Red Blend, "DVO" Dalla Valle, Napa, CA 2019 (MAGNUM)

Only the second release of this collaboration project between Dalla Valle Vineyards of Napa Valley and Ornellaia of Tuscany. A glass-staining dark ruby colour. Gorgeous red berry fruit aromas, white pepper, lavender, graphite, tobacco and sweet cedar. Full-bodied with immense concentration and exuding sweet black fruit and cassis, fragrant wild herbs, palate-etching pixelated tannins that build and build, layered by fractured slate, cocoa nibs, black olives and a long cedar-kissed finish. A magnificent youthful wine built for long-term cellaring. (JC)

This is the second release of the joint venture wine of Tuscany’s Ornellaia and Napa’s Dalla Valle, and it’s a step up in quality. Beautiful blue fruit with blueberry and boysenberry aromas that go to blackcurrants, together with some graphite. Full-bodied, yet toned with polished tannins. Nutmeg notes come through. The tannins spread across the palate and caress. Lovely texture to the wine. Drinkable already, but better in two or three years.