A wonderful bottle of wine. Shae said it was ready and she is right. The surprising thing is it is not heavy it’s lighter body than you expected but packed with flavor with an epic nose. Fantastic snake wine that I slow ox’d for about six hours. If you bought these early like I did it’s certainly safe to open one of them.
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On Shae's advice, I decanted this for 4 hours, which I'm going to say is definitely the minimum - I wish I'd given it more, but hey I'll live. You never know what's going to happen when you finally open a wine you have pinned a lot of hopes on. This was the best case scenario: one of the finest cabernets I've ever had, period. The nose is a little shy for now, but the flavor was mind-blowing. There is so much detail work uncoiling here my brain couldn't take it all in. It's not a heavy wine, though it's defiitely bold and the length is freight-train like. So much velvet power, suggestions of things to come, and yet also current rewards for giving it a try now. I am going to let the remainder rest a few more years. We used Spieglau Definition glasses, which I think was a good choice. My wife, upon hearing its current retail price, said, "Worth it."
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Very surprised to find this wine on the list at a local steakhouse and immediately made a reservation. The wine definitely lived up to the expectation. It offered a complex spectrum of pure red and black fruits, like raspberry preserve, blackberry, and cassis, with an undertone of vanilla, tobacco, and graphite. Deep ruby colored, the wine had the proper amount of extraction, super smooth texture, and its acidity and ripe and silky tannins kept me reaching for more. At such a young age, it's already drinking beautifully. The bummer is that there are only 2 barrels of this beauty made!
Pulled this for NYE after a great visit with Kinsman in Napa in November tasting the 2017s (and a sneak peek on a 2018), and a ton of great reviews of the 2016s. Unfortunately, when I pulled the cork I saw wine all the way up the side of the cork. Color was right, but the nose was a little hot (but not stewed) and muted. Stayed muted/a little off all night. Chalking this up to a faulty cork, and happy to have a few more bottles.
Wow. I would like to just post the one word and drop a mic but not sure how to do that so here goes.
Had both Kinsman 2016 wines at one of our favorite restaurants in AZ, Cafe a Monarch (unfortunately we had to bolt due to an allergic reaction) or it would have been a perfect night. Krug 168 and both 2016 Kinsman wines.
Krug- same notes apply. must give this air or the acidity closes the palate unable to reveal its inner goodness. Hold as it will become something special but a beautiful early champagne nonetheless.
R- quick super decant and drank through 45 minutes. excellent in all facets, attack, middle and end with a long finish. Cassis, boysenberry, blackberry, coco, tobacco, hint of dark wet earth all built around a thin mineral spine that carries this full bodied wine through the long finish. Now on the the textural pleasure of a mouth coating luxurious silky sexy kitten batting the tongue playfully teasing you throughout the experience- just excellent. I am a huge Nigel fan from his days at Araujo but this style is a juxtaposition of that style- both excellent wines with very different profiles. This is a wine that is drinking spectacular now and now is when it should be drunk as well as later. A homerun right out of the gates. Buy with confidence.
A- quick super decant and drank through 45 minutes. A very good wine but not at the level of R. It is missing the attack of R but maybe it’s a the vineyard requiring time to fill out? Regardless a beautiful feminin wine that if not had with its badass brother would have received accolades by all. This wine while missing the attach has a good middle and end of blackberry, dark red cherry, a bit of earth, coco, cedar and a velvety texture. Enjoyed by all . Very good wine and would love to check back in a few years from now to see if it filled out. Yummy nonetheless.
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Awesome aromas bold rich crepe de cassis with violets, quite sexy Dark rich fruit totally packed, long opulent sweet ripe red raspberry, blackberries, cherries, a true wow wine. Long and rich, graphite and complete. Perhaps a touch hot, big chocolate flavors. Really good and right in my wheelhouses. Great youth and energy. Full body and great spice. Very impressive. Dark flavors structure, young, but so good. Reverie site. Very contoured wild site. Was part of Diamond Creek long time ago. Incredible. 16% Cab Franc and winemaker Nigel Kinman said was amazing. Make at Wheeler farms a high tech facility. Precision winemaking the real key here. 2 barrels was 4 originally, but used for topping. Financially this stretched him to the max.
14.9% abv. Dark garnet purple, clear. Light staining of tears. Very, very generous nose of black and red fruits, rose garden (including tilled wet soil), anise, pencil shavings. Med plus weight, silky smooth in mouth with precision through mid palate and fine grained tannins that leave you going back for more and more. Finishes extremely long with layers of blackberries, blue berries, dark cocoa, coffee cake, and minerality that is off the charts. Exceptional wine with long life ahead. Classy wine. Bravo
Vinous tasting with Antonio and Nigel. Double decanted four hours before the tasting, and then consumed the remainder of the bottle with dinner. A mesmerizing bouquet, with notes of blackberry, briar patch, crushed stone, dried violets; hints of roasted fennel, and star anise. Medium bodied, with great concentration and layers of flavor; light on its feet for such a powerful and intense wine! Silky texture, good acidity, ripe but noticeable tannins. Well balanced and I dare say elegant for a young Diamond Mountain Cabernet. Long, focused, and incredibly well delineated finish. My favorite young Napa Cabernet (along with the 2013 Diamond Creek volcanic hill, tasted at a similar age).
Nigel mentioned there were actually 4 barrels (from The old Reverie vineyard) but they only bottled two and sold the other two barrels in bulk, as they had to pay the bills! An amazing wine that will be very difficult and expensive to find on the open market! Should be fascinating to follow over the next twenty years.
This wine is awesome, but this note is long, so here goes:
The reason I love college basketball is that sometimes you get to see the future before it arrives. I remember watching Draymond Green as a pudgy college freshman who just knew where the ball would go. I saw Jason Richardson play in his first exhibition game, with a bounce in his step that made you know he was going to be a pro. Every fan has their own story, but you watch college sports because you might see something new; you watch because you might see something great... and see it for the first time.
This wine is one of those new - and great - things that make the watching (and buying) worth all the while. This wine has a ripeness and power that are fulsome, like a young Abreu - a full-court press of flavor (entry, mid-palate, finish) that somehow doesn't tip the scales of excess. There is also an earthy, savory, and classy core, like a Promontory - a Napa wine, to be sure, but with a wildness and originality that are absolutely captivating.
So, yeah, I loved this wine. I could clearly count the ways, but I'll quote blarmston as to the bottom line conclusion: holy s--- this is a great wine.
Dark purple in color and medium in body (feels more full in the mouth, but few tear drops on the glass), the wine offers incredible, pungent, almost urgent aromas of boysenberry, espresso, cocoa powder, pencil lead, bay leaf, underbrush, and menthol. The flavors are generous and integrated, especially for such a young mountain wine, with notes of blueberry tart, mocha, crushed gravel, spice cake, and anise, with a beguiling finish that is equal parts fruit, acidity, tannin, and tannin (read: still a bite, but sweet enough to go down easily after 2-3 hours of air). Blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. 14.9% alcohol.
This is one of the best, if not the best, 2016 I have tasted to date. The intensity, integration, and class are off the charts. Perhaps this will narrow with time in bottle, but the core of the wine is remarkable. If you have more than one bottle, open this now, but I can't wait to follow these over the next 5-10 years. Just amazing.
Knowing that I was committing infanticide, I said F it and popped the cork. Decanted at noon, an ounce check in at 5pm and also an hour later, with first glass an hour after that.
This wine is among the best that I’ve had in recent memory. The score is for today’s experience, but it will improve with more slumber. In 8-10 years this could hit the Baller Mark.
Dark fruits, imposing structure, and just a sense of... HOLY SHIT this is good wine.
I am really kicking myself that I didn’t snag a magnum of this when it was offered two weeks go. In that format, this could be a thirty year wine.
As previous TN’s suggest, decant this for at least 7-8 hours, or hold for 5 years. Bravo Nigel, bravo...
Another great experience with this bottle. Double decanted after 6 hours based on the recommendation from Shae Kinsman. Paired with braised lamb shank for dinner.
This has really opened up since I last tasted in June 2019. This is definitely more inviting and accessible as compared to the Anjea which I tasted Dec 2019 and was still very shut down. This was velvety, smooth, iron fist. Mocha, nice silkiness, less dark purple fruit of the Anjea. One of the top bottles I’ve tasted in 2020. Those with 3 bottles- there is no shame in enjoying one now.
This wine will be ready in 3 to 5 years from now. I opened this on Thanksgiving, decanted for 2 hours and it was too tannic, so back in the bottle it went. On Friday, I decanted the bottle at around 1pm and by 7pm, it was finally ready and I could taste all of the goodness in the bottle.
Dark red and purple, strong fruit smells; primarily with black and blueberries, and plum. Lot's of mineral -- as in lot's. Chocolate covered blackberries.
I had to work with this wine over 2 days and it was one of the more memorable bottles that I have had recently. It was a great experience!
The tannins in this wines have mellowed after tasting at Wheeler Farms last year. You can now really tell the direction this is heading in! We had the opportunity to enjoy a bottle with Shae and Nigel at Gotts RH in St Helena. What a way to wash down a Texas Burger!!! Don't miss adding this to the cellar. My wife's personal favorite after tasting VHR, Futo, Abreu & Blankiet!
Napa 2019; 7/14/2019-7/18/2019: Tasted at Wheeler Farms with Shae and eventually Nigel. Great people, great project! This wine was also wound right behind a wall of tannins but poked its head out 90 min into our visit. What a beauty. What did poke through showed Mostly black fruit with a typical mountain profile of forest floor, some mineral notes, faint red fruit. Like its 16 counterpart, needs 8-10 in the slumbering cellar. Patience will absolutely be rewarded on this wine. No points today. Buy or regret!
This was amazing. Smooth, velvety, sexy. I think the Cab franc helped really balance this out. For mountain fruit, this was incredibly open and inviting. I will be opening one of these for Christmas 2019!
Winemaker's lunch with Nigel and Shae Kinsman at Cook in St. Helena. Nigel was nice enough to meet for lunch during his busy season, and shared the '16 Diamond Mountain which comes from the old Reverie Vineyard and will be released next year.
This wine is just fantastic and improved over time. It could have used another 2-3 hours in the decanter as it's a big monster which is why The Kinsman's are not releasing their '16s until next year (Nigel said their Sleeping Lady is even tighter!). Make no mistake, everything is there for this great representation of Diamond Mountain. Dark black and blue in the glass, strong tannins, nice structure, lots of fruit and mineral and graphite components. Long finish. This will be fun to try over and over again, and see how it evolves.
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc 2% Malbec. Only 50 cases. This is the former Reverie Diamond Mountain site. The Von Strasser site nearby, also purchased by Nigel's same client, has been completely pulled and replanted. These CS/CF vines are all around 30 years old. Nigel cofermented varietals together as he pulled blocks in harvest (like Abreu). This wine has bigger tannin and darker fruit compared to the Sleeping Lady, but is still approachable in primary youth. The integration of fruit, especially with tamed mountain tannins, weaves really well. Very excited for the evolution in bottle.
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3/30/2024 - Bryanb2002 Likes this wine: 98 Points
A wonderful bottle of wine. Shae said it was ready and she is right. The surprising thing is it is not heavy it’s lighter body than you expected but packed with flavor with an epic nose. Fantastic snake wine that I slow ox’d for about six hours. If you bought these early like I did it’s certainly safe to open one of them.
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2/21/2023 - ledocq Likes this wine: 98 Points
On Shae's advice, I decanted this for 4 hours, which I'm going to say is definitely the minimum - I wish I'd given it more, but hey I'll live. You never know what's going to happen when you finally open a wine you have pinned a lot of hopes on. This was the best case scenario: one of the finest cabernets I've ever had, period. The nose is a little shy for now, but the flavor was mind-blowing. There is so much detail work uncoiling here my brain couldn't take it all in. It's not a heavy wine, though it's defiitely bold and the length is freight-train like. So much velvet power, suggestions of things to come, and yet also current rewards for giving it a try now. I am going to let the remainder rest a few more years. We used Spieglau Definition glasses, which I think was a good choice. My wife, upon hearing its current retail price, said, "Worth it."
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10/1/2021 - billyloveswine Likes this wine: 96 Points
Very surprised to find this wine on the list at a local steakhouse and immediately made a reservation. The wine definitely lived up to the expectation. It offered a complex spectrum of pure red and black fruits, like raspberry preserve, blackberry, and cassis, with an undertone of vanilla, tobacco, and graphite. Deep ruby colored, the wine had the proper amount of extraction, super smooth texture, and its acidity and ripe and silky tannins kept me reaching for more. At such a young age, it's already drinking beautifully. The bummer is that there are only 2 barrels of this beauty made!
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12/31/2020 - Cow Town wrote:
Pulled this for NYE after a great visit with Kinsman in Napa in November tasting the 2017s (and a sneak peek on a 2018), and a ton of great reviews of the 2016s. Unfortunately, when I pulled the cork I saw wine all the way up the side of the cork. Color was right, but the nose was a little hot (but not stewed) and muted. Stayed muted/a little off all night. Chalking this up to a faulty cork, and happy to have a few more bottles.
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10/23/2020 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow. I would like to just post the one word and drop a mic but not sure how to do that so here goes.
Had both Kinsman 2016 wines at one of our favorite restaurants in AZ, Cafe a Monarch (unfortunately we had to bolt due to an allergic reaction) or it would have been a perfect night. Krug 168 and both 2016 Kinsman wines.
Krug- same notes apply. must give this air or the acidity closes the palate unable to reveal its inner goodness. Hold as it will become something special but a beautiful early champagne nonetheless.
R- quick super decant and drank through 45 minutes. excellent in all facets, attack, middle and end with a long finish. Cassis, boysenberry, blackberry, coco, tobacco, hint of dark wet earth all built around a thin mineral spine that carries this full bodied wine through the long finish. Now on the the textural pleasure of a mouth coating luxurious silky sexy kitten batting the tongue playfully teasing you throughout the experience- just excellent. I am a huge Nigel fan from his days at Araujo but this style is a juxtaposition of that style- both excellent wines with very different profiles. This is a wine that is drinking spectacular now and now is when it should be drunk as well as later. A homerun right out of the gates. Buy with confidence.
A- quick super decant and drank through 45 minutes. A very good wine but not at the level of R. It is missing the attack of R but maybe it’s a the vineyard requiring time to fill out? Regardless a beautiful feminin wine that if not had with its badass brother would have received accolades by all. This wine while missing the attach has a good middle and end of blackberry, dark red cherry, a bit of earth, coco, cedar and a velvety texture. Enjoyed by all . Very good wine and would love to check back in a few years from now to see if it filled out. Yummy nonetheless.
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9/15/2020 - KenK Likes this wine: 97 Points
Awesome aromas bold rich crepe de cassis with violets, quite sexy Dark rich fruit totally packed, long opulent sweet ripe red raspberry, blackberries, cherries, a true wow wine. Long and rich, graphite and complete. Perhaps a touch hot, big chocolate flavors. Really good and right in my wheelhouses. Great youth and energy. Full body and great spice. Very impressive. Dark flavors structure, young, but so good. Reverie site. Very contoured wild site. Was part of Diamond Creek long time ago. Incredible. 16% Cab Franc and winemaker Nigel Kinman said was amazing. Make at Wheeler farms a high tech facility. Precision winemaking the real key here. 2 barrels was 4 originally, but used for topping. Financially this stretched him to the max.
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8/20/2020 - dclaggett Likes this wine: 97 Points
14.9% abv. Dark garnet purple, clear. Light staining of tears. Very, very generous nose of black and red fruits, rose garden (including tilled wet soil), anise, pencil shavings. Med plus weight, silky smooth in mouth with precision through mid palate and fine grained tannins that leave you going back for more and more. Finishes extremely long with layers of blackberries, blue berries, dark cocoa, coffee cake, and minerality that is off the charts. Exceptional wine with long life ahead. Classy wine. Bravo
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8/8/2020 - tbabes wrote: 100 Points
Vinous tasting with Antonio and Nigel. Double decanted four hours before the tasting, and then consumed the remainder of the bottle with dinner. A mesmerizing bouquet, with notes of blackberry, briar patch, crushed stone, dried violets; hints of roasted fennel, and star anise. Medium bodied, with great concentration and layers of flavor; light on its feet for such a powerful and intense wine! Silky texture, good acidity, ripe but noticeable tannins. Well balanced and I dare say elegant for a young Diamond Mountain Cabernet. Long, focused, and incredibly well delineated finish. My favorite young Napa Cabernet (along with the 2013 Diamond Creek volcanic hill, tasted at a similar age).
Nigel mentioned there were actually 4 barrels (from The old Reverie vineyard) but they only bottled two and sold the other two barrels in bulk, as they had to pay the bills! An amazing wine that will be very difficult and expensive to find on the open market! Should be fascinating to follow over the next twenty years.
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7/15/2020 - msuwine wrote: 98 Points
This wine is awesome, but this note is long, so here goes:
The reason I love college basketball is that sometimes you get to see the future before it arrives. I remember watching Draymond Green as a pudgy college freshman who just knew where the ball would go. I saw Jason Richardson play in his first exhibition game, with a bounce in his step that made you know he was going to be a pro. Every fan has their own story, but you watch college sports because you might see something new; you watch because you might see something great... and see it for the first time.
This wine is one of those new - and great - things that make the watching (and buying) worth all the while. This wine has a ripeness and power that are fulsome, like a young Abreu - a full-court press of flavor (entry, mid-palate, finish) that somehow doesn't tip the scales of excess. There is also an earthy, savory, and classy core, like a Promontory - a Napa wine, to be sure, but with a wildness and originality that are absolutely captivating.
So, yeah, I loved this wine. I could clearly count the ways, but I'll quote blarmston as to the bottom line conclusion: holy s--- this is a great wine.
Dark purple in color and medium in body (feels more full in the mouth, but few tear drops on the glass), the wine offers incredible, pungent, almost urgent aromas of boysenberry, espresso, cocoa powder, pencil lead, bay leaf, underbrush, and menthol. The flavors are generous and integrated, especially for such a young mountain wine, with notes of blueberry tart, mocha, crushed gravel, spice cake, and anise, with a beguiling finish that is equal parts fruit, acidity, tannin, and tannin (read: still a bite, but sweet enough to go down easily after 2-3 hours of air). Blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. 14.9% alcohol.
This is one of the best, if not the best, 2016 I have tasted to date. The intensity, integration, and class are off the charts. Perhaps this will narrow with time in bottle, but the core of the wine is remarkable. If you have more than one bottle, open this now, but I can't wait to follow these over the next 5-10 years. Just amazing.
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6/18/2020 - blarmston Likes this wine: 98 Points
I need to find more of this, full stop.
Knowing that I was committing infanticide, I said F it and popped the cork. Decanted at noon, an ounce check in at 5pm and also an hour later, with first glass an hour after that.
This wine is among the best that I’ve had in recent memory. The score is for today’s experience, but it will improve with more slumber. In 8-10 years this could hit the Baller Mark.
Dark fruits, imposing structure, and just a sense of... HOLY SHIT this is good wine.
I am really kicking myself that I didn’t snag a magnum of this when it was offered two weeks go. In that format, this could be a thirty year wine.
As previous TN’s suggest, decant this for at least 7-8 hours, or hold for 5 years. Bravo Nigel, bravo...
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4/11/2020 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Another great experience with this bottle. Double decanted after 6 hours based on the recommendation from Shae Kinsman. Paired with braised lamb shank for dinner.
This has really opened up since I last tasted in June 2019. This is definitely more inviting and accessible as compared to the Anjea which I tasted Dec 2019 and was still very shut down. This was velvety, smooth, iron fist. Mocha, nice silkiness, less dark purple fruit of the Anjea. One of the top bottles I’ve tasted in 2020. Those with 3 bottles- there is no shame in enjoying one now.
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12/1/2019 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 98 Points
This wine will be ready in 3 to 5 years from now. I opened this on Thanksgiving, decanted for 2 hours and it was too tannic, so back in the bottle it went. On Friday, I decanted the bottle at around 1pm and by 7pm, it was finally ready and I could taste all of the goodness in the bottle.
Dark red and purple, strong fruit smells; primarily with black and blueberries, and plum. Lot's of mineral -- as in lot's. Chocolate covered blackberries.
I had to work with this wine over 2 days and it was one of the more memorable bottles that I have had recently. It was a great experience!
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7/21/2019 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 98 Points
The tannins in this wines have mellowed after tasting at Wheeler Farms last year. You can now really tell the direction this is heading in! We had the opportunity to enjoy a bottle with Shae and Nigel at Gotts RH in St Helena. What a way to wash down a Texas Burger!!! Don't miss adding this to the cellar. My wife's personal favorite after tasting VHR, Futo, Abreu & Blankiet!
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7/17/2019 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine:
Napa 2019; 7/14/2019-7/18/2019: Tasted at Wheeler Farms with Shae and eventually Nigel. Great people, great project! This wine was also wound right behind a wall of tannins but poked its head out 90 min into our visit. What a beauty. What did poke through showed Mostly black fruit with a typical mountain profile of forest floor, some mineral notes, faint red fruit. Like its 16 counterpart, needs 8-10 in the slumbering cellar. Patience will absolutely be rewarded on this wine. No points today. Buy or regret!
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6/10/2019 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Up the PCH; 6/4/2019-6/16/2019 (Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, Napa, and Willamette): As Phin mentioned, 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc 2% Malbec. Only 50 cases from the old Reverie site on Diamond Mountain.
This was amazing. Smooth, velvety, sexy. I think the Cab franc helped really balance this out. For mountain fruit, this was incredibly open and inviting. I will be opening one of these for Christmas 2019!
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10/24/2018 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 96 Points
Winemaker's lunch with Nigel and Shae Kinsman at Cook in St. Helena. Nigel was nice enough to meet for lunch during his busy season, and shared the '16 Diamond Mountain which comes from the old Reverie Vineyard and will be released next year.
This wine is just fantastic and improved over time. It could have used another 2-3 hours in the decanter as it's a big monster which is why The Kinsman's are not releasing their '16s until next year (Nigel said their Sleeping Lady is even tighter!). Make no mistake, everything is there for this great representation of Diamond Mountain. Dark black and blue in the glass, strong tannins, nice structure, lots of fruit and mineral and graphite components. Long finish. This will be fun to try over and over again, and see how it evolves.
95-98 points
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8/3/2018 - Phin Likes this wine:
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc 2% Malbec. Only 50 cases. This is the former Reverie Diamond Mountain site. The Von Strasser site nearby, also purchased by Nigel's same client, has been completely pulled and replanted. These CS/CF vines are all around 30 years old. Nigel cofermented varietals together as he pulled blocks in harvest (like Abreu). This wine has bigger tannin and darker fruit compared to the Sleeping Lady, but is still approachable in primary youth. The integration of fruit, especially with tamed mountain tannins, weaves really well. Very excited for the evolution in bottle.
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