The 1991 Maya (made from equal proportions of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon) has developed incredibly since I tasted it nearly a year ago and rated it 94. The wine is black/purple-colored and offers up a compelling bouquet of flowers, minerals, black fruits, vanilla, and spices. There is huge extraction of fruit, full body, outstanding purity and balance, moderate tannin, and a tremendous layered feel on the palate. All of this intensity and richness is brilliantly pulled off without any sense of heaviness. I can understand wanting to drink this wine immediately as it is an extraordinarily impressive young wine, but it should be given another 4-6 years of cellaring; it is a candidate for 25 years of aging. It is also a strong candidate for a three-digit score in a few years. This is a winemaking tour de force!Dalla Valle has propelled itself into the top echelon of California Cabernet Sauvignon and proprietary red wines. The owners, Gustave and Naoko Dalla Valle, are admirably supported by winemaker Heidi Barrett (the wife of winemaker/proprietor Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena). This team is producing awesomely concentrated wines from their 25-acre hillside vineyard overlooking the Napa Valley floor. There is no secret to their success. The wines are made from fully ripened fruit, and are neither excessively processed nor handled. There are only 2,000 cases of the Cabernet Sauvignon. The microscopic production of Dalla Valle's proprietary red wine, Maya (named after the proprietors' daughter), usually contains between 45-55% Cabernet Franc. I am not overstating the case by saying that the finest Cabernet Franc I have tasted in the New World is from Dalla Valle's vineyard. Tel. (707) 944-2676; Fax (707) 944-8411.
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