2013 Dalla Valle Collina Dalla Valle

The 2013 Collina Dalla Valle is absolutely gorgeous. Aromatically intense, pliant but also medium in body, the Collina Dalla Valle, the estate's young-vines blend, shows a more delicate side of this reference-point Oakville property. Mocha, black cherry, espresso and sweet spice are laced into the silky, creamy finish. The Collina Dalla Valle remains one of the single most compelling values in Napa Valley today.

The three offerings I tasted in 2013 include their young vine cuvée, the 2013 Collina, which offers notes of earth, elegant black and red currant fruit and some charcoal in a spicy, medium-bodied, attractive and easygoing style. Drink it over the next 5-6 years.

The 2013 Collina Dalla Valle is dark, powerful and inviting. Dark red cherry, plum, smoke, licorice, graphite and lavender are all super-expressive in the glass. Vibrant and finely-cut, the 2013 is another exceptional vintage for the Collina. In this vintage, the Collina is 58% Cabernet Franc and 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, in other words heavy on the Franc, which is the result of newer plantings making it into the blend.