DVO (Dalla Valle & Ornellaia) - Napa Valley 2018 (750ml)
Price: $300.00
3+ Price: $235.00 / btl
| Producer | DVO (Dalla Valle & Ornellaia) |
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Subregion | Napa Valley |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Sku | 1704746 |
| Size | 750ml |
Wine Advocate: 98+ Points
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (containing a splash of Cabernet Franc) is a brand-new wine representing a collaboration between Dalla Valle in Napa Valley and Ornellaia Estate in Tuscany (hence DVO). Deep garnet-purple colored it is intensely scented of baked plums boysenberries and Black Forest cake with an emerging perfume of potpourri Indian spices and forest floor. The full-bodied palate is opulently fruited and plushly textured delivering bags of floral and spicy nuances with a long mineral and earth-tinged finish. Draped in flamboyant drama this is a very different very exciting new face of Napa Valley! 400 cases were made. DVO is a new joint venture between Dalla Valle and Ornellaia. The fruit for this new wine comes from various sources around Napa Valley including cooler areas such as Coombsville and Mt. Veeder as well as Oakville. ?It is about finding a more restrained take on Napa without being too simplistic about 'Old World finesse with New World personality'? Ornellaia?s winemaker Axel Heitz told me over a Zoom call. There is a sense of friendship inherent in the wine. Maya Dalla Valle worked at Ornellaia in 2013. When she did her master?s degree in Bordeaux Axel was the advisor for her thesis. ?There is a common view between us about great wine? Maya said. ?We look out for less obvious sites around Napa Valley. We didn?t want a predictable formula. We wanted to include the coolness of high elevation while still making a wine that speaks of Napa Valley.? ?There is a close link to Italy with Maya with her father? said Axel ?but also what we share as an Italian producer is trying to reflect sunny warm climate?to try and bring out complexity and finesse. To combine the ripeness and opulence of wines born of the sun. In the great vineyard sites you can have richness opulence AND finesse.? DVO is Cabernet Sauvignon dominant with a little Cabernet Franc ?to add freshness to the wine? according to Maya. Axel was able to visit Napa during the 2018 harvest. During the winemaking they exchanged on a daily basis. ?We sat together to do the blends and make aging decisions? he commented. For this first vintage there are 400 cases only. While a specific DVO mailing list will be created in the future they are initially planning to send an offer out to the Dalla Valle mailing list clients in spring 2021. A small amount will be sold through wholesalers.
Jeb Dunnuck: 97 Points
A new project between Dalla Valle and Ornellaia that has been in the works for several years now the 2018 DVO is made at Dalla Valle yet focuses more on the southern part of the valley as well as hillside fruit. It’s starting out in the 500-case range but the goal is to grow the production toward 2000 cases. The 2018 is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon (there’s a small amount of Cabernet Franc) from Oakville and Mount Veeder and the élevage is similar to Dalla Valle brought up in a mix of new and used oak. It’s a beautiful wine with a complex savory bouquet of cassis and currant fruits intermixed with notes of chocolate bouquet garni and scorched earth. It’s youthful and unevol
Vinous: 96 Points
The 2018 Proprietary Blend is the first release from a new joint venture that brings together the forces of Dalle Valle and Tuscany's Tenuta dell'Ornellaia. A beautiful racy wine the 2018 captures all the energy and brightness that are such signatures of the sites in Oakville Mt. Veeder and Coombsville that inform this blend. Bright acids and veins of tannin drive a core of red berry fruit cedar blood orange cedar and cinnamon. A generous dollop of Cabernet Franc (15%) comes through beautifully in a brisk vibrant wine that dazzles right out of the gate. The 2018 spent 22 months in barrel (70% new) and a month in tank prior to bottling. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2020. This is a fabulous debut. (Drink between 2024-2040)
jdJames Suckling: 96 Points
An extremely balanced and polished red with blackberry, currant, a touch of fresh herbs, light walnut and cedar. Medium-to full-bodied with very fine tannins and a tight, intense fini
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