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Tasting notes
The 2020 Maya, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. It offers up bright, lively notes of redcurrant jelly, black raspberries, and mulberries plus nuances of wild sage, lavender, and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate is lively and refreshing, with fine-grained tannins supporting the vibrant red and black berry layers, finishing long and earthy.
Critic scores
Average Score
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc. Deep in colour with a sweet, very pure, cassis-driven nose. The palate is monolithic, a surge of sweet black fruit met by rich, succulent tannin. Full-bodied yet balanced, this is of a style but impressively made. Very intense, with a long, polished finish. (TP)
Nuanced, powerful, juicy, with liqourice root, black tea and cocoa bean wrapped around blueberry and blackcurrant fruits. Hard not to love this, rippled through with character, and has a graceful, elegant edge to it that shows what was possible in Napa in 2020. Naoko Dalla Valle and Andy Erikson winemakers. 8.5ha of vines.
Perhaps there's a subtle added touch of leafy complexity to the 2020 Maya that the Cabernet Sauvignon doesn't show, but otherwise, this 60-40 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc is reasonably similar, with black cherries, dark loamy notes, hints of cassis, cedar and vanilla. It's medium to full-bodied, richly textured and tannic but with a slightly open-knit feel and a ripe, softly wooly finish.
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.