Winemakers tend to be “optimystics”, which is probably a good thing as each year nature hands us a new season with its own set of challenges. When we get through a vintage, sometimes it is difficult to rein in our enthusiasm for what we produced often leading to some amusing pronouncements. Having said that, we are going to risk being fools, since having over 80 Napa Valley vintages between the two of us should count for something. The last time we were this excited about releasing a new vintage from Dyer Vineyard was 1996—well, because it was our first vintage from our own vineyard. This time, the excitement is in the wine itself. Nature sent us one right over the plate in the 2013 vintage. The wine has the combination of intensity and concentration that mark the best Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon vintages. It reminds Bill of the 1985 Sterling Reserve he made, which was delicious in the barrel, and remains so over 30 years later. And yes, that wine had a significant amount of Diamond Mountain fruit in the blend. We think 2013 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will be viewed as one of the very collectable vintages that seem to come one or twice a decade (before 1985, maybe 1974 was of the same caliber)? We made an even dozen barrels of this wine, with 290 cases bottled.