Dalla Valle, Maya, Napa Valley

Moderate sediment Deep dense purple ruby. Deep leathery taut aromas Rich resolved tannins Tons of rich dark cherry fruit

1992 vintage

Les Gastronomes at Palmeri (Palmeri) : Still drinking well and in better balance than the 1995 (which was comparatively riper), with seemingly less tannins. I'm not sure how much longer this will last but this is in a great drinking window right now.

1996 vintage

Felt aged and lacking fruit

1998 vintage

"I'm bored" small wine dinner (My house) : This is an impressive wine. Very alive with red fruit and lots of secondary flavors such as earth, saddle leather, tobacco and a gravelly minerality.

1996 vintage

The Cat's Away Small Dinner (Joe & Khem's Place, Mpls) : Definitely more fruit forward than the '95 Spotteswoode, though certainly not an overdone wine by any means. The fruit is juicy, cassis mainly, dried potpourri, and lots of pencil shavings on the nose. Robust, dense, and full boded with more lush cassis and blackberry on the palate, lots of graphite, polished tannins and a little leather on a long finish. Very nice indeed.

1996 vintage

A quaint get-together at Joe's Place (Joe's House) : My first Maya in a long time, and my first thought was I wish I had more! This was paired with a 1995 Spottswoode which was also rocking this night! Both wines were different, but also excellent! The 1996 Maya was nicely balanced between fruit and tertiary flavors, but the fruit was more pronounced in the Maya, which I really enjoyed. The fruit was almost all dark fruit, with cassis taking …

1996 vintage

Deep, ruby red, complex wine with nutty, slightly smokey, and smooth leathery flavors.

1998 vintage

This wine is still drinking very well. It is elegant, so well balanced, and true to its blend. The elements of the Cab Franc: more acidic red fruit, herbs, and tobacco are all present and subtly lead the experience with this wine.

1998 vintage

I know, I know, but I love cabernet franc and have been curious to try a Maya for ages, so I decided to just spring for one. It did give me some alarm from the cork pop as it started out smelling chocolatey and porty, but it civilized itself nicely with some decanting time. It held onto some cocoa dust scents but not in a way that came across sweet. It still has a good amount of tannin which felt …

1998 vintage

In hindsight, this is more elegant, transparent and more redfruited than the other Maya’s we tasted tonight.

2009 vintage

Nice but didn't hold a candle to the '91 Maya. EWG Merlot/SB blends--whites and reds at Duck House

1992 vintage

this bottle sadly past prime, pruney, porty. massive sediment

1989 vintage

Decanted about two hours . Dark burgundy Licorice, cassia smell Nice balance between fruit and tertiary flavor. Saved some for day 2. Held up well with more tertiary flavor coming in Have that cassis , dark fruit. Fine tannins and good balance of acid Felt alcohol was a little distracting. Overall enjoyable and is in good spot.

2009 vintage

F

1992 vintage

This was absolutely incredible last night. Found it for a killer price on a restaurant list in Denver and couldn't pass it up. Perfect provenance, stored in their cellar since release. This opened up quickly and exploded from the glass onto the palate with a beautiful mix of dark fruits, coffee, cocoa, and a hint of leather on the long finish. Beautifully balanced and drinking perfectly right now. A memorable bottle that I hope to experience again sometime.

1998 vintage

Fantastic wine. Beautiful, bright, and full of texture. Decanted 1 he before consuming. Didn�t develop much, but has plenty of life left at 36 years!

1989 vintage

Fantastic nose of wildflowers, tea and a bit of mint. Abundant blue and black fruit with a finish that goes on forever. Tannins still very much there. Gorgeous bottle drinking great right now, but 8-10 more years to go, easy.

2009 vintage

Perfect

2019 vintage

brittle cork posed some challenges, but hand't impacted wine yet. despite drinking window predictions, seemed like has several years left at least of drinkability. decanted 1/2 hour, and fruit forward made it seem like much younger wine. smooth.

1992 vintage

Corked

1998 vintage

2023 Napa in the City: Tasting & Lunch (The Pool/Grill) : This was a wine that I was worried would be a bit of a monster since every time I’ve tried the wine it has been. Maya came back to the family estate in 2017 and officially took over the winemaking in 2021. There’s more balance here than in the past. It’s still very dark fruited, big and intense style but I get a bit more acid and a bit …

2019 vintage

dark ruby, minimal bricking, dark currants, blackberry, leather, cedar, well integrated tannins, I found this a more approachable and well balanced Maya than I have had in other vintages

1992 vintage

Opened and smelled like a port, tasted like a port. Sweet with Chocolate notes, caramel, stewed fruits. Likely a bad bottle due to storage.

1996 vintage

Agree with previous note. Amazing wine

2019 vintage

Compared to the Cabernet this has more muscle and is a more powerful wine. The nose shows wonderful crushed violets, blackcurrants, black pepper, unsmoked tobacco and star anise. The palate is full bodied and powerful with dark spicy fruit, crushed stones, bitter chocolate, finely woven tannins along with a savoury slightly spicy mid palate, the finish is focused and long. 98

2019 vintage

Breathtaking in every sense of the word! The wine is incredibly dense, concentrated, and palate staining. Yet, it is simultaneously rich, polished, velvet-textured, and fresh. Everything here is in perfect balance. The wine is seamless from the start through to the 60 second or longer, finish. This is one of the high-end wines that deliver a fair rate of return for the high price. No decanting is needed. If you have a bottle, pop a cork.

1992 vintage

The nose on the Mayas is just really something. So floral and aromatic, it's quite addicting. This followed a very long lineup so pretty much pnp. Very fruit forward initially with some complexity emerging as it opened up in the glass. Very elegant and a finish that won't quit. Probably much better in 2-4 years.

2009 vintage

Fairly mild nose of slight red fruit. Perfectly balanced but very restrained. Good red currant fruit, dark red cherry, forest floor. Still showing tannin. Served with a grilled ribeye which I think overpowered it, probably better with something milder. Decanted for an hour probably could have used longer. Overall a nice wine, not quite what I was expecting certainly at this price point. Not sure has a ton of life left, thinking drink over next 5 years ish.

1996 vintage

Some citrusy, bright red berries with earthy and forest floor notes. Fleshy, pure with good acidity.⁣ ⁣ Medium body, refined and elegant with dried red berries, minerals, some leather. Velvet sweet tannins. Beautiful tobacco smoky flavours lingering.⁣ ⁣ I feel like drinking an aged Cheval Blanc.⁣

1996 vintage

Very special bottle. Very smooth, silky tannins. Near the end of its life, but still very enjoyable. Chocolate, coffee and a touch of spice. Wonderful aged Napa Cab at its finest!

1998 vintage

Always fun to taste an older vintage of the excellent Maya and the 2009 shows how gracefully these wines age, yet the best is still to come! I believe this is now entering its drinking window yet still has an easy 15-20 years left. The nose felt shy at first, however, after some time aromas started to unwind and become quite powerful with aromas of violets, dried strawberries, kirsch, cassis and forest floor. The palate was medium-bodied with finely integrated …

2009 vintage

deep color, chocolate, cherries and cassis on the nose, oak presence very well integrated, on the palate seamless and a more sedate presentation, the chalky textures of the Cab Franc still hiding behind the primary fruit, sweet tannins. **(**), in a good place but I am hoping time will bring out a little more of the CF character

2009 vintage

My first Maya. Funky and green. Fruit was drying out.

1989 vintage

Ready to drink. Wonderful evening garden and floral nose, med body with dark fruits, cedar, licorice finish. Long finish and minimal tannins.

2009 vintage

Excellent! Decanted couple of hours. Beautiful medium body cab. Not as long as I would have preferred, but excellent nevertheless!

1996 vintage

Soft and suave with fully integrated tannins.. Beautifull aromas of red jammy fruits. A little heat at the end influencing the finish.

1998 vintage

Lean, dried out, and abrasive. Quite disjointed and while not corked or cooked, just was not very good. Still drinkable, but less then showy and more tolerable then tasty.

1996 vintage

Expressive nose displaying intense ripe black fruit, cassis, licorice, dark chocolate, lead pencil, a hint of green and mineral. Excellent concentration, nicely layered black fruit, unctuous, fine tannins and a long ripe black fruit driven finish. A big scale wine.

1996 vintage

Almost port like ripeness, a hint of prune. Big scale wine, unctuous.

1992 vintage

Another very ripe wine, similar to the 92. Medium expressive nose, ripe slightly dry black fruit, cherry, a hint of green, ash, caramel and earth. Good concentration, silky and polished, fine tannins and a medium to long black fruit driven finish.

1998 vintage

Luscious showing well. Bordeuux profile Pencil shavings

1989 vintage

One Bottle Dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL) : Tasted just after an '89 Margaux, and this hangs in there just fine. Obviously a bit more ripe and dense, but so classy. The nose has a sexy perfume with green herb, sleek plum fruit and spice. The palate is so broad and welcoming with succulent fruit that shows great balance and lift. Long polished and sexy finish. Gorgeous.

1996 vintage

A beautiful wine. This has classic cedar and red fruit notes. It's ripe and heady, but with great restraint, and has a lot more in common with some of Napa's old guard then it does the culty wines it's often associated with. Feminine-styling. In a very drinkable place right now, but I expect this will drink well for a long time. Delicious.

1996 vintage

Dinner at S.K.Y. (Chicago, IL) : This is an unabashed Napa cab. But there's nothing wrong with that at all. For all the cultiness of this wine, it doesn't have any of those overdone characteristics that so many crappy California cult wines. There's ripe fruit here, for sure, but also some really lovely herbal notes. It's dark in complexion, with really intense and only slightly sweet black fruit. The tannins and primary flavours still are prominent, so I suspect this …

1996 vintage

Didn't show it's best but it was up against a tough lineup and following a 98 Haut Brion. Just felt like it was falling apart a bit and showing heat on the nose. B+/?

1998 vintage

Needs 45 minutes to open but this is very enjoyable as all Mayas are. Dark fruits, graphite, ripe but balanced and a nice finish. Holding well but would be drinking up. A-

1998 vintage

With steak au poivre. Garnet, still almost opaque, with a hint of brown at the edges. Fully mature, with very pronounced aromatics of sweet cassis, tobacco, black cherries, touch of sherry similar to old B.V. Private Reserve. Soft and round on the palate, red and black fruits, sweet, also reminiscent of B.V. Reserves. Over several hours the fruit slightly faded, and sherry a bit more prominent. Long aftertaste. This is a great wine perfectly mature, but near the back end …

1992 vintage

Dark purple ruby hue. Full bodied with black and blue fruits, mild oak and a French like earthiness that I really enjoyed. I have had new vintages of this lately. 11,12 specifically. It was nice to see the evolution of the 09 and it makes me want to try back vintages if this. In my opinion this is definitely the best cab franc blend in Cali. Highly recommended.

2009 vintage

If not the wine of the night at the SATT dinner, it was darn close. Very dense and powerful featuring blackberry, currant, clove and wet stone. Feels like this could go for many more years.

1992 vintage

Full-bodied and opulent with good density and richness. Just a bit jammy or it might have scored higher for me. Lovely flavors of blackberry liqueur and ripe cassis which lead to a very complex and densely concentrated finish with notes of eucalyptus and violet spice. Quite ready now.

1996 vintage

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Dalla Valle, Maya, Napa Valley

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