Gala Celebration Dinner features classic Birthyear Vintage Napa Cabs

Gala Celebration Dinner features classic Birthyear Vintage Napa Cabs


I've written often in these pages about special wines for special occasions. One of the ultimate wine vintage events is pouring birth year wines for a life event such as a wedding. So it was that wine buddy and fellow 'Pour Boy' Bill C. featured 1989 vintage wines for son Matt's wedding rehearsal dinner. Bill selected two classic premium vineyard designated Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons - Diamond Creek Lake Vineyard and Silver Oak Bonny's Vineyard, that each reflected diverse terrior, styles and characteristics. Each with its own style complemented perfectly the salmon and filet of beef dinner and chocolate dessert. Both were served from large format magnums.

Our visit to Diamond Creek winery up on Diamond Mountain above Calistoga was one of the highlights of our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2008.

The stylish tasting room (left) overlooking the three vineyards is one of the most magnificent settings in Napa Valley and is one of the Valley's premiere tasting experiences.

The winery was founded in 1968 by Boots (shown left) and the late Al Brounstein who defied conventional practice of the times and planted California's first exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Vineyards on secluded Diamond Mountain.

The three vineyard designated select labels each represented their distinctive micro-climates and terroirs and became legendary in their long lived quality complex, deep and rich Cabernets.

Then there is also the Lake Vineyard (shown left), a tiny ¾ acre vineyard nestled adjacent to a lake that sits on the property, It is the coolest of the property's micro-climates because of the cool Pacific breezes that travel down the Russian River corridor each afternoon. 

The Lake Vineyard grapes require a long hang time to ripen, and when they do ripen, they make an exceptional wine.

Lake Vineyard wines are only produced in exceptional vintage years. In fact, they have been produced only 16 times since 1972.

Diamond Creek Lake Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1989

Showing its age at 27 years, the color was starting to show a bit of brownish rust hue on the garnet medium bodied base. The black cherry fruit flavors have given way to tones of leather, tobacco leaf and anise on the slightly astringent core that gives way to moderate clinging lingering tannins.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=136257

More to come ..





Silver Oak Bonny's Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1989

Bonny's Vineyard was the site adjacent to the proprietor's residence and named for his wife. It was the only vineyard designated label from this classic popular producer. The label was discontinued two vintages later, the 1991 vintage being the last.

The trademark character and taste profile of this wine is the oak tones infused into the wine from aging in oak barrels. Even after several hours of having tasted this wine, that predominant oak flavor still lingers in my mouth and even on my breath, like the taste of a fine cigar. This was dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied with complex berry fruit flavors that had been overtaken by the layer of oak, with hints of dill notes attributable to the oak and not the fruit. Firm but smooth tannins lingered on the long finish.

RM 90 points.