2018 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace California Red

2018 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace

96 JS

Featured Review

Blackberries, blueberries, crushed stones, tile and violets. Medium-to full-bodied with fine, silky tannins. Tight, polished and lightly austere. Sweet fruit in the mid-palate. This needs at least four to five years to open and come together. Best after 2026. James Suckling

James Suckling | 96 JS

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace stands out in this range because of bright, savory-infused bouquet and overall energy. Medium in body, the Red Rock Terrace is all about energy and drive. There's plenty of power too, but it is expressive in more of a linear fashion. Bright red fruit, iron, dried herbs and blood orange are some of the many nuances that start to develop with a bit of time in the glass.

Vinous Media | 96 VM

Red Rock is aptly named, reflecting a seven-acre portion of the estate that is littered in red, rocky soil. With moderate plushness and enduring elegance, it offers a complex structure and contrasting brightness of cassis and dark cherry. Herbal accents of sage and forest contribute to its overall appeal. Enjoy best from 2028–2038.

Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

(Cabernet Sauvignon “Red Rock Terrace”- Diamond Creek Vineyards (Napa)) The 2018 Red Rock Terrace from Diamond Creek is a superb young wine in the making. It comes in at 14.5 percent octane in this vintage and offers up a young and promising bouquet of sweet cassis, dark berries, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, plenty of smokiness, just a hint of spices and a lovely framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and impeccably balanced, with a great core of fruit, fine soil signature, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex and extremely refined finish. I love the Diamond Creek wines today, which are still true to Al Brounstein’s original stylistic vision of great, long-lived Mountain cabernets, but are a bit more polished structurally out of the blocks than was the case back when the 1970s and 1980s versions were young! (Drink between 2035-2100)

John Gilman | 95 JG

The Red Rock 2018 comes across as an old-fashioned herb-scented cabernet with the modern gloss of richness. That supple gloss, in fact, is part of the fruit character from the site, a hillside of iron-rich rock, the warmth of the parcel balanced by its cool northern exposure. Of the three 2018s from Diamond Creek, this is the one that completely eats its oak, transforming it to scents of marjoram and the cocoa-like depths that might as soon take you to St-Julien as to Diamond Mountain. With several days of air, the tannins have the mineral smokiness of stone hitting stone, their fruit essence close to peach pit or persimmon while the fruit itself shades from wild strawberry to dark raspberry succulence. It’s a hunter’s wine, for elk or venison, whether you open it now or in a decade. —J.G. (599 cases)

Wine & Spirits Magazine | 95 W&S

More streamlined and elegant than the 2019 version, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace features a dusty-earth nose, with hints of red currants, cherries and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, it's silky and fine, not overly concentrated, rich or intense, just nicely balanced, with two decades or so of longevity.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

Ripe and focused, with a racy-edged mix of plum, blackberry ands black cherry fruit that is steeped with anise, violet and bay notes while being underscored with a racy sanguine hint. Flash of alder chimes through the finish, which pulls everything together nicely. Best from 2022 through 2038. 599 cases made.

Wine Spectator | 94 WS

Spicy aromas of cumin and black pepper, black fruits, lavender and hints of mint roasted meat, clove and smoke. It has a gravelly texture with firm tannins. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2035.

Decanter | 92 DEC

Type of Wine	California Red : Whether it's Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Zinfandel, Californian red wine producers have a lovely habit of taking a varietal and expressing its essence in a unique, never before seen way. From Napa Valley to the regions south of Los Angeles, there's a red for everyone - and it's never too late to start exploring.
Varietal	Proprietary Blend : Proprietary Blend is a general term used to indicate that a wine is comprised of multiple grape varietals which are either “proprietary” to the winery or is blended and does not meet the required maximum or minimum percentage of a particular varietal. This also is the case for the grape’s place of origin, especially for region, appellation or vineyard designated wines. There are endless examples of blended wines which are labeled as “Proprietary Blend” and in conjunction with each region’s stipulated wine laws and regulations makes for a vast blanket for wines to fall into. Perhaps the simplest example is California; if a wine is to be labeled as Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, it is required to have at least 75% of the varietal (Cabernet Sauvignon) and 85% of the fruit must be cultivated from the Napa Valley wine district. If the wine does not meet the requirements, it is then labeled as Proprietary Blend.
Country	US : As one of the most prolific and innovative wine regions in the world, America is a joy to explore. Most wine connoisseurs will agree that the nation's finest and most compelling wines are being produced today, which means that we have front-row seats to one of the most inspirational stories in wine history. While other regions tend to focus on specific wine styles and have somewhat strict rules as to which varietals you could grow, areas like California have few such restrictions in place. As a result, creative visionaries behind America's most reputable estates have been able to develop compelling, unique, and innovative styles, with a level of terroir expression that rivals even France's largest giants.
Region	California : With a history of wine production that dates back to the 18th century, California currently sits as one of the world's most prolific and reputable wine regions. With an area as vast as California, you can expect a colorful collage of terroir profiles, a series of microclimates, and micro-environments that give the wine a unique, memorable appeal. The region's produce is far from homogenized in that sense, and it would take you countless hours to sample all of it. While the region boasts scars from the Prohibition era, it went through what can only be described as a viticultural Renaissance sometime after the 1960s. At that point, California went from a port-style, sweet wine region to a versatile and compelling competitor on the world market. Today, no matter which way your taste in wine leans, you can find a new favorite producer among California's most talented. Notable sub-regions include legendary names like Napa Valley and Sonoma County, places that any wine lover would die to visit. California's quintessential warm climate allows for incredibly ripe fruit expressions, a style that provides a stark contrast to Old World-inspired, earthy classics. Even where inspiration was clearly taken from staple French appellations, Californian winemakers put their own unique spin on the wine.
Subregion	Napa Valley
Appellation	Diamond Mountain District
Climat/Vineyard	Red Rock Terrace

Producer	Diamond Creek : In 1968 a piece of land in Diamond Creek canyon was about to be converted into a golf course; however, the property was destined for a much greater purpose. With a stroke of luck, the property was instead purchased by Al Brounstein, who decided to exploit the property’s unique terroir and grow single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Diamond Creek Vineyards was created. The property would become an iconic Napa Valley estate and the proprietor, a pioneer who defied modern conventions, changing the landscape of Bordeaux varietals grown in the Diamond Mountain AVA and making history. With incredible vision and foresight, Brounstein realized the potential for growing Cabernet Sauvignon in the property’s exceptional soil structure. His goal was to plant single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and to display the difference in the terroir and micro-climate in each unique vineyard site. This practice was unheard of at the time but Brounstein was undeterred and with vines from two Bordeaux First Growths, smuggled in from Mexico (so the legend goes) he began planting some of the acreage on his 79-acre property. Located in the narrow Diamond Creek canyon, the 21 acres under vine have extraordinary properties. The estate is divided into four separate parcels with each sharing similar commonalities. All four parcels are close to the same elevation of 600 feet and planted from budwood obtained from the same source. The terroir and micro-climate of each parcel; however, are very much unique in their own regards. Gravelly Meadow is a 5-acre parcel planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. It is relatively flat and was once a pre-historic riverbed, situated in one of the cooler micro-climates. The terroir is comprised of rocky, porous brown soils which drain rapidly, compelling the vines to struggle for moisture. In a warmer micro-climate, Red Rock Terrace is situated on 7-acres of steeply terraced landscape. Its rocky, red-tinted soil is high in oxidized iron content, which lends to its name. Due to its northerly aspect, the grapes receive less direct sunlight. The Cabernet Sauvignon vines are planted on a steep grade using a series of terraces. As one would expect, Volcanic Hill is planted on 8-acres of light, fluffy, ashy soil; remnants of the eruption of Mt. Konocti which occurred eight million years ago. This vineyard site is a south-facing hillside and its location grants it the warmest micro-climate. Volcanic Hill produces Diamond Creek’s most powerful and long-lived Cabernet Sauvignon. The coolest micro-climate in the vineyard is a tiny 3/4 –acre parcel sitting at the western edge of the property. Lake Vineyard’s exposure to the breezes coming through the Mayacamas Canyon awards the grapes with extended “hang-time” on the vine. Its terroir is composed of loose, gravelly soil and is the wettest location in the vineyard. Lake Cabernet Sauvignon is produced only in the greatest vintages. In years not produced, its grapes are blended into Gravelly Meadow. It is the only site that was not planted in 1968, but was rather planted a few years later in 1972. The Diamond Creek wines debuted in the poor 1972 vintage but despite the difficult year, Brounstein was able to see the differences in each of the wines due to their distinctive soil types. This unimaginable, unique concept was well ahead of its time, making Diamond Creek the first California winery to produce wine made from only 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and to showcase each parcel’s distinctive terroir. Diamond Creek has gone on to become one of the most iconic and unique vineyards in Napa Valley, producing some of the most compelling Cabernet Sauvignons in California. The average annual production for all 21-acres is around 3,000 cases.