Dalla Valle - Cabernet Sauvignon Maya 1993

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The Maya Proprietary red wine is usually a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc and 55% Cabernet Sauvignon. The 1993 Maya is awesome. The opaque purple color accompanies a bouquet of stony, jammy cassis, roasted herbs, and smoky, meaty scents that are just beginning to unfold and soar from the glass. The wine possesses unbelievable concentration, powerful tannin, and a finish that lasts for 45+ seconds. It is an extraordinarily well-endowed and well-balanced wine that requires 5-7 years of cellaring. It will age effortlessly through the first 25 years of the next century. The 1993s and 1994s are in bottle, and the 1993s, which were released several months ago, are disappearing before any bottles hit the retail shelf. Readers who could neither afford nor find the Cabernet Sauvignon or Maya Proprietary Red, will have to wait another ten months for the release of the 1994s. Production at Dalla Valle has dropped, largely because of the phylloxera damage to the vineyard, and the consequent replanting. For example, the production in 1993 was 40% less than that in 1992. The quantities of wine in 1994 will be equally small. Not until the late nineties is production expected to return to its former level."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Still dark, with high-toned, rich, supple blackberry, currant and black cherry fruit, picking up pretty anise, leather and mineral flavors on the long, intense finish. Has the fruit concentration and tannic structure for further aging.--1993 California Cabernet retrospective. 500 cases made."

WEINWISSER: "Leuchtendes Granat-Rubin, grosser Wasserrand. Duftiges Bouquet, Süssholz, Zedern, getrocknetes Lorbeerblatt, dominikanischer Tabak, getrocknete, rote Kirschen. Mittelgewichtiger Gaumen, für einmal passende Gerbstoffe, den eher leichten Körper muskulös stützend, noch vorhandene Tannine, trotzdem jetzt austrinken."