I had a friend stop buy to look over and buy a few bottles of wine as I'm downsizing my cellar in preparation for a move to a smaller place. After he picked out his wines I opened a bottle of 1986 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet to enjoy with Kobe burgers. The wine had a slight brickish cast to it but otherwise was a clear garnet in the glass. Aroma of red dirt and minerals were primary then red fruits and plums with hints of cedar. Medium bodied on the palate more reminiscent of Bordeaux than Napa. Still plenty of fruit with a firm mineral core and leather, tobacco and cedary notes on the finish. A solid "B"

On 8/5/16 11:37 AM, Bi!! wrote:
> I had a friend stop buy to look over and buy a few bottles of wine
> as I'm downsizing my cellar in preparation for a move to a smaller
> place. After he picked out his wines I opened a bottle of 1986
> Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet to enjoy with Kobe burgers. The
> wine had a slight brickish cast to it but otherwise was a clear
> garnet in the glass. Aroma of red dirt and minerals were primary
> then red fruits and plums with hints of cedar. Medium bodied on the
> palate more reminiscent of Bordeaux than Napa. Still plenty of fruit
> with a firm mineral core and leather, tobacco and cedary notes on the
> finish. A solid "B"
>

Great note, Bill. '86 was the third of a string of good vintages but
got somewhat overlooked in the shadow of '84. Those old Diamond Creek
Cabs are lovely wines. Glad that yours was still doing well.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Friday, August 5, 2016 at 12:01:02 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
> On 8/5/16 11:37 AM, Bi!! wrote:
> > I had a friend stop buy to look over and buy a few bottles of wine
> > as I'm downsizing my cellar in preparation for a move to a smaller
> > place. After he picked out his wines I opened a bottle of 1986
> > Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet to enjoy with Kobe burgers. The
> > wine had a slight brickish cast to it but otherwise was a clear
> > garnet in the glass. Aroma of red dirt and minerals were primary
> > then red fruits and plums with hints of cedar. Medium bodied on the
> > palate more reminiscent of Bordeaux than Napa. Still plenty of fruit
> > with a firm mineral core and leather, tobacco and cedary notes on the
> > finish. A solid "B"
> >
>
> Great note, Bill. '86 was the third of a string of good vintages but
> got somewhat overlooked in the shadow of '84. Those old Diamond Creek
> Cabs are lovely wines. Glad that yours was still doing well.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

I still have a few left and so far not a bad one in the bunch. I was fortunate to have visited DC and number of times and spent some time with Al and Boots in the vineyard and cellar. Nice folks very passionate about their wines and property. They never seemed to give in to trends in winemaking but they let the terroir speak for itself.

On Friday, August 5, 2016 at 5:37:49 PM UTC+2, Bi!! wrote:
>minerals were primary then red fruits and plums with hints of cedar. Medium bodied on the palate more reminiscent of Bordeaux than Napa. Still plenty of fruit with a firm mineral core and leather, tobacco and cedary notes on the finish. A solid "B"


A Napa that's like a Bordeaux? what a surprise

On Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 12:21:32 PM UTC-4, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> On Friday, August 5, 2016 at 5:37:49 PM UTC+2, Bi!! wrote:
> >minerals were primary then red fruits and plums with hints of cedar. Medium bodied on the palate more reminiscent of Bordeaux than Napa. Still plenty of fruit with a firm mineral core and leather, tobacco and cedary notes on the finish. A solid "B"
>
>
> A Napa that's like a Bordeaux? what a surprise

It shouldn't be surprising. The late owner and founder, Al Brounstein, allegedly smuggled in cuttings from two first growth Bordeaux vineyards to plant his three "microclimates" with. The winemaking is made in a fairly low alcohol, high tannic level style made for long aging.