cherries, red dust, and some honey. In the mouth, this wine was rich and ripe with rounded tannin, good acidity, and nice length. I wonder how long this bottle was open and if it would have showed more if given more air. I tasted a wine that was very nice but not particularly special.

1991 vintage

Very good but did not have the balance or exquisite layers of the Volcanic Hill served side by side. Bordeaux like qualities of earth, oak and leather on the palate with notes of bright, red fruit. The fruit was sweeter than I expected with maybe a hint of cola on the finish. Still, it’s Diamond Creek, sooooo.

2005 vintage

a major disappointment... This wine was dead and had been dead for a while. Not corked or other bottle variation. The fruit was all dried up and no significant aromas of interest were left. I expected more from this producer

1991 vintage

Sell: 2005 High-Alcohol (15% and Up) California Cabernets I own quite a few of these, because we had a 2005-vintage baby, but sadly they won't make it to her 21st birthday. Wines from '05 that kept their alcohol in check, however, should do just fine. Forbes, April 30, 2018

2005 vintage

fantastic - lots of old school style, rich and peppery with a bit of funk but in a really pleasant wonderful way. Nose was so complicated it had an arterial quality. Fruit was solid ripe berries, grass and Indian spices aged perfectly..

1997 vintage

Wine & Barbecue (@Private location) : *** brief, no formal notes *** Glass: Gabriel Universal What a difference after the Mercury head. Almost classic BDX, very elegant, quite low alcohol (12% abv). Very nice and fully developed nose with herbs, wet forest soil, dark fruit and some barn. Very elegant on the palate, velvet tannin, red raw meat, cherry and other red fruit, spices, medium+ finish. Very nice with potential of further ageing of at least 5-10 years. 93-94

1997 vintage

mature nose minerally but fruit seems to have expired. past prime. drink up

1991 vintage

Time to drink up if you have any left. Mostly ripe fruit with a fairly youthful presence, but he structure and depth are almost totally gone.

1991 vintage

Decanted at 1:30pm and enjoyed throughout the next 10 hours. Medium to dark, slightly translucent garnet and a slightly brick edge. Initially the nose was reticent but exploded at about the 6 hour point with pencil lead, licorice, plum, vanilla, roasted meat and violets. In the mouth there was still some vibrancy but most of the tannins were integrated and the wine was rich and smooth. Flavors included baking spices, plum, cassis, graphite, earthy grilled mushroom and leather. Late in …

1997 vintage

The wine looks crimson colored. The legs are slow. There is heavy sediment in the bottle.

1991 vintage

Diamond Creek Rare Wine Dinner (Charlie Palmer Steak) : Best aromatics of the first flight with a lovely nose reminiscent of Bordeaux. Rich fruit but also quite rustic with some roses on top. Fruit is pretty explosive and vibrant on the palate. Great structure, still powerful, good integration. Lengthy finish.

1997 vintage

Deep, dark reddish-garnet in color with ever-so-slight clearing at the edges. Forward, attractive, fragrant & multi-layered & complex nose of ripe fruit aromas of dark cherries, blackberries & cassis with classic overtones of cedar, tobacco & leather, with lovely secondary nuances of floral notes of violets, earthy/dusty, graphite/iron, minerals, dried herbs, eucalyptus/mint, cocoa, spices, some tar notes, minerals, smoky and a touch of toasted oak & vanilla. Full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, …

1991 vintage

Table Donkey & Stick Terroir Tuesday tasting. This wine is much denser, chewier, and more tannic (with less resolution) than its year-older counterpart. I want to say this is more closed than the 1987, but it just seems like it's not as complete and even when/if the tannins are more resolved, there will be less to like here. Aromatics are not as expressive either. Overall still a good wine, if not on par with its brother this eve.

1988 vintage

Diamond Creek night at Table, Donkey and Stick (Chicago, IL) : This was certainly much bolder and broader than the 1987, which is kind of weird, right? In any case, this showed much fewer green notes on the nose, in favour of more black currants. The palate is more full-bodied, but it still has an amazing clayey minerality to it (whether Red Rock Terrace is actually on clay, I've no clue). The tannins are definitely bigger here as well, though …

1988 vintage

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY KAVA!!!!! Ruddy, brick red Leather, dirt, wet tobacco, earthy, some mint off the nose Tastes much like the nose. Fruit was pretty much gone, some mint off the finish. Was better with the light dinner served, but not great alone. Drink Your Wine in Time!!!! Although still drinkable, this would have been where it should have about eighteen months or more back.

1997 vintage

Highly toned freshness on the nose and palate, though not much fruit left here. Maybe one that never quite balanced, but not bad. Subtle power to the finish.

1991 vintage

Popping some Diamond Creek (Plus private dinner at Cuenllas) (Vila Viniteca - Madrid) : Completely different if compared with its sisters of the evening. Restricted on the nose, people didn't know how to face it. Even more, some we're speaking of a different grapes or method of elaboration, refusing that green pepper smells this bottle was offering, all disappeared with little patience. I think this dusty bottle had elegancy enough considering where it's proceed. A complicate vintage full of shadows. …

1991 vintage

Pretty consistent with last tasting . Decanted at 4pm and drunk mostly between 9 and 11 pm. Getting a lot of vanilla and dark berry on the nose. Definitely still improving. Aftertaste is a little tart but very lively and complex. Great with grilled steak. Richness keeps evolving. Great classic Bordeaux style Cali Cab. Lots of berry, leather, vanilla, plum and chocolate.

1991 vintage

Beautifully balanced w/ structure capable of another 3-5 years in the cellar. Classic Cabernet nose, flavors, and finish. Paired w/ Pork Chops at Ozernaya River fishing camp in Kamchatka, Russia.

1991 vintage

Slightly bricking dark red violet color; very appealing, bright, ripe currant, light cedar nose; poised, tasty, tart red currant, cedar palate with plush, fine tannins and good balance; medium-plus finish

1991 vintage

This is holding up well, but surely on it's way down by now. Drank with NY steak and osso bucco; the Diamond Creek worked better with the osso bucco, and a Lynch-Bages '03 worked great with the steak. No visible browning at the rim, but the lighting wasn't ideal for evaluation. The wine is still balanced, but drink up in the next year or two if you aren't partial to that "faded" tasted that older wines eventually attain.

1997 vintage

Opened at 8 am, decanted and put back in cleaned bottle then traveled 350 miles to have with dinner between 6 and 9 pm. Color was medium dark garnet with just a hint of brick on the edge and medium thick legs. Nose at first opening was mostly plum, but at drinking half a day later was jammy, with a flinty charcoal, vanilla and chocolate. Over the 3hours of drinking it kept improving and got richer and richer. The plummy …

1991 vintage

CC's Bday Homer St. Dark, muddy purple, rouge, full bodied Lots of terroire, meaty, dirty leather, faint fruit Strong upfront mint taste off first sip, clay, medium (-) finish Some faint tannins, green...fruit has dissipated The wine has peaked(-2) pts Drink Your Wine in Time!!!!!

1991 vintage

A great showing. Plush dark fruit was blended with lots of graphite, soil and purple flowers on the nose. Its palate was so silky with the tannins hardly noticeable on the finish. Great Californian Cabernet that resembles the smokey mineral edge that Bordeaux from Graves seem to have. Seems to be in a great place right now.

1991 vintage

Very bordeaux aroma and flavor.

2005 vintage

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Diamond Creek, Red Rock Terrace, Napa Valley

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