TN: 1988 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill

[malachi]

I know that many have declared the mid to late '80s (and early '90s) as a terrible period for Diamond Creek so I was a bit concerned about this wine. Suffice it to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

This is not the super-extracted California Cab some have come to expect. It is an austere, stylish wine with firm, but evolved, tannins that provide an excellent structure for the mineral, spice and smoky fruit (black cherry?). There are not the jammy flavours some favor - instead this is a wine in the style of the more traditional Bordeaux winemakers.

There was some sediment, but the bottle had been well stored and settled and decanting was painless. In colour the wine seemed to promise a bit more forward fruit than it delivered - a deep purplish red like a ripe plum. The aroma was gorgeous - very spicy with a solid leather and mineral foundation. To be honest, I knew I'd like the wine the moment I first smelled it.

Initial flavours are pepper and mineral. Tannins are present, but softened by time (this wine must have been mouth-puckering when young). The wine rounds out across the palette to finish with smoke and fruit.

A lovely and perhaps underappreciated wine.