Lush and warm in feel, with caressing cassis, plum sauce and cherry puree flavors, infused with subtle smoldering tobacco, black tea and singed apple wood notes. Offers a very fine-grained feel on the finish, where the fruit pumps through nicely. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.A ripe and lavish Napa red with currant and dried berry with hints of milk chocolate. Turns to fresh flowers and dry earth. Full body, flavorful with lots of integrity and focus. Flavorful finish. The polish to the tannins and glorious.
Reviews:
- Wine Advocate: The 2016 Maya Proprietary Red Wine is blended of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it’s a little reserved to begin, soon unfurling to reveal the most incredible array of floral and red fruit layers—kirsch, redcurrant jelly, black raspberries, lilacs, red roses and lavender—with achingly beautiful wafts of cigar box, pencil lead, camphor, cinnamon stick and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied and with fabulous elegance and poise in the mouth, the palate delivers layer upon layer of perfumed black and red fruits with a very firm, finely grained texture and an epically long, mineral-laced finish.
- Jeb Dunnuck: The 2016 Maya offers another level of depth and density and is a truly special, magical wine. A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Cabernet Franc, it boasts off the chart notes of blackcurrants, Asian spices, lead pencil, chocolate, and incense. These all give way to a massively concentrated, rich, and powerful wine that nevertheless stays oh, so seamless, silky and pure, with a finish that goes on for minutes. Utterly profound in every way, this sensational wine hits every high point you could ever set for a glass of wine.
Producer Information
Dalla Valle Vineyards is a Napa Valley producer located on a sunny hillside terrace of fractured volcanic rock in Oakville, 400ft(120m) above the Silverado Trail. It is particularly known for its flagship Maya cuvée, which is one of the most prestigious of all Californian wines. The 1992, 2002, 2013 and 2016 wines have all received 100-point scores from The Wine Advocate publication. The estate was founded in 1986 (although it was purchased in 1982) by former scuba diver and diving equipment entrepreneur Gustav Dalla Valle and his wife Naoko. After Gustav’s death in 1995, just as the winery was gaining cult status, Naoko, whose family background includes Sake production, took control of the estate. Naoko is widely credited with having maintained, if not augmented, the winery’s reputation into the 21st Century. While internationally renowned winemaking consultant Michel Rolland remains part of the team, the winery has a star-studded roster of past winemakers, including Heidi Peterson Barrett, Mia Klein, Steve Mathhiasson and Andy Erickson (previously of Screaming Eagle). Maya Dalla Valle, daughter of Gustav and Naoko and whose name was given to the winery’s original top cuvée, formerly took over winemaking duties in 2021. From an initial vineyard size of three acres (1.2 hectares), the estate now covers 20 acres (eight hectares) on the eastern Napa Valley hillsides overlooking Oakville.
