Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Napa Valley’s iconic wines, and by the time owner Boots Brounstein finished charming the audience with stories about her late husband, Al Brounstein, and the winery’s early years, the audience was on its feet cheering. As the crowd tasted the Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Volcanic Hill Fortieth Anniversary 2012 (90 points, $200), Boots recalled her husband’s dream of planting a vineyard and making wine.

A successful pharmaceutical wholesaler in Los Angeles, Al purchased 70 acres on Diamond Mountain in 1967. “There was nothing there but weeds and trees,” Boots recalled.

When he began clearing the land, Al quickly discovered a jackpot of different soils. As he planted the nearly 22 acres of vines, he designated four distinct vineyards, none more than 60 feet apart: Volcanic Hill, Red Rock Terrace, Gravelly Meadow and Lake. Al was one of the first vintners in California, Boots said, to talk about terroir.