Diamond Terrace

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2006 Winemaker Notes

Cabernet Sauvignon, Diamond Mountain District

This wine speaks to the strength of the vintage for Diamond Mountain.  Darker than the 2005 with a blacker hue, the super expressive nose features red and black currants, white flowers and blueberries.  The palate is richer than its predecessor containing more pure fruit flavors of crushed blackberries and blueberries accompanied by grilled bread, wet stones and pure cassis.  The finish is long with ample tannin but its extremely round and well integrated.  The tannins are actually very fine grained helping to focus the wine and draw out additional elements as the wine opens in glass.  This marks the first of three successive vintages that look to be the best Diamond Mountain bottlings to date.

Thomas Brown, Winemaker                                  235 Cases    750ml                                                  

Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain

Where the 2006 Diamond Mountain is a bit richer than its 2005 counterpart, this bottling is actually a bit pulled back from the previous edition.  It still contains all the richer chocolate based elements of the first vintage but it shows a bit more Howell Mountain structure.  There’s also the trademark spice component that mountain is famous for plus more of red fruit component that was absent in the 2005.  The nose features notes of espresso roast, black cherries and black currants.  The mocha note comes in early on the palate but is quickly buffered by the site’s natural acidity and some fine grained fruit tannin.  This wine has become one of the stars in my portfolio and the two vintages waiting in the wings won’t do anything to change that.

Thomas Brown, Winemaker                                  190 Cases    750ml