Dominus

It all started in the late 1960s, while studying at the university of California at Davis, Christian Moueix discovered his love for the Napa Valley and its expressive wines. In 1981, he discovered the historic Napanook Vineyard, a 42 hectare site which provided fruit for some of the finest Napa wines from the 1940s and 1950s. In 1982, Moueix entered into a partnership to develop the vineyard and in 1995, became its sole owner.

In the 2016 growing season, rainy days were spread out evenly over the course of a warmer than average winter. November 2015 to March 2016 saw 31.2 inches total rainfall (78cm). With soil water reserves full, the vines grew quickly with dense canopies. Flowering (9th May) and veraison (21st July) unfolded in warm and dry conditions and one heat spike of 39°C was recorded on 26th July. Ripening slowed down in August because of cooler temperatures and late morning fog. Leaf plucking and higher temperatures in September helped the fruit to ripen consistently.

I last visited California in March 2017 and already then the excitement surrounding the 2016 vintage was palpable. Another drought vintage that yielded exceptional quality with power and balance. Along with other iconic Napa producers like Ridge, Diamond Creek, Spottswoode and Stags Leap Winery, the Dominus Estate forms a powerful cornerstone of a small sought after group of more classically orientated producers who’s final outlook and philosophy always tips a hat to the old world and Bordeaux in particular.

Dominos Napanook Proprietary Red 2016, Napa Valley

84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc. Exotically spicy nose with layers of cherry spice, cinnamon, sweet cedar, blueberry and green peppercorn spice with a faint touch of orange liquor. Palate shows opulent fleshy weight, loose knit saline acids and a piquant, spicy, bramble berry finish. Plenty of intensity and power with accessible opulence. Drink now to 2030+.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Dominus Proprietary Red 2016, Napa Valley

84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 8% Cabernet Franc. This is the 33rd vintage of Dominus. Deep dark beauty packed full of graphite spice, minerality, spicy black berry and sappy black plum intensity. Plush, creamy and textural, this shows plenty of regal sweet tannin focus with fine grained grip and a long blueberry and bramble berry confit finish. This fine vintage trades on massive concentration, opulent weight and a tight classical gravelly mineral finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

One of the added benefits of attending the annual tasting of all the J.P.Moueix Bordeaux En-primeur samples is the opportunity to also get a UK pre-release sneak peek of their finished bottled Californian wines including Othelo, Napanook and their iconic Dominus.

With such strong US home market demand, allocation quantities through Corney & Barrow, the official UK agent for J.P.Moueix and Dominus, have continued to shrink over the past few years as Robert Parker Jr. has dished out 100 point perfect scores to multiple vintages.

Edouard Moueix presenting the family’s Bordeaux and Californian wines in London at private members club Home House.

2015 represents another block buster vintage which also garnered 100 points from Mr Parker, both when tasted in barrel and again in bottle. However, the Dominus proprietary red while always being a big, dense, powerful wine on release also has an incredible propensity to age, evolving into a classical Bordeaux blend expression that often takes your breath away with its sublime mature beauty and balance. The same can certainly not be said for a number of big glossy Napa reds out in the market place.

UK release scheduled for September 2018.

Dominus Proprietary Red 2015, Napa Valley, 14.5 Abv.

A dense dark imposing colour, the 2015 grand vin was bottled in July 2017 and is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc. The aromatics show a pronounced Cabernet Sauvignon character, packed full of sweet dark earthy cassis fruit, black plum, bramble berry and topped with perfumed notes of lavender, violets, black chocolate and cedar spice. The palate is dense and fleshy, overtly opulent and textural as is to be expected. Very glycerol and broad, there are piquant layers of sweet black currant, brûléed black cherries and spicy graphite tannins that are plush and sweet. A big voluptuous wine that captures your attention and holds it with a certain flashy accessibility not seen in too many young Dominus vintages. But as always, this is the real deal and another seriously fine wine from the Moueix stable that is sure to age very well. Drink from 2020 to 2048+

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)