2007 Maya

What a difference a year makes. The 2007 Maya is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Sexy and racy to the core, the 2007 captures the sensuality of the year in spades. Raspberry jam, white flowers, mint and spices are nicely shaped by silky tannins. Production was tiny, at around 270 cases, partly because 2007 is the vintage in which Dalla Valle introduced their second wine, Collina Dalla Valle. (AG)

(includes 30% cabernet franc) Good full ruby-red; brighter than the Napa Valley bottling. Darker, impressively vibrant aromas of blueberry, boysenberry, violet and licorice. A step up in density and verve; quite young today but this really saturates and perfumes the palate. Spreads out and echoes impressively on the very long, subtle back end, where the tannins are currently hidden by bright fruit. I never would have guessed this wine was carrying 15% alcohol. Incidentally, the 2002 Maya was the last vintage from the old plantings; Dalla Valle skipped 2003 and 2004 and then restarted with 2005.

(includes 30% cabernet franc) Saturated medium ruby. Very ripe, brooding aromas of black fruits, graphite and dark chocolate; wilder than the Napa Valley cuvee Then broad, large-scaled and superripe (this is about 15% alcohol), showing more baby fat but less early definition than the Napa version. Unusually rich and large-scaled for this wine, but not yet projecting its aromas. A rather massive and undeniably mouthfilling wine, finishing with building tannins. But will it offer the clarity and elegance of the basic bottling? According to Naoko Dalla Valle, the harvest began around Labor Day but then slowed down and ultimately ended during the first week of October. There will be barely 600 cases of these two wines, but Dalla Valle is now finished with her extensive replanting project, so production should slowly increase in the coming years.