Dalla Valle Dalla Valle Maya 2021 750ml

A smaller production cuvée from a single parcel of the estate vineyard, the 2018 Maya Proprietary Red Wine is the normal 60/40 split of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. Incredibly perfumed with complex notes of blue fruits, flowers, loamy earth, graphite, and tobacco, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, polished, silky tannins, no hard edges, and a finish that won’t quit. While this is a rich, concentrated wine, it’s the complexity, elegance, and finesse that define this cuvée, which is going to benefit from just short-term cellaring and cruise for 2–3 decades. (Jeb Dunnuck)

As fans know, Maya comes from a very special section of the estate vineyard, situated in the valley’s eastern foothills, below Pritchard Hill and in the above the Oakville floor, overlooking Screaming Eagle. The blend is two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Maya slowly unfurls to reveal a firework display of redcurrant preserves, kirsch, boysenberries and wild blueberries, followed by iron ore, red roses, cardamom, fallen leaves and crushed rocks, with a waft of pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is stunningly graceful and refined, featuring exhilarating mineral sparks among the red and black fruits, finishing with so much brightness and energy. Breathtaking! (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

One of the finest wines in the vintage is the 2019 Maya Proprietary Red Wine, and red wine doesn’t get any better. The usual blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc, its deep purple hue is followed by an incredible bouquet of blackcurrants, tobacco, dark chocolate, and crushed stone, which turns more floral, pretty, and complex with time in the glass. Full-bodied on the palate, it marries a rare sense of elegance and finesse with incredible intensity. It’s impossible to resist today yet merits at least 5–7 years of bottle age, and I have no doubt this beauty will still be enjoyable at age 50. Bravo! (Jeb Dunnuck)

Simply a wonderful wine, the 2021 Maya oozes class, with deep, complex aromas of violets and cassis, earthy loam and hints of tobacco and mint. It's just medium to full-bodied, cool, silky and finessed. Supremely elegant but concentrated, just reined in, restrained. She's the "perfect" girl, the one so special a younger me would be afraid to ask out. The current me is married, so... I'll just sit here and drink it in. Readers should drink it in too. All of it, from the upfront fruit to the lingering, savory finish. While approachable now, this wine should continue to drink well for two decades or more. (Joe Czerwinski)

The very deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Maya is shy and restrained to begin. With swirling, it begins to reveal beguiling notes of fragrant earth, lavender, garrigue and Sichuan pepper, giving way to a core of wild blueberries, boysenberries, black raspberries and black currants plus a hint of iron ore. The palate is full-bodied, revealing itself in slow-releasing layers of black and blue fruits with exhilarating earth and mineral sparks, framed by firm, beautifully ripe tannins and bold freshness, finishing on a persistent ferrous note. As cerebral as it is downright hedonic, this Maya is simply jaw-dropping.

Aromatic lift, precision and intensity are the signatures of the 2012 Maya. Savory herbs, mint, violets, spices and red cherry jam are woven together in an intricate fabric of flavors and textures that captivate all the senses. Pure power and finesse are rarely found together to this degree. Readers who can find the 2012 are in for a real treat. This is an utterly magnificent Maya. (Antonio Galloni)

The 2021 Maya is young, but so promising. A wine of density and stature, the 2021 offers striking vertical depth, with bright acids and plenty of tannin. All the elements are so well balanced. Intense red fruit, blood orange, cinnamon, new leather and cedar all meld together, but it is the whole rather than the sum of parts that is most impressive here. A blast of vibrant fruit explodes through to the finish. Unforgettable.<br/><br/>

A polished, full-bodied red with aromas and flavors of blueberry, black cherry, sandalwood and crushed praline. Superb flavor intensity and a creamy texture, supported by firm, velvety tannins. Lingering vanilla notes. Delicious already, but better from 2022.

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. (Antonio Galloni)

The 2019 Maya is fabulous. I can’t remember a young Maya with this much sheer immediacy and allure at this stage. The purity of the flavors is just remarkable. Bright red/purplish fruit, spice, blood orange, mocha and mint are some of notes that open over time. There is plenty of tannin, but it is nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. I would not be in any rush to open a bottle soon. In 2019, Maya is more finesse than power. (Antonio Galloni)

The 2021 Maya is young, but so promising. A wine of density and stature, the 2021 offers striking vertical depth, with bright acids and plenty of tannin. All the elements are so well balanced. Intense red fruit, blood orange, cinnamon, new leather and cedar all meld together, but it is the whole rather than the sum of parts that is most impressive here. A blast of vibrant fruit explodes through to the finish. Unforgettable. (Antonio Galloni)

The 2021 Maya Proprietary Red Wine is the usual blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon from a single parcel of Cabernet Sauvignon and a selection of Cabernet Franc that will spend 24 months in 80% new French oak. It has a more floral, exotic style in its blue fruits, spring flowers, incense, and peppery herbal nose as well as a stunningly pure, elegant, polished, seamless style on the palate. It's another magical wine in the making from this terroir. 97-100 points. (Jeb Dunnuck)

The 2012 Maya is surprisingly deep and powerful in this vintage, with none of the early appeal of the estate’s other 2012s. Today, the Maya is dark and brooding, with tons of intensity to match its massive, virile personality. Readers will have to be patient, but the 2012 is a special wine that much is clear.

Dalla Valle was the first winery to demonstrate what heights Cabernet Franc could reach in the valley with their Maya proprietary blend, which averages 50–55% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 Maya is a spectacular offering. I recently had the 1991 (made by Tony Soter) and it is still drinking exceptionally well. In fact, it could still be called an adolescent at 23 years of age. The 2012 Maya is already revealing great complexity with notes of forest floor, licorice, truffles, red and blackcurrants and a hint of graphite. The beautiful aromatics are followed by an equally majestic, full-bodied, multidimensional wine of great class and elegance. This sensational effort should drink well for 25–30 years.

This puts it all together, with an initial torrent of cassis, plum and blackberry fruit that is slowly harnessed as it moves through, thanks to guardrails of graphite, cast iron and smoldering tobacco. Seriously long and remarkably refined, despite its obvious muscle, with the iron note reverberating through the fruit at the end. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2040. 900 cases made. (James Molesworth)

This gorgeous red is streamlined in feel, with the vivid boysenberry, mulberry and black currant fruit profile of the vintage, though in a slightly more reserved style, as a strong tobacco thread and cast iron spine keep its energy in reserve for now. There's lovely tension through the finish, with a mouthwatering iris detail lingering amid the fruit and earth notes. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2045. 800 cases made.

The 2015 Maya is surprisingly powerful and tightly wound. Time in the glass allows the tannins to relax just enough for the fruit to gradually emerge. Like all of the 2015s here, the Maya is still very primary in its expression of fruit. Even so, the wine’s heady, flamboyant personality is very much on display. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, licorice, lavender and exotic spice overtones gradually develop in the glass, but it will be years before the 2015 enters its prime.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Maya Proprietary Red Wine opens with sweet plums, spice box and kirsch notes with nuances of vanillin, cocoa powder, dried herbs and loam. Medium to full-bodied, soft, approachable and very sexy even at this youthful stage, it has a long, perfumed finish. This was tasted as a barrel sample.

Focused, with a beam of dark currant and blackberry preserve flavors liberally lined with warm tobacco, tar and sage notes. A roasted cedar edge checks in on the finish. Gutsy, but has enough fruit to match the other earth-toned components. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2020 through 2032. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 750 cases made. (James Molesworth)

This opens with a tease of funk before its core of red and black currant preserves starts to open. Lots of savory, warm cast iron and singed cedar notes fill in through the back end and keep it firmly grounded. Has length, though that lets the funk take a bit of an encore, holding it back a bit in the end. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. -- Blind 2015 California Cabernet retrospective (July 2025). Drink now through 2036. 750 cases made.