1998 Maya

Dalla Valle's Maya is one of Napa Valley’s most iconic wines. This complete vertical back to the inaugural 1988 is a poignant reminder of just how trailblazing Maya was back in the 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, though, Maya is timeless and enduring in its beauty.

Naoko Dalla Valle and her husband Gustav purchased their estate in 1982. The sunny, well-exposed property reminded Gustav Dalla Valle of his native Italy. Dalle Valle is located about mid-slope on the eastern side of Oakville in what is now recognized as one of the pockets of true excellence within Napa Valley. Pedregal, Weitz, Backus, Peter Michael’s Au Paradis and Oakville Terrace are some of the sites that surround Dalla Valle. Sadly, Gustav Dalla Valle passed away in 1995, but he left behind a rich legacy that even he probably could not have envisaged. Today, the winery is run by Naoko Dalla Valle with the assistance of Winemaker Andy Erickson.

As I swirled and savored a barrel sample of the 1999 Dalla Valle Maya, the thought occurred to me that I couldn't find anything wrong with this wine. While I don't believe in raising the specter of a perfect score for a young wine, much less one that has not even been bottled, I couldn't get this extraordinary wine out of my mind for the remaining week of my tour of the North Coast. Crop levels from Naoko Dalla Valle warm hillside vineyard were under two tons per acre in both '99 and '98. "In early September of '99, the fruit was actually behind the '98 at the same date," noted Dalla Valle. "But then we had a week-long heat wave at the end of September. After things cooled down for a week, we picked during another hot spell, during which a wind from the north desiccated and concentrated the fruit. Still, we were able to harvest without getting any raisins."

Under the influence of Tony Soter and, subsequently, Mia Klein, the Dalla Valle wines have gotten less and less acidification since the early '90s. "The huge phenolic material provided by the fruit here does not really require the pHs to be low," explains Klein. "The tannins are anti-oxidative, and there are plenty of tannins. The addition of acidity tends to make the tannins come across as meaner, more rustic." The last two harvests have been extremely late by the standards of this warm hillside site: following a September 2 start in '97, the harvests began on September 26 and October 7, respectively, in '98 and '99. "We can't be forced into picking with green seeds because we don't want to cheat on the length of maceration," noted Klein.