Opened this last night with a casual dinner of Tuscan Bean Soup, Quesadillas (a sort of quarantine leftover mishmash), roast Brussels Sprouts. Everyone enjoyed the wine though it led to an interesting discussion of Napa, Bordeaux, and expectations. My note:
Very attractive wine but also reflective of the vintage. Lots of red cherry, cassis as well as green pepper on the nose. Rich sweet red fruit as well as some green notes on the palate. A little tannin but very drinkable with food. Definitely a greener Napa cab, a lot like a very rich Bordeaux, but with 15% alc quite a bruiser.
My Napa lovers liked this wine a lot while acknowledging the slightly unusual greener/bell pepper notes. Added a nice complexity and reminded us of some bigger richer Bordeaux like PLL or even a warm vintage Lagrange. The wine didn’t have much/any secondary character but was well balanced, not tannic, not notably hot, and went well with the food. I figured the silkiness had more to do with high alcohol rather than aged tannins. Btw there was a pretty good amount of thick sediment in the bottom.
I haven’t had many from this producer. Mostly mid 90 and found many of those to have a similar quality, but I wonder if others have more recent experience of this producer - typical? What about in hotter vintages (I.e. is this a 2011 thing?). And thoughts about this kind of big rich Napa in a Bordeaux flavor profile? Which other producers get there?
Not sure about producers like Dalla Valle, but the mid-90s for this winery were awesome, both Cab and Maya.
Had a 92 Dalla Valle Cab a couple of months ago and it would have pleased both Bordeaux and California Cab drinkers. Wonderful, but restrained fruit and a lot of truffle, mushrooms, etc. Yes, it was still California, but nothing approaching some of the bruisers that some associate with the modern California style.
I wonder if it is the vintage. We had a 96 for Thanksgiving. Had to double decant it to get it to open up and when it did it was spectacular. There were both red and black fruits, forest floor, solid tannins and no green or bell pepper notes. Of course the 10.4 ABV may have also contributed to the profile being so different.
I’ve had the 2005 Dalla Valle Cab a couple of times, most recently with friends on Christmas Eve to go with Flannery hangers. Enjoyable with the steaks, but the alcohol stuck out for me and I didn’t love the ripeness of the fruit, but the others were much more enamored. I did not find Bordeaux characteristics and don’t think it will age like the DV cabs of the 90’s, which I love. Even the 2001 was quite good, and I think I still have one more of those. Between big uptick in price, higher alcohol, riper fruit, I am no longer buying, but I have some ‘08s in the cellar. I never really found DV to be a ringer for Bordeaux the way I think Togni is. I recently brought a 1994 DV to a blind dinner and everyone called California Cab.
Thanks for the comments. I’m sure the vintage was highly influential in the Bordeaux-ness of the DV, how could it not?
Well, I don’t expect Napa Cabs to taste like Bordeaux, nor did I think Rich was suggesting they should. I, too, however, enjoy DV’s for the early nineties, as they are elegant, deep, and in their own way even balanced.
Glad to hear you enjoyed yours, Rich, and that you, Diane, as usual are drinking well. Let’s all keep up the good work in these dark times!
A friend just shared a bottle of the '92 Dalla Valle with me yesterday. I suggested it was reminiscent of a Pauillac from a ripe year, and he agreed. Probably spent a bit less time aging in oak barrels than a typical Bordeaux though.