Diamond Creek Vineyards

Diamond Creek Vineyards is the winery that introduced the concept of single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon to Napa Valley, a contribution so fundamental that it reshaped how the entire region thinks about terroir. Founded in 1968 by Al Brounstein, a pharmaceutical distributor from Los Angeles, the estate occupies 22 acres on Diamond Mountain in Calistoga. What makes the property extraordinary is that those 22 acres contain three geologically distinct vineyards, each producing a recognizably different Cabernet Sauvignon from vines planted just yards apart. Brounstein was the first to bottle them separately, proving that California terroir was real and legible.

The three vineyards are Volcanic Hill, a south-facing slope of white volcanic ash; Gravelly Meadow, a flat alluvial site with deep, well-drained soils; and Red Rock Terrace, a steep hillside of iron-rich red soil. A fourth site, Lake, produces wine only in exceptional years from a tiny plot near a small body of water on the property. The differences between these wines are dramatic and consistent: Volcanic Hill tends toward elegance and minerality, Gravelly Meadow toward power and concentration, and Red Rock Terrace toward aromatic complexity and firm structure.

Winemaker Phil Steinschriber has been crafting the Diamond Creek wines since 1991, maintaining the hands-off approach that allows the vineyard differences to dominate the wines. Each of the three bottlings is made identically in the cellar, with the same yeast, the same barrels, and the same aging protocol. The only variable is the vineyard, which makes the resulting differences in the wines purely a function of soil, slope, and exposure. The wines are tannic and structured when young, requiring a decade or more of cellaring to reach their expressive peak.

Tastings at Diamond Creek are by appointment only and are among the most exclusive experiences in the valley. Visitors are hosted by the estate team for a walk through the three vineyards, where the geological differences are visible in the soil colors and vine vigor. A seated tasting of all three (and sometimes four) bottlings follows, allowing direct comparison of wines made from vines planted just a few hundred feet apart. The experience is one of the most educational in Napa Valley for anyone interested in understanding terroir.

Diamond Creek's legacy is immeasurable. Before Brounstein began bottling his three vineyards separately in 1972, California wine was defined by variety and brand. After Diamond Creek, it could also be defined by place. Every single-vineyard Cabernet produced in Napa Valley today owes a debt to the experiment that Al Brounstein began on Diamond Mountain over five decades ago.