Hailstone Vineyards · Diamond Mountain
2022 Hailstone Vineyards 'The Proprietor's Reserve' Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain, USA
A place on your wine list
Chad Alexander's 100 percent Cabernet from leased Diamond Mountain rows, 22 months in French oak. Mountain tannin at a trade price that still startles.
Winery SRP $195 per bottle
Why this bottle belongs on the list
Two selling points.
Then the market.
Chad Alexander made this mountain Cabernet.
Chris and Jessica Zazo hired Chad in 2016 after the first Hailstone years. He was winemaker at Robert Craig and at Hess, and he still makes the wines at Jimmy Vasser's V12 Vineyards. Six Hailstone wines are made at Ballentine's custom crush. Chad wants polish and mountain bones in the same glass. This 2022 is his Diamond Mountain Cabernet, not a negotiated leftover blend.
Leased Diamond Mountain rows. Twenty-two months in French oak.
Hailstone does not own a named peak and does not buy fruit by the ton. Chris and Chad walk selected rows and lease them. This 2022 Proprietor's Reserve is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Diamond Mountain, aged 22 months in 100 percent French oak. The winery's own note is cassis, dried violets, blackberry, dark plum, and a hint of caramel. Mountain tannin, not a valley-floor plush-out.
The buyer's perspective
What the guest
hears first.
Winery SRP is $195. Wine-Searcher averages about $189 on this 2022. Trade is $39 a bottle. Staff can sell it in one sentence: Hailstone's Diamond Mountain Cabernet, Chad Alexander in the cellar, pour it with a thick sirloin.
Founders' corner
Akron to Napa · pewter labels · leased mountain rows
Chris
and Jessica Zazo
Chris grew up on an Akron, Ohio dirt farm that mined peat, then sold steel in Dallas on an expense account that taught him what good Cabernet tastes like. He built Aspenmark Roofing around hail restoration, sold it in 2020, and named the wine brand for the storms he used to chase. The pewter labels still carry a hailstone strike on glass.
The first Hailstone Cabernet was the 2012 Impact, made with Garrett Ahnfeldt. In 2016 Chris hired Chad Alexander. Jessica, a Cincinnati-born equestrian and USEF jumping judge, runs operations and the clubs. They live in Naples, Florida, and spend about three months a year in Yountville walking rows.
The photograph on this page is Jessica and Chris in vineyard country with a Hailstone bottle, from Napa Valley Life in October 2024. Chad Alexander is the winemaker. The Zazos are the proprietors who lease the Diamond Mountain rows behind this 2022.
The estate
Leased Diamond Mountain rows, not a private peak.
Hailstone is a small Napa Cabernet project, not a hillside chateau. The house leases selected rows instead of owning a named vineyard or buying fruit by the ton. Chris and Chad walk sites across the valley. This 2022 is the Diamond Mountain bottling.
Wines are made at Ballentine Vineyards' custom crush. Twenty-two months in 100 percent French oak. The pewter label is the hail-strike mark from Chris's first trade. Five of the six wines pour at Vintner's Collective in downtown Napa.
Diamond Mountain District sits high on the Mayacamas above Calistoga: volcanic soils, small thick-skinned Cabernet, firm tannin. Serve this as mountain Cabernet on a steak list, not as a trophy allocation you have to hide.
2022 in the glass
Cassis.
Dried violet.
Dark plum and caramel oak.
Hailstone's own 2022 sheet is short and useful. Aromas of cassis, dried violets, and blackberry. Flavors of black currant, dark plum, and a hint of caramel. Aged 22 months in 100 percent French oak barrels. 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Diamond Mountain. French oak shows as spice and caramel rather than raw wood. Diamond Mountain keeps the finish firm. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. No named critic score was verified on this exact 2022; do not borrow the 2020 Oakville TEXSOM gold.
Menu and service
Built for a serious table.
- Pan-seared sirloin, fat rendered in the pan
- Butter-basted rib-eye with thyme
- Beef Wellington, pastry and mushroom duxelles
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve around 60 to 64 F in a generous Cabernet stem.
Staff pairing clip
Jamie Oliver cooks date-night sirloin
The tableside introduction
“This is Hailstone's Proprietor's Reserve from Diamond Mountain, 100 percent Cabernet, Chad Alexander, 22 months French oak. Pour it with a thick sirloin.”
Ready for your team
Put the story to work.
Shelf talker
A concise bottle story for guest-facing displays. No trade price.
Download PDFServer card
The pitch, menu matches, and service notes in a compact format.
Download PDFFull trade sheet
Hailstone founders, Diamond Mountain fruit, tasting, market context, and the case offer.
Download PDFOrder the case
Put Diamond Mountain Cabernet on the list.
Chad Alexander's Hailstone Cabernet from leased Diamond Mountain rows. Trade $39 a bottle, $468 the twelve-bottle case, one-case minimum.
