About the Wine

Perfection Again! 100 Points WA
Former Winemaker at Chateau Petrus
98 pt. Vintage, JS
Tiny Yields, Extremely Limited Availability

BLEND: Cabernet Sauvignon: 84%, Petit Verdot: 8%, Cabernet Franc: 8%

About the Winery

Christian Moueix is one of the few producers to make classic wines in both the old and new worlds, Christian Moueix is President of Etablissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, the leading wine company of Bordeaux’s Right Bank, and owner of Dominus Estate in the Napa Valley.

Son of Jean-Pierre Moueix, the legendary Bordeaux wine merchant, Christian was born in Libourne, France in 1946. After completing his agricultural engineering studies in Paris and graduate studies in viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis in 1968-69, he joined Ets Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1970 and, in 1991, became its President.

A viticulturalist at heart, Christian Moueix’s tenure has been marked by the introduction of revolutionary vineyard techniques including, from 1973, crop-thinning as a means to improve grape quality. Today he produces wine from ten family chateaux including, in Pomerol, La Fleur Petrus, Trotanoy, Hosanna, Providence and in Saint Emilion, Belair-Monange and Magdelaine.

In 1982, Christian Moueix formed a partnership to produce Dominus from the historic Napanook Vineyard in Yountville, adapting his French technical approach to California.

Reviews

A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot and 8% Cabernet Franc aged in 40% new oak, the 2016 Proprietary Red Wine is deep purple-black in color and quite reticent at this youthful stage to begin, offering up subtle notions of potpourri, Indian spices, cigar box and iron ore over a core of crushed blackberries and black cherries with intermittent wafts of black and red currants, new leather and smoked meats. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a densely packed mid-palate and oodles of freshness framed by very ripe, finely grained tannins and laced with compelling earthy accents. It offers incredible vibrancy with tons of black and red fruit sparkle in the mid-palate leading to a provocative mineral element on the very long finish. If I could give more than 100 for this one, I would. To be released in May 2019. ~ 100 WA

The opulence of fresh flowers and dark fruit is so impressive. There’s so much going on, from flowers to currants. The palate is full and powerful, but what impresses most are the ripe tannins and the amazing poise at the finish. Tightens down at the end. A blend of 84 per cent cabernet sauvignon, eight per cent petit verdot and eight per cent cabernet franc. Drink in 2021. ~98 JS

The 2016 Dominus is a dark, somber wine. I don't quite see the explosive energy of the 2013 or 2010, not the seductiveness of the 2012, but the 2016 has a distinct charm that is all its own. Quite frankly, I can't remember a young Dominus with this combination of fruit density, freshness and polished tannins. A huge center of fruit emerge with time in the glass in a big, large-scaled Dominus that should provide readers with a long drinking window of pure pleasure once some of the baby fat wears off. ~97 VM

2016 Dominus Estate Napa Valley (Christian Moueix)

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