Dyer is a true hidden gem. This tiny, 2-acre estate high on Diamond Mountain is right next door to the famed Diamond Creek Winery. Founders, owners, farmers, winemakers Bill and Dawnine Dyer planted the vineyard in 1996. Bill had spent the previous 20 years making wine at Sterling Vineyards and Dawnine over 20 years as winemaker at Domain Chandon and Sodaro Estate. They are also partners in Coombsville's iconic Meteor Vineyard. But Dyer Vineyard on Diamond Mountain is their true labor of love. They personally hand-tend the vines, make the wines, pack and ship the wines...a real boutique production of just 300 cases total! The wine itself strikes a perfect balance between old-school, mountain-grown Cabernet with a slightly more modern, accessible fruit profile. Aromatically the wine explodes from the glass with camphor, cassis, plum, tobacco and lavender. The wine is vibrant and lithe on the palate with inky black and blue fruit, leather, cigar box and wild mountain chaparral notes. The tannins hint at the wine's ageing potential, but they are so beautifully refined and polished it's not the least bit aggressive even as a brand new release. Some exotic, perfectly judged, oak spice lingers on the finish. Jubilant acidity allows the complex mélange of flavors to resonate on and on. It's just an exquisite bottle of classically styled Cabernet with that little nod to generosity that the 2019 vintage gave. An absolute beauty to drink anytime over the next 2-3 decades. This is real Napa Cab at its finest.

The nose is wide, expansive, and delightfully plump. There's a softness already, showing a little bit of the age. Rich blackberry, plum skin, and cassis all intermingle with oil-cured black olive, pencil shavings, and a little bit of tarry leather. The body is medium-plus, edging up toward largesse but then the acidity pulling it back. There's a lot of brambley fruit, some dark cherry, and then the acidity comes in and the fruit character gets a bit lighter, and then there's more of that tarry leather on the finish. The tannins are incredibly well integrated, but with the structure it has, it could easily lay down for another 5-10 years. This is really seriously well made wine, not something rich, fat, and a little bit flabby. This has an almost bracing acidity made balanced with the richness and ripeness of the fruit, and that solid and dependable line of tannin pushing through the whole thing. Delicious.