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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.9 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 146 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by passion4wine on 12/28/2023 & rated 95 points: This 28-year-old beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon is drinking beautifully. Deep, dark, brick, red, no visual signs of any aging… And on the nose, dark currents, spice, just a hint cedar… Barely perceptible… And on the palate The 19 $96 wine shows, incredible finesse, tannins, nearly completely resolved, and dark black fruit flavors, right through the finish, which is quite lengthy. This was my Christmas dinner bottle… And I guess I had low of medium expectations — but this could be the best I’ve had in the last five or six years, if you’ve got any of these, Que them up, because I don’t think they’re gonna get any better! (411 views) | | | Tasted by parkline_wine on 11/16/2023 & rated 95 points: Drinking brilliantly with about 80 minutes of air and some time in glass. Showed very young, quintessential napa in style but with some nice tertiary and herbal notes to round out the profile. (489 views) | | | Tasted by RAB007 on 8/5/2023 & rated 95 points: An outstanding bottle with fill to mid-neck. Minimal amber rim. Dark fruit, herbal, spicy notes. Tasted at its peak with significant fruit, but more tertiary notes of cigar, cedar and a slight grass/bell pepper finish. A very nice Napa Cabernet at its peak. (757 views) | | | Tasted by 5laton on 12/27/2022: 85% cabernet sauvignon, 12% cabernet franc, 3% merlot. Recent auction purchase, but this had a perfect cork with typical ullage for its age. Decanted 1 hr, this shows big lead pencil on the nose and some pleasant fruity acidity on the highly developed and soft palate that has no remaining primary fruit. This is fully mature and very enjoyable, with a lovely gentle sweetness. It doesn't have the level of non-fruit complexity I'd find in a similarly aged classified growth, so in that sense I'm slightly disappointed. It gives plenty of pleasure, though. (472 views) | | | Tasted by smctipton on 7/28/2022 & rated 96 points: Steak/potato/salad night at the Atsumi's. Perfect match to the NY Strip. Wonderful balance. It's all here. Sheer elegance. About a two hour decant, but the beautiful nose was there from the beginning. Sadly, last bottle, but it's been a great ride. (1705 views) | | | Tasted by N.Bonaparte on 3/25/2022 & rated 94 points: 7.5 years since my last bottle and this is still doing great. Everything is in place and the balance and finish are on point. Certainly in its prime but will drink well for the better part of a decade. I would recommend a 1 hour decant at this point. (1891 views) | | | Tasted by parkline_wine on 2/15/2022 & rated 96 points: I really enjoyed this wine.
Poured relatively youthful - great color that did not look like other mid 90s Napa bottles I've seen.
After about 30-60 mins opened, Really nice menthol, cedar, spice, still nice red/black fruit characteristics. Really good length, surprisingly great wine! (2004 views) | | | Tasted by GrapeScott on 12/25/2021 & rated 93 points: Drank last night as part of a mini-vertical of '96, '99 and '03 DV cabs, notes from memory so not detailed. This edged out the equally excellent '99 as my WOTN, but all 3 wines are drinking very well right now. This is entering its secondary development, and is more red-fruited in its profile than the other two vintages. Red plum, baking spice and a bit of cedar. Better than my last bottle from a few months ago by a good margin. (2024 views) | | | Tasted by levicn on 11/18/2021 & rated 92 points: 深石榴红色，闻香有一点点VA，醋栗，青椒一类的香气，入口酸度中高，单宁细腻如粉，收尾甜美，酒液咸鲜，黑李子一类果香，渐渐散出雪松的香气，后段香草巧克力，收尾甜美，醒酒时间短了点，余味没有完全展现，酒精度感觉不低。酒体并没有传统波尔多后段空洞之感，感觉很像一支美国赤霞珠，但是如此重的青椒味，似乎和纳帕的特点不太一样，但我觉得它肯定是一支新世界酒，盲品揭晓居然是一支纳帕酒，Maya的副牌，老年份确实非常的波尔多风格，要不是捕捉到那一丝甜美，真的非常旧世界，这也许是早期向波尔多风格致敬的作品，和现在的纳帕风格非常不同，很有代表性。 (1865 views) | | | Tasted by GrapeScott on 8/7/2021 & rated 88 points: Tasted alongside the '99, this did not show nearly as well as my last bottle, and seemed a bit tired. The fill and cork were pristine, and the bottle was opened to "slow-ox" for ~3h before drinking. Could be that was the wrong approach, but treated the same way, the '99 was singing. A bit thin, more about elegance than power, with cassis and berry notes, finishing a bit raisiny. As they say, "no such thing as great wines, only great bottles." (1563 views) | | | Tasted by PJM0208 on 5/9/2021 & rated 94 points: Terrific.
Surely cedar & olive oil on the nose.
Opulent with beautifully integrated tannins.
Sweet fruit & very long on the finish.
Fully mature but no rush to drink up.
Very enjoyable! (1530 views) | | | Tasted by GrapeScott on 4/2/2021 & rated 94 points: Just a terrific wine, and this coming from someone who is much more inclined to Bordeaux than California cab. Cassis and a bit of spice in the nose, sneaky richness, with notes of cedar and olive to complement the currant and red plum flavors. Has those ‘96 tannins but they are well integrated and the body has a pleasant sweetness to it that caresses the palate. Drinking very well now with plenty of life left. (1618 views) | | | Tasted by HoostineFL on 2/7/2021 & rated 93 points: Drank by itself and with pepperoni pizza during the Super Bowl. Fruit has given way in prominence to savory earth, cedar, cigar box and spice that almost fools me into thinking this is Bordeaux, but the background sweet core of fruit is unmistakably California. Tannins are fully resolved but acidity is still hanging on. Not over the hill, but it feels like a wine that's reached its plateau. Cheers! (1626 views) | | | Tasted by Myman24 on 1/17/2021 & rated 93 points: It reminded me of an old French Bordeaux from the first smell. Barnyard, forrest floor on the nose. Cherry tart and red fruits on the palate and long and smooth finish. I am a big fan of recent Dalla(very fruit driven Cabs) and this was a really good surprise, wasn't expecting this at all! 30 min in the decanter and it was good to go. (1626 views) | | | Tasted by Philip67 on 12/20/2020 & rated 85 points: I'm afraid this bottle was past it - fruit dried out, partially oxidised. All tertiary leather and forest floor. Short and straightforward - disappointing. (1514 views) | | | Tasted by LuxNapa.com on 9/14/2020 & rated 94 points: This was a Vinfolio purchase. It had held up better than the 1996 Eisele tasted alongside it. The fruits were subdued, leaving a dominant minerality. (1709 views) | | | Tasted by KenK on 8/29/2020 & rated 85 points: A touch oxidized on the nose, black chunky aromas.
Dry lean, a touch weedy, a black wet soil,element.
Not very good, yet drinkable. (1613 views) | | | Tasted by Old Joe on 6/22/2020 & rated 92 points: Good balance and near its apex (1378 views) | | | Tasted by jbean007 on 4/6/2020 & rated 93 points: Well, no rough edges to me at all. In contrast to some others I found this to be a very harmonious wine. I also don't think it is fading - I think it's at the peak. That said given the fruit/acid/tannin balance, time to drink up. Nothing is overpowering in this one - which is distinctive for DV - and I mean that in a good way. (1517 views) | | | Tasted by Javachip on 1/4/2019 & rated 93 points: Allowed to breathe in glass one hour. Clear dark garnet color. Lovely black fruit, sweet earth, forest floor, tobacco, anise, dark baking spices, mushrooms. Seamless, balanced, elegant, wonderful. My #3 out of 22 wines. (2520 views) | | | Tasted by bobvictor on 12/7/2018: Faded. Drink up! (2241 views) | | | Tasted by MC on 3/23/2018: Better than the 97 but fading. B+ (3555 views) | | | Tasted by Minnesota on 2/27/2017 & rated 86 points: Concur with Dream's comments. Decanting helped softened the rough tannin edges but only to a degree. Past its prime. Will be interesting an contrast to 1995 when we drink that vintage. (4934 views) | | | Tasted by dream on 12/5/2016 & rated 87 points: Beautiful nose with notes of eucalyptus, cassis and dill. A really lovely silky texture with the Cab Franc really showing up in the flavors of green tobacco, dill, mint and still a bit of black fruit. The finish though is where this wine goes off-track as it is excessively dry and short with a vegetal component to go along with the jammy cassis. Something has always been off about the '96 in my opinion as compared to the great wines made here in the surrounding vintages of '95 and '97 as I find the tannins a bit astringent and overly vegetal. I am also thoroughly convinced that these mid-90's vintages are now past their best and need to be drunk soon. Purchased on release from the mailing list. 87- (5018 views) | | | Tasted by djdaqm on 10/14/2016 & rated 92 points: Decanted 30 minutes and drank over next 2 hours. Lots of life left to continue aging. Nicely balanced wine with typical Napa profile. Good concentration and acidity, with tannins still holding. Some secondary flavors, although I didn't find them as compelling as an aged Bordeaux. Overall for such a good vintage and producer I was left somewhat disappointed despite this being a well made wine. (4365 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 1998, IWC Issue #78
(Dalla Valle Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (4/17/2010)
(Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon) Very dark red violet color; reticent, tart black fruit, herbal nose; refined, focused, berry, herbal, tart black fruit, chocolate palate; medium-plus finish (my #3 of the flight, group's #7 of 8) 93 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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