2010 Maya

Full ruby to the rim. Wilder, muskier scents of dark raspberry, blueberry, espresso bean, lavender, graphite and licorice. Thicker on entry than the Cabernet Sauvignon bottling but not showing as much personality or sweetness today. More soil-inflected, and more important. A large-scaled, very rich, full wine with the dusty floral complexity of noble Cabernet Franc. Really saturates the mouth with perfumed dark fruits. Holds its uncanny density and breadth through a strongly mineral, firmly tannic, rising back end, with the finish saturating the entire palate and leaving the taste buds sated. A larger-scaled wine than the Napa Valley Cabernet and ultimately more complex, with more stuffing to support its tannins. Forty-eight hours in the recorked bottle brought captivating sweetness.

Naoko Dalla Valle's 2010 Maya is every bit as breathtaking as it has always been. An exotic mélange of raspberry jam, espresso, mocha and rose petal scents opens up in the glass. Alluring, powerful and totally captivating, the 2010 hits all the right notes. One of the more complete wines in this tasting, the Maya is brilliant as soon as the bottles are opened and then just keeps getting better and better as the hours go by. The 2010 vintage is full of highlights, but then there is a summit of excellence where a few wines are perched. Maya is one of them. In a word: magnificent!

The 2010 Maya has entered a period of dormancy. Still, it is impossible to miss the huge, imposing structure the wine has always possessed. With some coaxing hints of dark red cherry, plum, mocha, spices, leather and savory herbs begin to emerge, but only with great reluctance. There is plenty of pedigree in the glass, but readers will have to be patient. Winemaker Andy Erickson gave the 2010 26 months in barrel, pretty much unheard of by modern-day Napa Valley standards