Diamond Mountain Vineyard

Diamond Mountain Vineyard (formerly CONSTANT Diamond Mountain Vineyard). One leaves the valley floor just south of Calistoga, carefully navigating the narrow Diamond Mountain Road as it winds through redwood trees and soon begins its climb up the rugged eastern facing slopes of Diamond Mountain. Typically allow about 10-12 minutes to drive from the bottom of Diamond Mountain Road to the gate that leads up the final hill to the winery and residence.

Visits are strictly by appointment, reserved for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors or current allocation members.

The site was originally developed in vineyards by Danish born Andras Andrew Rasmussen. He moved to Napa County in 1880 initially working in vineyards in what is now the Carneros District. He purchased 120 acres on the site of now Diamond Mountain Vineyard in 1895 and cleared forest land and planted 30 acres of vines. After he died, his family sold the property.

The winery and vineyards were developed by Fred and Mary Constant after they acquired of the property in 1993 (Fred died in 2014). His vision complemented the already inspirational value of the property and ultimately created one of Napa Valley’s most extraordinary estates including premium vineyards, a winery and a barrel storage cave (created from stone quarried on site) which leads to a small residence simply called The Peak, designed by noted wine country architect Howard Backen (died 2024) of Backen, Gillam & Kroeger. The small cave holds barrels from the two most recent vintages. In a tribute to the Constant’s some of the barrel heads are still printed with the name Constant.

Fred was an alum of Princeton University; he started out his career as a disk jockey and eventually began developing radio stations – ultimately owning several radio groups from the east to the west coast including founding Wine Country Radio in Santa Rosa in neighboring Sonoma County.

The Constant’s were only the third owners of the property. After Fred passed, Mary managed the property for several years before selling it in 2016. It is currently owned by a family from China gifted as their wedding present. Sai You and Aries Liu are only the property’s fourth owners. After the Constant’s moved here they initially began selling grapes to other premium producers. After Fred made some wine during the first few years, he realized there was something special about this particular site. Philippe Melka was their original winemaker followed by Paul Hobbs who still provides consulting services. Since 2019, Kevin Vecchiarelli has made the wines. The first vintage of CONSTANT was in 1995.

Diamond Mountain Vineyard is located nearly on the spine of the Mayacamas mountain range, offering one of the most spectacular and expansive views of the northern part of Napa Valley. A quintessential day at Diamond Mountain Vineyard is when it beautifully warm here but cold at lower elevations and the valley floor is still blanketed in a thick white layer of fog. The rugged yet elegant architecture offers a seamless and sophisticated blend between the indoors and outdoors.

After driving the narrow and sometimes harrowing windy road to the top, it was always nice to be greeted by Fred and his friendly black poodle, Floozie at the winery gate (at the end of Diamond Mountain Road) where guests would hop into his Pinzgauer 4wd vehicle and he would serenade them with stories of the property all the while passengers held on tight to their seat belts as he expertly navigated a number of steep and sometimes challenging sections of the vineyard. Today, guests are met at the stone walled gravel parking lot and then accompanied into the winery cave. The entrance to this parking lot is actually in Sonoma County and as one proceeds through the winery, one crosses over the county line into Napa County.

The vineyards are at an elevation of up to 2100 feet and as a result often see some snow each year. This is classic Diamond Mountain terroir, featuring steep, rugged, brushy, rocky, and east facing slopes. The Mayacamas mountain range is similar to California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains on a much smaller scale in that the western side of the range has a gentler elevation gain while the eastern side drops off rather dramatically. Visitors will certainly experience this on the drive up from the valley floor. Flat land is at a premium here.

The entire appellation is over 400 feet. Because of its northern location and elevation most of the appellation is above the fog line including Diamond Mountain Vineyard. The soils are porous and volcanic in origin. The first vines (Cabernet Sauvignon) were planted in this region in the early 1860s by wine pioneer Jacob Schram (Schramsberg Vineyards). One of Napa Valley’s best Cabernet Sauvignon producers is located much lower on the slopes of Diamond Mountain – Diamond Creek Vineyards.

Several pools are located on site, including one which replaced Fred Constant’s helicopter pad. The views from these locations provide some of the best vistas of Mt. St. Helena (4,341 feet) of any Napa Valley based winery. From the property one can see the entire mountain from its base to the summit. Often during late spring into fall an inversion layer forms in the hillsides surrounding the valley floor – so while it can be quite chilly in the lower elevations in the mornings, often it is much warmer on the uppermost slopes and this inversion layer can remain even at night on certain days. Due to their elevation the vineyards are typically above the fog and as a result, receive plenty of sunshine which allows the fruit to really ripen to perfection as well as creating an intense flavor. Aside from inversion layers, it is often cooler here than the valley floor; based on the geographical location of the property, breezes often gust through, a result of warmer air from the east meeting cooler air from the west, blowing through what is called the Chalk Hill gap.

Nearly 40 acres of vineyards are planted forming a gorgeous backdrop against the views in all directions as well as the natural forest. Most of their vineyards are on the Napa Valley side with the exception of their Syrah vineyard which lies on the Sonoma County side. The largest vineyard block is the Diamond Peak Vineyard (22 acres). They continue to sell about 60% of their grapes to other premium producers in Napa Valley. They focus on limited production of select wines including a Chardonnay, Merlot, a Claret (blend), Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a very intriguing Syrah. The vineyards are carefully managed on a block-by-block basis.

Initially they produced wine at a custom crush facility on the valley floor but it soon made more sense to build a winery on site; owning their own winery allows them to control the entire process from vineyard to bottle.

Select Wines
Diamond Mountain Vineyard
Diamond Mountain Vineyard produces an intentionally made rosé, meaning they grow the grapes specifically for a rosé rather than bleeding off the juice (saignée) to create a more concentrated red wine. The grapes are harvested and are sent directly to a basket press where the clusters are gently pressed.

The 2022 Diamond Mountain Vineyard Rosé is a blend of 42% Cabernet Franc, 33% Syrah and 25% Merlot, with 50% of the grapes coming from Napa Valley and 50% from Sonoma County. This wine is deep salmon in color; the delicate bouquet offers scents of cherry, raspberry jolly rancher hard candy, strawberry and pomegranate with additional layers of rose petals, an orange peel zesty character and ruby grapefruit. Flavorful, the palate includes notes of raspberry, red cherry, cranberry, grapefruit, guava and lime. The mouth feel sports a light supple texture. The brightly lit finish lingers with plenty of zip and a mouth watering freshness which immediatley asks for another sip. This would be the ideal wine to pair with raw oysters and tangy mignonette sauce.

The 2023 Diamond Mountain Vineyard Chardonnay is deep gold in color; the sweetly fruited and baking spice filled bouquet offers aromas of apricot, baked pineapple, creme brûlée, canned peaches, ripe mango and honeyed notes including honeysuckle, warm honey and honeycomb. The richly endowed palate offers flavors of baked pineapple (reminds us of flavor of pineapple slices on pineapple upside down cake), Golden delicious apple and mango. This wine is rich yet also bright; the fruit filled finish continues to give for an extended period. The mouth feel is silky and like running one’s hands across a cashmere sweater. This wine did not go through malolactic fermentation; it was aged for 12 months in 100% neutral French oak barrels. Their planting of Chardonnay is among the highest mountain grown Chardonnay in Napa Valley. For reference, Schweiger Vineyard on Spring Mountain grows Chardonnay at an elevation of around 2,100 feet. Other high Chardonnay sites in Napa Valley include Vineyard 7&8, Smith Madrone, Antinori and Oakville Ranch.

The 2019 Diamond Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; we love simultaneously ripe yet also elegant bouquets of Napa Valley wines of this variety and aromatically this wine offers both attributes. The aromas include blackberry, boysenberry, red cherry, currant and Pakistani mulberry with some floral characteristics including lavender. Superbly balanced between acidity, flavor and texture. Both dark and red fruited, the palate includes flavors of plum, boysenberry, currant, cranberry and Persian mulberry. This wine is built to age; the grainy tannins persist with a lingering dusty character and a note of tobacco spice. The alcohol is a listed 15.2% – in a blind tasting we would not have guessed it to be quite this high based on this wine’s over all balance. We would enjoy pairing this with beef short ribs.

The 2017 Diamond Mountain Vineyard ‘The Peak’ Syrah Blend is deep ruby, inky and opaque; the bouquet is clearly focused on its core fruit with its oak influence a complementary character. The primary aroma is of dark plum along with blackberry preserve, boysenberry and additional layers of old cedar, sage and dried bay leaf. Savory. On the palate there are flavors of blackberry, boysenberry and dark plum. The tannins are firm, gripping, long lasting, chewy and persist on the extended finish with a dusty character. This is still a big boy seven years post vintage at the time of our tasting. Its texture far outpaces the fruit. And the finish lingers with notes of crushed dark peppercorn. Dark and savory. Masculine. If we are still alive 30 years from now we want to enjoy this wine again. Totally built to age.

The 2018 Diamond Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Franc is deep ruby; the bouquet offers red fruits including cherry, currant, cranberry and light notes of red chili spice, dried tobacco and dark chocolate. On the palate there are flavors of red plum, cherry, cranberry and currant. The gravely, still edgy and grainy tannins linger with a prominent dusty and chalky character and far outpace the fruit on the finish. This wine highlights a crunchy, juicy and energetic acidity. The finish lingers mouthwatering, tart and drying. This wine has loads of life ahead it, as in decades. And for reference, we tried this bottling 6 years post vintage. Looking for a mountain grown 100% varietal Cabernet Franc to impress? This wine is an ideal candidate.

CONSTANT
Claret can only be used by U.S. wineries on the label if the name was being used and registered prior to the US/EC Wine Trade Agreement signed in March of 2006. This agreement in part limited the use of certain generic names from being used on wine bottles in the U.S. market including claret, champagne and chianti. Diamond Mountain Vineyard continues to produce a claret red blend as production began prior to 2006.

The 2014 CONSTANT Claret Red Blend was tasted 10 years post vintage. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque in color; the bouquet is both red and dark fruited and hasn’t crossed into the territory of bottle bouquet at 10 years at time of our tasting. Nor has its color noticeably changed. The bouquet offers raspberry, red plum, cherry, currant and dried rose petals. In a blind tasting we would not guess this is a 10 year old bottling. Bright and fresh, the palate is primarily red fruited including raspberry, cherry and currant with assorted dried herbs. The gravelly and dusty tannins are very much present; they persist beyond the fruit on the juicy, mouthwatering and lively finish. The energetic acidity is the backbone of this wine and will carry it for years, if not several more decades to come. Gorgeous.

There are not a lot of Napa Valley wineries making premium 100% varietal Cabernet Francs, and this wine is certainly one of the highlights of a tasting. We have tried several vintages over the years including the 2004 and 2006 and 2014. The 2014 CONSTANT Estate Cabernet Franc reveals aromas of blackberry, dessert spice notes and a floral nuance along with a core of ripe but elegant fruit. There are no herbaceous notes on either the bouquet or palate. The tannins are well integrated, slightly dusty and linger pleasantly for some time.

One of our favorite Diamond Mountain Vineyard wines is their Syrah. It is a unique wine in their portfolio; the several vintages we have tried over the years have been among the nicer Syrahs produced from Napa Valley. Only about 3 acres of this variety are planted on site and all the vines are located on the Sonoma County side of the property.

The 2013 CONSTANT Estate Syrah is noticeably dark in the glass revealing an intriguing and brooding bouquet – somewhat meaty, savory with aromas of dark fruit and hints of cracked black pepper. And those with an acute sense of smell, may notice the very subtle herb or sage aromas. The bouquet is powerful, rich in flavor and depth. Great acidity – juicy it leaves you salivating on the finish. The well integrated but noticeable tannins linger on the long finish.

The 2006 CONSTANT Estate Syrah which is one of the finer Syrah’s we have tasted in the Napa Valley. It shows a lot of fruit both on the bouquet and palate. It has a juicy rather soft entry with rich concentrated flavors spread across the palate anchored by a clean smooth finish. This wine is all about the fruit and the variety rather than being overly spicy or dominated by oak as some Syrahs tend to be.

The 2014 CONSTANT Estate Cabernet Sauvignon shows a sweetness of fruit on the bouquet including cassis and blackberry. This wine is superbly balanced showing both red and darker fruits including cherry. Features excellent acidity – it is somewhat savory on the palate. Weighty but not grippy tannins linger for quite some time. This is a wine that can be consumed young but is very much built to age.

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Like on other parts of Diamond Mountain, the Glass Fire in 2020 burned a significant part of the upper slopes including burning onto the Diamond Mountain Vineyard property. Fortunately the main home, pool house and winery were not damaged, despite the fire burning very close to these structures.

In addition to about 1,200 cases of wine produced annually, they also used to bottle a very limited production olive oil. There was even a waiting list for this olive oil. For more information, to schedule a tasting and or to join their allocation list, visit: www.diamondmountainvineyard.com

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