Visited JH Wheeler yesterday and tasted through the first release 2021 Diamond Mountain along with the new release 2021 Beckstoffer Georges III, and 2021 Vine Hill Ranch. According to our host (Alex) we were the first public members to sample and purchase these bottlings. These bottles were opened late morning for our 3:30 tasting. Following notes are off memory along with this being my first published review notes attempted.
Informed this Diamond Mountain vineyard location is directly adjacent to Diamond Creek vineyards. My initial impression was very “Old School” style cabernet. Of the three bottles, this one was the most open for early drinking, although with good 10-15+ year aging potential. Started med + body with dark fruit nose along with that smooth essence of pepper component that recalls late 80’s early 90’s Napa Valley. This wine drank med+ fruit with fine tannins and fruit positively comingled. Similar notes through the 2 hours. Would highly enjoy current consumption at home after a 3-4 hour decant.
Both the GIII and VH continued to evolve/improve over the 2 hour tasting. Both opened very different from the DM, with massive dark fruit color and aromas. Continued to evolve and open up to additional layers on the nose. The GIII seemed to go through a little muddled stage after 30 minutes but then the fruit smoothed out at the 60 minute point. The VH was all class from start to finish, however did start to close down towards the end. Along with the constant silky fruit component it maintained a very chalky/cottony tannin structure throughout.
VH was definitely the favorite for my wife and myself, however the DM was a great wine also just in a different way. Ended up taking multiples of each bottling. Really enjoyed all three wines and the fact that each had different takes on the varietal as you would hope to expect from three different sources (terroirs).
Love the work that Nigel (Kinsman) is doing at this winery.