Beautiful purity of fruit. Excellent balance with a long finish. A little heat on the finish? Whilst I really enjoyed this wine - I’m a huge Diamond Creek fan - I felt this particular wine just lacked the complexity that I normally get? Perhaps age will help in this regard? I’m going to keep my remaining bottles for a good 5+ years.
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Clear, deep-ruby. Abundant legs/tears. Clean, pronounced, highly-complex nose with primary, secondary and tertiary notes. Primary: black fruits - cassis, creme de cassis, black ripe cherries, plums, fresh figs, mulberry; licorice, graphite. Secondary: chocolate, cocoa, baking spices, nutmeg, smoke Tertiary: leather On the palate: dry, high acidity, high tannin, high alcohol, full body. Tannins are fine-grained and super-ripe. Pronounced primary flavors of creme de cassis, black cherry, black currants, mulberries, sage, graphite, wet slate Pronounced Secondary flavors: smoke, nutmeg, baking spices, chocolate, mocha. Tertiary: some leather Finish is long. The texture is mouth coating. Can drink now, will improve with aging. Good structure, high tannins and high acidity along with high intensity of flavors and their complex nature are conducive to long aging. This wine is outstanding for the aforementioned reasons and the high varietal definition.
Descriptive note.
For me personally, this is a benchmark Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. It can't get any better than this. The fruits are sweet, highly complex and cool in nature. There is a clear presence of minerality (graphite, lead pencil, wet slate) which IMO is always a sign of the highest class of Cabernet Sauvignon. That's all I have to say!
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2017 New York Wine Experience Trip; 10/16/2017-10/25/2017 (New York City, NY): True to the Diamond Creek style, this version of Red Rock Terrace is built for the long haul. To be sure, there is no paucity of sexy black cherry, blackberry and blueberry fruit, but there is likewise no paucity of rugged tannins. The fruit aromas and flavors add notes of violets, graphite, lavender and tobacco that persevere on the mid-palate and lengthy finish. Fresh acidity, seamless alcohol (14.1%) and restrained oak, in combination with the fruit and tannins, make this a perfect candidate for long-term cellaring. Give it at least another decade if you can. Drink 2027-2050.
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Wow, what a beautiful wine this is. Everything you want in a wine in perfect proportions. This is a classic Napa Cabernet, rich, tasty, without being over the top or too oaky. Excellent length and savoury finish. The tannins are like velvet. A lot of class. This should age easily for 20 years+.
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting, nose of oak, smoke, black cherry, and cassis, same on the palate, big body, very tight, needs 7 years to peak, lovely tasting, lots of promise, long finish. Typical Diamond Creek.
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Cherry fruit, dank berries, earth, smoke on the nose. Fairly soft compared to the other two, spicy, round, ripe but not heavy. Wonderfully balanced and very long. Keep. 93-94+
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Dark ruby in color, with an earthy, smoke filled cassis and licorice nose. Full bodied, concentrated, fresh and lively with a polished, mineral driven, cassis packed finish. The finish really lingers. The wine needs a decade in the cellar to become civilized.
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9/21/2022 - Battersea James Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful purity of fruit. Excellent balance with a long finish. A little heat on the finish? Whilst I really enjoyed this wine - I’m a huge Diamond Creek fan - I felt this particular wine just lacked the complexity that I normally get? Perhaps age will help in this regard? I’m going to keep my remaining bottles for a good 5+ years.
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1/6/2018 - IvanLi Likes this wine: 100 Points
WSET note followed by a descriptive note.
Clear, deep-ruby. Abundant legs/tears.
Clean, pronounced, highly-complex nose with primary, secondary and tertiary notes.
Primary: black fruits - cassis, creme de cassis, black ripe cherries, plums, fresh figs, mulberry; licorice, graphite.
Secondary: chocolate, cocoa, baking spices, nutmeg, smoke
Tertiary: leather
On the palate: dry, high acidity, high tannin, high alcohol, full body. Tannins are fine-grained and super-ripe.
Pronounced primary flavors of creme de cassis, black cherry, black currants, mulberries, sage, graphite, wet slate
Pronounced Secondary flavors: smoke, nutmeg, baking spices, chocolate, mocha.
Tertiary: some leather
Finish is long. The texture is mouth coating.
Can drink now, will improve with aging. Good structure, high tannins and high acidity along with high intensity of flavors and their complex nature are conducive to long aging. This wine is outstanding for the aforementioned reasons and the high varietal definition.
Descriptive note.
For me personally, this is a benchmark Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. It can't get any better than this. The fruits are sweet, highly complex and cool in nature. There is a clear presence of minerality (graphite, lead pencil, wet slate) which IMO is always a sign of the highest class of Cabernet Sauvignon.
That's all I have to say!
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10/20/2017 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 94 Points
2017 New York Wine Experience Trip; 10/16/2017-10/25/2017 (New York City, NY): True to the Diamond Creek style, this version of Red Rock Terrace is built for the long haul. To be sure, there is no paucity of sexy black cherry, blackberry and blueberry fruit, but there is likewise no paucity of rugged tannins. The fruit aromas and flavors add notes of violets, graphite, lavender and tobacco that persevere on the mid-palate and lengthy finish. Fresh acidity, seamless alcohol (14.1%) and restrained oak, in combination with the fruit and tannins, make this a perfect candidate for long-term cellaring. Give it at least another decade if you can. Drink 2027-2050.
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2/25/2017 - Francois Le Mouel Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow, what a beautiful wine this is. Everything you want in a wine in perfect proportions. This is a classic Napa Cabernet, rich, tasty, without being over the top or too oaky. Excellent length and savoury finish. The tannins are like velvet. A lot of class. This should age easily for 20 years+.
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10/10/2016 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting, nose of oak, smoke, black cherry, and cassis, same on the palate, big body, very tight, needs 7 years to peak, lovely tasting, lots of promise, long finish. Typical Diamond Creek.
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11/8/2015 - rossi.wine wrote: 94 Points
Cherry fruit, dank berries, earth, smoke on the nose. Fairly soft compared to the other two, spicy, round, ripe but not heavy. Wonderfully balanced and very long. Keep. 93-94+
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9/22/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Dark ruby in color, with an earthy, smoke filled cassis and licorice nose. Full bodied, concentrated, fresh and lively with a polished, mineral driven, cassis packed finish. The finish really lingers. The wine needs a decade in the cellar to become civilized.
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