We should note that Dalla Valle is one of our favorite wineries and winemaker Andy Erickson has produced another incredible estate Cabernet from this hallowed vineyard that rests a few hundred feet above the east bench of Oakville. The 2015 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was just released to us from the winery and it is unbelievable. “This wine is a powerhouse. The low yields in the vineyard translated into great concentration, tannic structure, and fruit purity. From the glass rise aromas of black fruits, white chocolate, caramel, truffles, and roasted meat. On the palate, the wine is rock solid, packed with fruit and complexity. But, despite its mass, the wine has a narrow, laser-like focus, with ample acid and tannin, and as it unfolds in the glass, more layers emerge: wet slate, matchstick, gravel, and kirsch. It will surely broaden and be burnished with age. It is muscular but balanced and generous, attributes that bode well for its age ability.”
With vintner Naoko Dalla Valle's daughter, Maya, and winemaker Andy Erickson playing crucial roles at the Estate today, we think their wines in the last decade have been their best yet. Dalla Valle overlooks the Napa Valley floor from a hillside terrace 400 feet above the Silverado Trail in Oakville. Since Gustav and Naoko Dalla Valle purchased the property in 1982 and began planting vines, this exceptional acreage has continually distinguished itself as the ideal site for producing some of the world’s finest wines, thanks to the perfect convergence of lingering sunlight, cooling marine influence and red volcanic soil. As dictated by naturally low-yielding soils composed primarily of fractured volcanic rock, Dalla Valle Vineyards keeps fruit production tightly controlled. Rootstocks have been carefully chosen for compatibility with the estate’s terroir, excellent drainage and ideal exposure to sunlight—a full hour more than vines on the valley floor enjoy. The combination of these elements enables Dalla Valle to produce fruit of unique quality and highly sought-after wines in limited quantities.
