I decided I should see for myself if there are issues with this wine. Decanted and consumed over 2 hours. Initial impression was a very dark roasted flavor and not much aroma, though nothing off in the nose. As the wine opened up over time, the fruit emerged and pushed the dark roast more to the background. This wine has a lot of potential and will develop with 20 years of ageing. I will wait for 15-20 years before I have my next bottle. I wonder how much better this wine would have improved if I had followed for 4 or 6 hours. I am optimistic about the future. Drink 2037-2052.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Purchased a half bottle on a restaurant in Napa and let it open up in the glass for 20-30 minutes. It softened considerably during that time. Leather and dark fruits on the nose. Soft dark berries with mild tannins up front. A light, lingering, delicious finish!
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Man I love the bouquet of this wine. Smells like a great Bordeaux. Some garrique and leather and barnyard, maybe eucalyptus...just lovely. Amazing this wine at such a tender age is producing this lively a nose. I can only imagine what a decade more in the bottle will do. The mouthfeel is surprisingly approachable, smooth and weightless with licorice and elderberry. The finish hints of oak and tannin but just the right amount...long... I imagine this will smooth out and improve but is already a joy. Only complaint is that it is a bit watery in the mid-palate, I assume this is attributable to the good but not great 2017 vintage but I also expect it will flesh out over the next several years. This is delightful now but will be a true beauty in 15 years.
Mostly Napa Valley 2017s (with 15/16/18 in the mix): Larger merchant tasting. Brief impressions. The highlight of this 2017s tasting were the wines of the Diamond Creek winery. All three single vineyards produced fresh, elegant, weightless wines with great aromatic precision, a very fine structural frame and will be certainly among the early drinking vintages of this winery. Like all 2017s, these wines cannot compete with better vintages in terms of complexity but they are nevertheless a treat to drink. The Red Rock Terrace (93-94 points) is the most feminine of the three, Margaux-like with sweet red fruit and some floral notes at its core. The Gravelly Meadow (94+ points) is an aristocratic St. Julien-like wine with blue fruit and lots of minerality. The Volcanic Hill (96+ points) is like a Pauillac with a broad array of dark berries, cassis, tobacco, leather and Latour-like nuttiness. With that score, the Volcanic Hill was the clear winner of the tasting with the biggest complexity. These Diamond Creek wines are among the best wines Napa Valley has to offer and are a stark contrast to many too ripe, too big Napa cult Cabs
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Putzi's Napa 2017 new arrival tasting: A new Napa arrival tasting hosted by a wine merchant. A total of 30 wines mostly from 2017 (with a few 2018 whites and new releases from 2016 and 2015 in the mix) were presented in various price brackets ($40 to $200+). For 2017 my takeaways were 1) 2017 is already approachable and offers immediate drinking pleasure. But 2) the wines also came across lighter and less layered. 2017 doesn’t seem to have the refinement of 2016, the depth of 2014 or the muscular concentration of 2015. For many, it seems, finding a spot in the sun will be hard with 5 outstanding vintages before and likely 2 more (at least) right behind. There were notable exceptions of course. Wine of the night was Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill 2017 (95) and just whisker behind Viader 2017 (95). A very notable mention deserves the Detert East Block Cabernet Franc 2017 for its unique character (94).
Tasting note: Initially some animal and leathery notes provided for a Bordeaux-like appearance. Sweet red fruit coupled with darker, cooler berries, black currant and herbal notes of lemon grass. A complex, intense, textured palate with leathery components complementing the fruit. The Dimond Creek trilogy had the most consistently good performance with Volcanic Hill slightly ahead of Red Rock and Gravelly Meadow. This was the wine of the night for me and some of the others at the tasting. But I don’t the structure is there to reach the heights of the 2007.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The least open and most austere and Bordeaux left like of the three Cru. Still tight and young. Big structure, almost austere but with good fruit cover.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
11/15/2021 - curtr Likes this wine:
I decided I should see for myself if there are issues with this wine. Decanted and consumed over 2 hours. Initial impression was a very dark roasted flavor and not much aroma, though nothing off in the nose. As the wine opened up over time, the fruit emerged and pushed the dark roast more to the background. This wine has a lot of potential and will develop with 20 years of ageing. I will wait for 15-20 years before I have my next bottle. I wonder how much better this wine would have improved if I had followed for 4 or 6 hours. I am optimistic about the future. Drink 2037-2052.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/12/2021 - mdmcgonigal wrote: 96 Points
Purchased a half bottle on a restaurant in Napa and let it open up in the glass for 20-30 minutes. It softened considerably during that time. Leather and dark fruits on the nose. Soft dark berries with mild tannins up front. A light, lingering, delicious finish!
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/28/2021 - Joelene Likes this wine: 95 Points
Man I love the bouquet of this wine. Smells like a great Bordeaux. Some garrique and leather and barnyard, maybe eucalyptus...just lovely. Amazing this wine at such a tender age is producing this lively a nose. I can only imagine what a decade more in the bottle will do. The mouthfeel is surprisingly approachable, smooth and weightless with licorice and elderberry. The finish hints of oak and tannin but just the right amount...long... I imagine this will smooth out and improve but is already a joy. Only complaint is that it is a bit watery in the mid-palate, I assume this is attributable to the good but not great 2017 vintage but I also expect it will flesh out over the next several years. This is delightful now but will be a true beauty in 15 years.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
6/29/2020 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
Mostly Napa Valley 2017s (with 15/16/18 in the mix): Larger merchant tasting. Brief impressions. The highlight of this 2017s tasting were the wines of the Diamond Creek winery. All three single vineyards produced fresh, elegant, weightless wines with great aromatic precision, a very fine structural frame and will be certainly among the early drinking vintages of this winery. Like all 2017s, these wines cannot compete with better vintages in terms of complexity but they are nevertheless a treat to drink. The Red Rock Terrace (93-94 points) is the most feminine of the three, Margaux-like with sweet red fruit and some floral notes at its core. The Gravelly Meadow (94+ points) is an aristocratic St. Julien-like wine with blue fruit and lots of minerality. The Volcanic Hill (96+ points) is like a Pauillac with a broad array of dark berries, cassis, tobacco, leather and Latour-like nuttiness. With that score, the Volcanic Hill was the clear winner of the tasting with the biggest complexity. These Diamond Creek wines are among the best wines Napa Valley has to offer and are a stark contrast to many too ripe, too big Napa cult Cabs
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/13/2020 - sirpat00 wrote: 95 Points
Putzi's Napa 2017 new arrival tasting: A new Napa arrival tasting hosted by a wine merchant. A total of 30 wines mostly from 2017 (with a few 2018 whites and new releases from 2016 and 2015 in the mix) were presented in various price brackets ($40 to $200+). For 2017 my takeaways were 1) 2017 is already approachable and offers immediate drinking pleasure. But 2) the wines also came across lighter and less layered. 2017 doesn’t seem to have the refinement of 2016, the depth of 2014 or the muscular concentration of 2015. For many, it seems, finding a spot in the sun will be hard with 5 outstanding vintages before and likely 2 more (at least) right behind. There were notable exceptions of course. Wine of the night was Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill 2017 (95) and just whisker behind Viader 2017 (95). A very notable mention deserves the Detert East Block Cabernet Franc 2017 for its unique character (94).
Tasting note:
Initially some animal and leathery notes provided for a Bordeaux-like appearance. Sweet red fruit coupled with darker, cooler berries, black currant and herbal notes of lemon grass. A complex, intense, textured palate with leathery components complementing the fruit. The Dimond Creek trilogy had the most consistently good performance with Volcanic Hill slightly ahead of Red Rock and Gravelly Meadow. This was the wine of the night for me and some of the others at the tasting. But I don’t the structure is there to reach the heights of the 2007.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/17/2020 - TM11 wrote: 94 Points
94. Still young but increasingly drinkable and incredibly smooth.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/10/2019 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 93 Points
The least open and most austere and Bordeaux left like of the three Cru. Still tight and young. Big structure, almost austere but with good fruit cover.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment