2017 | Dominus Estate | Christian Moueix 6L

Filled with incense, blonde tobacco, blue plum, and rose petal. Sculpted, refined and very well balanced, its finish is long and polished.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: There was about 50% of a normal crop this year for the 2017 Dominus, due to strict selection. Grapes were harvested from September 21 to October 3 and the wine was bottled in June 2019. This year the blend is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, aged in 40% new French oak barrels. Very deep purple-black in color, it sashays nonchalantly out of the glass with graceful notions of potpourri, forest floor, crushed rocks, Ceylon tea and licorice with a core of black currant cordial, chocolate-covered cherries, mulberries and preserved plums plus a waft of garrigue. Full-bodied, the palate has a beautifully impactful, wonderfully quiet intensity of black and blue fruits with loads of floral and spicy sparks, framed by firm yet plush tannins, finishing with long-lasting earthy notes.

• James Suckling: Very intense aromas of fruit, yet complex subtlety. Blue fruit, licorice and blackberries with flowers and perfumes. Full-bodied, round and chewy with black tea, currants and hints of leather and incense. Coffee undertones. Extremely long and exciting. Available April 2020. Drink in 2022.

Producer Information

Dominus Estate is a wine producer based just outside northern Yountville, in California's Napa Valley wine region. The winery makes one Napa's so-called cult Cabernets and its eponymous wine regulary receives critical acclaim. The owner, Christian Moueix, has had ownership – at least in part – since 1982, and ran the estate concurrently with his family wine business in Bordeaux until 2008. The estate is based around the Napanook vineyard, which is notable for being one of the first sites planted to grapes in the Napa Valley. George Yount, who gives his name to the Yountville appellation, set up a vineyard here in 1838 and, since then, the 50-hectare (124-acre) site has been owned by all manner of Napa stalwarts including John Daniel Jr, who is widely credited with bringing the Inglenook estate to world prominence. Moueix went into partnership in 1982 with Robin Lail and Marcia Smith, the daughters of John Daniel Jr, and, in 1995, took over as the sole owner. Since then, a second vineyard has been added to the Dominus portfolio, this time in Oakville. The Napanook vineyard sits on the edge of the Mayacamas Mountains, rising slightly into the hills to the west of the valley. The vineyard is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, although there are plantings of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This makeup is reflected in Dominus Estate's flagship red wine, which is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with some Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc – although the exact proportions depend on the vintage. Dominus Estate also makes an entry-level red wine, Othello, and a mid-level Cabernet, Napanook. The vineyard is dry-farmed both to conserve water and to control yields and thus the quality of the fruit. Moueix has also been a particular proponent of crop-thinning, having used it since the early 1970s at his most high-profile estate: Pétrus. This practice is said to improve the quality of the fruit as it improves the leaf-to-fruit ratio, aiding ripening. Dominus Estate is also notable for its winery, designed by the same Swiss architects that designed Beijing's Olympic Stadium. It is constructed from gabions filled with stones, which give the winery natural light as well as moderating Napa Valley's extremes of temperature.

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