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Tasting notes
The 2018 Maya, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet in color with a touch of purple. After a little swirling, vibrant, cheery notes of crushed black cherries, redcurrants, and cassis pop from the glass, giving way to touches of garrigue, wet slate, and black olives. The full-bodied palate has a firm, grainy texture and a lively backbone to support the vivacious, tight-knit fruit, finishing long and lively.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc. Deep purple colour. Raisined blackcurrant fruit on the nose. The palate has a dry richness, with mouth-coating and chewy tannins. The peppery black fruit on the palate is tamed by earthy notes of tobacco. The finish is warm with alcohol and hedonistic – this is full-blooded Cabernet. (TP)
Takes hold of you from the first moment, just love the way the Cabernet Franc fragrance fills the palate of the wine. It’s brilliant, full of life, the most delicious balance between fruits, spice, acidity and tannins. A slow steady build through the palate, juicy blueberry and raspberry fruits, well balanced, the sense of vivacity doesn’t let up, and it’s really great stuff. Unfiltered, natural yeast fermentation, organic and biodynamic farming.100% new oak but you really don’t feel it - ditto for the relatively high alcohols, although be aware of them before choosing when to drink. 8.5ha, located in Oakville on the foothills of eastern side.
The 2018 Maya is stratospheric. Inky, deep and wonderfully layered, Maya is off the charts. Inky red/purplish fruit, cedar, licorice, spice, tobacco and mocha are some of the many notes that grace the 2018. The wine is young, but exceptional and vivid. Maya is usually much more forbidding at this stage, this is an incredibly refined vintage. The purity and delineation of the flavors is unreal. Moreover, the 2018 is a wine of extreme pleasure.
About the producer
Dalla Valle Vineyards was founded in 1986 by Naoko and her late husband Gustav Dalla Valle, in Oakville. Initially they had wanted to create a luxury resort, but when they discovered the potential of the site, they changed tack and decided to make wine.