2021 Dalla Valle Maya is particularly significant. In addition to being a perfect 100-point wine, it's also the first release that can truly be described as the first "Maya-made" Maya—a fitting milestone for a wine that bears her name.
2021 Dalla Valle Maya
Some wines are more than just great bottles—they're white whales. Dalla Valle Maya has been one of mine for nearly three decades.
When I first got into the wine business, the legendary 1997 Napa Cabernets were just beginning to hit the market, and Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate was still a printed publication that arrived every other month. I couldn't wait for each new issue. I'd pour over every article and regional review, but it was always the Napa report that captured my imagination back then.
Reading about these iconic wines was like reading mythology. Even then, The Wine & Cheese Place—known simply as The Cheese Place at the time—had an incredible selection. We stocked cases of Joseph Phelps Insignia, Mondavi Reserve Cabernet, Château Montelena, Silver Oak Napa Valley, and even cult classics like Bryant Family and Harlan Estate.
But one wine was always missing.
At the very top of Parker's score sheets sat Dalla Valle Maya—a wine I read about endlessly but never actually saw on our shelves. It wasn't surprising. The legendary 1997 Maya was produced in a tiny run of just 270 cases, and even today production typically hovers around only 500 cases in generous vintages. It was the definition of unobtainable.
Fortunately, today's market isn't nearly as allocation-driven as it once was. So when I recently asked my distributor about the 2021 Dalla Valle Maya, I wasn't expecting much. To my surprise, my sales rep found a handful of cases sitting in inventory.
Needless to say, I didn't hesitate.
It's with genuine excitement that I can finally present one of Napa Valley's true icons—the 100-point 2021 Dalla Valle Maya. Some wines live up to the legend. This is one of them.