


Dominus Estate 2003
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Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe 2003 Dominus is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot (14.1% alcohol). Remarkably, it is the 20th vintage for Christian Moueix. Always a Bordeaux-inspired wine with restraint yet substance as well as a textured richness, the 2003 exhibits a deep plum/ruby/purple color, a creamy, opulent texture, no hard edges, and a wonderful sweetness of foresty, black currant and cherry fruit mixed with underbrush and hints of Chinese black tea. Well-proportioned and full-bodied, yet never over-stated or out of balance, this is another beauty from Moueix. Drink it over the next 15+ years.
Complexing touches of dusty earth, pepper and nicely fit oak are comfortably tied to a good dose of clean, clearly defined curranty fruit in the nose of this fairly fleshy young Cabernet, and, while quite rich, the wine is never beholden to ripeness and is at once both weighty and exceptionally well-balanced. It is built along claret-like lines, but is rife with generous fruit, and its relative lack of bluster should not be taken as a sign that it somehow lacks the potential for age. Let it sit for three of four years, and do not be surprised if it improves for twice as long.








In the late 1960s, while attending the University of California at Davis, Christian Moueix fell in love with the Napa Valley and its wines. Son of Jean-Pierre Moueix, the famed wine merchant and producer from Libourne, France, Moueix returned home in 1970 to manage the family vineyards, including Chateaux Petrus, La Fleur-Petrus, Trotanoy in Pomerol and Magdelaine in Saint Emilion.
His love of Napa Valley lingered and in 1981, he discovered the historic Napanook vineyard, a 124-acre site west of Yountville that had been the source of fruit for some of the finest Napa Valley wines of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1982, Moueix entered into a partnership to develop the vineyard and, in 1995, became its sole owner. He chose the name 'Dominus' or 'Lord of the Estate' in Latin to underscore his longstanding commitment to stewardship of the land.