100 California Wine Advisors

"The 2019 DVO (Dalla Valle Ornellaia) is a tour-de-force and wins our vote as ‘most likely to succeed’ new player on Napa’s Cult Cabernet scene! 2019 is only the second public release and is a proprietary blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, demonstrating how well these two grapes blend together when crafted by two brilliant winemakers. Maya Dalla Valle’s eponymous Cult Cabernet blend (also features Cabernet Franc) is one of California’s original five Cult wines and Axel Heinz is world-renowned for his craftsmanship at Italy’s Ornellaia and Massetto. The alluring bouquet shows fresh spring flowers, blueberry, raspberry, a hint of vanilla and subtle pipe tobacco in the background. Those delightful flavors continue and dance across the palate alongside semi-sweet cocoa, dark cherry, baking spices, and graphite. This is pure genius and a profoundly delicious cuvée, not only showcasing the talents of its makers, but the brilliance and freshness of 2019. We recommend decanting (minimum 30 minutes) if you pop a cork prior to 2025. Worthy of 99 points now, this thoroughbred will provide an exhilarating race through 2040 and could very well merit a triple digit score along the way. Bravo! (November 2022)"

99 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

I was blown away by the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon DVO, a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc made as a collaboration between the team at Dalla Valle and Ornellaia. Remarkable notes of red and black currants, spring flowers, lead pencil, loamy earth, and classy oak all emerge from this young yet amazingly balanced, seamless Cabernet. Full-bodied on the palate and perfectly balanced, with silky tannins, it will probably be as good as it gets with 7-8 years of bottle age and is a magical Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that will evolve for 30 years or more.

98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

This is the second vintage of this new joint project between Ornellaia in Tuscany and Dalla Valle in Napa Valley. This year’s blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc, and the contributing sites are similar to last year, based around the AVAs of Oakville, Mount Veeder, and Coombsville. Very deep purple-black in color, the 2019 DVO has a wonderfully perfumed nose of lilacs, red roses, and stewed black tea over a core of red currant jelly, black raspberries, plum preserves, and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid line of very fine-grained tannins supporting the rich, perfumed black fruits, contrasted by crunchy red berries that deliver well-knit freshness. It finishes very long and layered. 550 cases were made.

98 Jonathan Cristaldi - Decanter Magazine

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.