1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace

All three 1994s are backward, well-built, tannic wines meant to last for two decades or more. I suspect they will be among the least flattering wines to taste when released. Even more tannic than the 1994 Gravelly Meadow, but still impressively endowed, is the 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace. The color is a murky, ruby/purple, and the nose reluctantly offers up jammy red and blackcurrant scents, along with mineral and vanillin notes. Sweet, ripe, full-bodied, but ferociously tannic, this is a wine to lay away for at least a decade. As a fan of Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignons in the seventies and early eighties, I have frequently detailed my lack of enthusiasm for vintages after 1984. For that reason, I am happy to report that barrel samples of Diamond Creek's 1994s look to be the most reassuringly fine examples of this estate's Cabernets that I have tasted since 1984. Let's hope they put the wines into the bottle naturally, without excessive fining or filtering. Certainly the raw materials are very impressive. Note: Prices are listed only for those wines that are being pre-sold as futures by MacArthur Beverages in Washington, DC, the first American wine shop to offer California wine futures, which they have done for eleven consecutive years. Tel. (707) 942-6926