2023 Dominus Estate Napa Valley (Christian Moueix)

Christian Moueix is one of the world's best winemakers, and of the few producers to make classic wines in both the old and new worlds, he 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 viticulturist 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 in Pomerol, including La Fleur Petrus, Trotanoy, Hosanna, Providence, and in Saint Emilion, Belair-Monange, and Magdelaine. He made wines at his family estate, Petrus, for four decades.

In 1982, Christian Moueix formed a partnership to produce Dominus from the historic Napanook Vineyard in Yountville, adapting his French technical approach to California. There's a reason why the 2018 vintage was awarded the #1 wine of 2021 by Wine Spectator.

2023 stands as pure perfection because nature and intent moved in flawless harmony—an unhurried growing season sculpted Cabernet of extraordinary clarity, where every element feels precisely in place. The wine reveals itself in measured layers, with pristine fruit, finely etched structure, and a quiet power that speaks not of excess, but of control and pedigree. It is the rare vintage where nothing is forced and nothing is missing—a wine of balance, depth, and longevity that captures Napa Valley at its most articulate and enduring.

2023 Napa Valley vintage isn’t just another great year – it’s the year that will be etched in history. Wine experts are calling it "the vintage of a lifetime," and for good reason. The perfect blend of cool temperatures, morning fog, and balanced sunlight created conditions so exceptional that they’re being compared to Bordeaux's iconic 1961 vintage. As The Wine Independent put it, 2023 is "a winemaker's dream in terms of wine style." Wine Bible author Karen MacNeil calls it "one of the most phenomenal vintages ever in Napa Valley.