2017 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Dedicated vineyard worked turned a challenging vintage into an absolute stunner, producing wines with tremendous focus and balance. The finest estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with a little Cabernet Franc for complexity. Generous and expressive now, with incredible flavors of red cherry, bramble and freshly baked bread, this has the structure for many years of solid cellaring.
Naoko Dalla Valle’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines, astride terra rossa soils high above the Silverado Trail in Oakville, are the stuff of myth. With a tantalizingly small amount of wine made, nearly all of their production is sold direct to their mailing list. Thankfully Bounty Hunter has been on board from the beginning, and each year we obtain a small parcel to offer you, including the rare and occasionally “perfect” Maya.
Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, this cuvée is too often underrated and I think it’s one of the most classy, balanced, high quality Cabernets coming from the valley. Deep purple-colored with beautiful blackcurrant fruits interwoven with lots of tobacco, crushed rocks, leafy herbs, and graphite, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, ripe, present tannins, and stunning balance.
Wine Advocate
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is blended of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, aged in barrel for 21 months in two-thirds new oak. It was bottled one week prior to this tasting. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with bold, beautiful black fruits—blackcurrant pastilles, plum preserves and boysenberries—with hints of baker’s chocolate, yeast extract, tapenade and Indian spices plus a waft of forest floor. Full-bodied, rich and spicy in the mouth, it sports soft, plush, well-played tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and fragrant.