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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.9 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 161 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by thesternowl on 1/18/2024 & rated 92 points: 1997 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Retrospective (Omaha, NE): Presented single-blind; no formal notes. This was super similar to wine #4. The most striking characteristic for both wines was a powerful note of finely ground cumin on the nose. Fruit is mostly desiccated at this point; the structure keeping everything together. While dimming, this seemed to show indications that this was a slightly more powerful wine earlier in its life. I called “Dalle Valle”. Drink now. (750 views) | | | Tasted by Ruby99 on 1/11/2024 & rated 91 points: Brick at the edges
mature nose of leather and tobacco leaf. Perhaps there is a hint of sherry
The wine is leathery with tobacco leaf and sweet cherries. The fruit is definitely still there but I sense it has started its decline
A very nice fully mature wine. I would not wait long to drink any remaining bottles (and we have 2!) (534 views) | | | Tasted by Mdubnik on 10/3/2023 & rated 98 points: Tons of life left. Huge black fruit present on the nose and in the mouth. This was an absolutely stunning bottle. It's in a perfect place and certainly worthy of pulling a cork now, but could wait for up to another decade. (871 views) | | | Tasted by MAXIMUM SATISFACTION on 6/11/2022 & rated 95 points: There is still plenty of life here. Ripe and structured with some secondary caramelized notes emerging. Cherry, pipe tobacco, cassis and leather. Very good and loving the 13.5% abv. (2392 views) | | | Tasted by advinm41 on 7/25/2021 & rated 93 points: Excellent fully mature Cab, peak drinking, dark fruit still very much alive with lots of secondary and tertiary aromas: truffle, barnyard, tobacco, cocoa, allspice and cardamom. Palate is medium bodied, mouth coating black fruit laced with truffle and spices. Long finish. Excellent! (3686 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 2/28/2021 & rated 95 points: Mature, balanced, it complemented roast beef, and went down smoothly and evenly. This has aged very well and retained its fruit, graphite and a touch of savory notes after being opened for several hours. I did decant it. Marvelous, (3625 views) | | | Tasted by fdub on 5/16/2020 & rated 93 points: Fully mature but fresh and good drinking. Crushed herbs and ripe plum fruit on the palate. Drank along with the 97’ Pahlmeyer which showed better but this was still a great wine. (3760 views) | | | Tasted by N.Bonaparte on 4/22/2020 & rated 93 points: 2.5 hour decant which is still required- very reminiscent of 1997 and immediately drew comparisons to Cathy Corison’s 97’s. The balance is great. Good high tone cherry notes with a long lasting finish. Certainly in prime but will easily hold for another 5 plus years. I would suggest a 4 hour decant. (3645 views) | | | Tasted by Steve Bird on 1/26/2020 & rated 92 points: Still has a floral aroma. More licorice and baking spices on the pallette. Probably past it’s peak. (3138 views) | | | Tasted by Francophile1 on 10/10/2019 flawed bottle: Acker Merrall & Condit Bordeaux vs. California Tasting (Michelangelo Hotel): Tasted blind. Must have been a flawed bottle. Tasted oxidized and a glass full of prunes. (2874 views) | | | Tasted by WinoRick on 7/27/2019 & rated 92 points: Good to go! (2828 views) | | | Tasted by mdefreitas on 6/21/2019 & rated 92 points: Still holding on to a good amount of fruit and tannins. Some development, but less than one would expect for a 22 year old wine. A bit stern on day one, but much more open-knit and giving on day two. Based on this well-stored bottle, this can still be cellared for a bit. (2185 views) | | | Tasted by Drrobjo on 5/16/2019 & rated 94 points: A little funky whe first opened but became beautiful mature cab flavors of anise, cigar box and red fruits. Sweet and long in the finish with a beautiful nose after 20 minutes. (2148 views) | | | Tasted by rsbeck on 12/26/2018 & rated 93 points: Popped, breathed in bottle 90 minutes, poured. Still holding well, but I think it was better three and a half years ago. Could just be a phase, but I wouldn’t bet on it. More likely it will continue to gradually decline. If you have some, I’d drink up. (2481 views) | | | Tasted by Amerique on 8/27/2018 & rated 92 points: Soft, round, rich blackberry fruit, excellent structure, ample finish, showing bottle age, drink up (3175 views) | | | Tasted by MC on 3/23/2018: Past its prime. B (3177 views) | | | Tasted by Gluzmaned on 2/9/2018 & rated 92 points: On the first pour, the nose had strong nail polish smell. Did not effect the taste. It took a bit to open, the nail polish smell bacame faint very quickly, and almost went away. The wine opened up beautifully, no big fruit, very well balanced. A little lacking on the finish (3032 views) | | | Tasted by andrewdodd86 on 2/2/2018 flawed bottle: NR. Tobacco. Baking spices, coffee, vanilla. Green pepper funky thing going on. Spearmint? This is odd. Black currant. Fig.
Isn’t really a fair representation based on past bottles. Off bottle? Not bad, just weird. May open up (fingers crossed) (2914 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 2/2/2018 & rated 90 points: Seems like an odd bottle, cork was great, lots of sediment, had an unusual minty, super fruity characteristic with cherry cough syrup. Unlike the other bottles I've had, all are from the same case. Had a little ripe plum / prune in the mid palate. Will need to open another bottle soon to recheck. (2888 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 12/10/2017 & rated 93 points: Wine Flock Intro Retro - Cabs (Jordan's): Served blind in what turned out to be a flight of 97 Cali Cabs. This was clearly the cream of the crop. The nose is full of big rich plum fruit. The palate is rich, and densely concentrated. Youthful and big, but good underlying structure to balance and pull it off. Excellent with room to go. (3006 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 12/10/2017 & rated 93 points: Chicago Wine Flock..."Bordeaux and Cali Cab from Jordan" (Chez Whitehead - Northbrook IL): Tasted double blind in what turned out to be 1997 Cali Cab flight, all open 4 hours in advance with a quick double decant. Easily the best of the flight. Rich and powerfully ripe, yet balanced and refined. Big, bold, harmonious. Easy identifiable as Cali Cab. (3366 views) | | | Tasted by cadamson on 12/10/2017: Will withhold score. Lots of debate on if the bottle was flawed; general conclusion was not. Storage seemed perfect, cork certainly so. None-the-less, a very baked quality. Heavy roasted dark coffee beans, almost stewed blackberries. Did this see too much heat in its life, of is it a function of how some wine's from this hot vintage are evolving? Very good acidity and some tannic structure still in place. Despite what was said above, it was not a bad wine, in fact quite interesting. I have loved previous vintages of late (especially the 1994), but leaving my opinion open on this one, would love to have another. (1894 views) | | | Tasted by G_H on 11/4/2017 & rated 96 points: Coke-hard-candy, black berries, coffee, beef seasoning, thick meat broth, tobacco, empty cigar box, (2010 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 4/23/2017 flawed bottle: This wine shows all the signs of a wine subjected to heat at some point in its life. Still crimson, but shows advanced browning. Stewed, baked, prune notes, carmalized, but still has hints of red fruit poking through, as though showing what could have been. Drying out on the palate, the wine is completely lacking in freshness. Too bad. Not rated. (3228 views) | | | Tasted by plitton on 1/16/2017 & rated 92 points: Cherries steeped in fine, firm tannins. Supple mouthfeel. Very enjoyable. (3411 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Vintage Retrospective: The 1997 Napa Valley Cabernets (Sep 2017) (9/1/2017)
(Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 1999, IWC Issue #84
(Dalla Valle Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (8/2/2003)
(Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon) Boysenberry, coffee nose; tight, espresso, cherry, coffee palate with firm, sweet tannins; long finish 96 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Dalla Valle Producer website
Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Oakville |
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