Late night MingHin (Chicago, IL): From magnum. This is hardly a transcendent vintage, but I think Diamond Creek did extraordinarily well in this bottle. The nose is ripe black fruit and pyrazine -- just very classic Napa cabernet flavours without any hint of overdoneness. The palate is relatively lean, and perhaps it feels a little dilute, but all the requisite elements are indeed here. A bit of sweet fruit, some leathery tannins, a hint of pyrazine. A relatively soft wine, I'd open my bottles sooner rather than later.
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Medium garnet color. A bit of bricking. Moderately opaque. A bit of a musty, barnyard nose which blows off after 30 minutes. Lots of fruit on the palate but little else. Tannins are gone as is the complexity. This is certainly past its prime but still drinkable.
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Medium garnet in the glass with a touch of brick at the rim. Opened and decanted for an hour. Immediately upon opening this was pretty narrow but after an hour, opened to reveal some floral notes on the nose and some light fruit on the palate. Also some cola and mocha were evident. While this is the best of the bottles so far it will not improve additionally. Drink now.
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Medium purple color. No evidence of bricking as might be expected with a 22 year old wine. Tobacco and dark fruit on the nose. Lots of fruit on the palate but a bit thin. Will drink the remaining 3 bottles in the near future.
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Wow! Perhaps my expectations were too low, but this wine was fabulous. We enjoyed this wine with lamb ribeyes and Japanese beef at the French Laundry. As for the wine, although it threw a fair amount of sediment, the wine (after decanting) was clear and very dark in the glass. Perhaps a hint of bricking starting to appear around the edges. The nose smelled of dark cherry and black pepper. It was viscous/thick on the palate, with dark fruit and licorice (particularly on the long finish). The tanins have integrated into the wine well, and are atypically subtle and fine for mountain fruit. Difficult to believe that this was a 1989. From magnum.
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We held a tasting of 1997 magnums, Red Rock, Vocanic Hill and Gravelly Meadows. The 1989 was a decanted surprise comparison. Against Robert Parker and others, the wine held it's own especially compared to the '97 Red Rock. The only fault commented was the finish which was practically no-existent. However, the nose was spicy and there was still fruit to the pallet. So don't throw the bottle out but drink up. Did decant for 3 hours first.
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Quite vegetal as I remember with a clear earthy, old mushroom streak and spicy cedar accents. A bit lean and still with grainy tannins. In no danger of decline but probably incapable of improvement either. One of the better '89 DCs I've had.
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Hi-Time Cellars Tasting 11 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignons, cherry fruit, floral nose, very soft tannins, good acid, more Bordeaux than California style, medium/big body, medium finish.
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This was a single-bottle purchase which I made as a Valentine's Day gift for Cathleen. We drank the bottle the same night. Medium ruby with red rim. Nose shows moderately intense blackberries, cherry, oak and mint, minimally changing despite extended breathing. Palate shows relatively light extract and mild tannins for a young Diamond Creek. Short finish.
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9/29/2019 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Late night MingHin (Chicago, IL): From magnum. This is hardly a transcendent vintage, but I think Diamond Creek did extraordinarily well in this bottle. The nose is ripe black fruit and pyrazine -- just very classic Napa cabernet flavours without any hint of overdoneness. The palate is relatively lean, and perhaps it feels a little dilute, but all the requisite elements are indeed here. A bit of sweet fruit, some leathery tannins, a hint of pyrazine. A relatively soft wine, I'd open my bottles sooner rather than later.
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11/24/2017 - wconnolly wrote: 88 Points
Medium garnet color. A bit of bricking. Moderately opaque. A bit of a musty, barnyard nose which blows off after 30 minutes. Lots of fruit on the palate but little else. Tannins are gone as is the complexity. This is certainly past its prime but still drinkable.
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7/30/2013 - no leashes wrote: 87 Points
Light body, red fruit, floral tones. We didn't expect much, but the wine was drinking nicely.
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6/23/2013 - wconnolly wrote: 89 Points
Medium garnet in the glass with a touch of brick at the rim. Opened and decanted for an hour. Immediately upon opening this was pretty narrow but after an hour, opened to reveal some floral notes on the nose and some light fruit on the palate. Also some cola and mocha were evident. While this is the best of the bottles so far it will not improve additionally. Drink now.
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8/7/2011 - wconnolly wrote: 88 Points
Medium purple color. No evidence of bricking as might be expected with a 22 year old wine. Tobacco and dark fruit on the nose. Lots of fruit on the palate but a bit thin. Will drink the remaining 3 bottles in the near future.
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1/13/2011 - jlgnml wrote:
Grapes for Great Causes: 1989 Diamond Creek Horizontal en magnum (Custom House Tavern, Chicago, IL): Lighter of the group, furity, clay, lilly of the valley
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10/26/2008 - AJG wrote: 94 Points
Wow! Perhaps my expectations were too low, but this wine was fabulous. We enjoyed this wine with lamb ribeyes and Japanese beef at the French Laundry. As for the wine, although it threw a fair amount of sediment, the wine (after decanting) was clear and very dark in the glass. Perhaps a hint of bricking starting to appear around the edges. The nose smelled of dark cherry and black pepper. It was viscous/thick on the palate, with dark fruit and licorice (particularly on the long finish). The tanins have integrated into the wine well, and are atypically subtle and fine for mountain fruit. Difficult to believe that this was a 1989. From magnum.
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9/26/2007 - dccc wrote: 88 Points
We held a tasting of 1997 magnums, Red Rock, Vocanic Hill and Gravelly Meadows. The 1989 was a decanted surprise comparison. Against Robert Parker and others, the wine held it's own especially compared to the '97 Red Rock. The only fault commented was the finish which was practically no-existent. However, the nose was spicy and there was still fruit to the pallet. So don't throw the bottle out but drink up. Did decant for 3 hours first.
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3/18/2006 - psmith wrote: 87 Points
Quite vegetal as I remember with a clear earthy, old mushroom streak and spicy cedar accents. A bit lean and still with grainy tannins. In no danger of decline but probably incapable of improvement either. One of the better '89 DCs I've had.
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1/8/2006 - buckeye76 wrote: 88 Points
EARTHINESS AND BLACKBERRIES IN THE NOSE WITH BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS, AND BLACK CHERRIES IN THE FLAVOR. MEDIUM LENGTH FINISH.
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11/28/2004 - buckeye76 wrote: 89 Points
BLACK CHERRIES, BLACKBERRIES AND LICORICE IN THE NOSE. FLAVOR LIKE THE NOSE. MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH.
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1/30/1993 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 88 Points
Hi-Time Cellars Tasting 11 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignons, cherry fruit, floral nose, very soft tannins, good acid, more Bordeaux than California style, medium/big body, medium finish.
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2/14/1992 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 88 Points
This was a single-bottle purchase which I made as a Valentine's Day gift for Cathleen. We drank the bottle the same night. Medium ruby with red rim. Nose shows moderately intense blackberries, cherry, oak and mint, minimally changing despite extended breathing. Palate shows relatively light extract and mild tannins for a young Diamond Creek. Short finish.
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