Winemaker Notes
The 2007 vintage is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot.
We recommend decanting the wine prior to serving, to allow it to develop its full potential. This is especially important when serving young Dominus wines.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Dominus may eclipse the 2007, but it may just be a matter of style. The 2007 Dominus, the quintessential model of haute couture, is pure elegance exhibiting a seamless integration of wood, tannin, alcohol and acidity as well as a complex bouquet of cedar, new saddle leather, sweet kirsch, black currant and plum fruit and a notion of licorice. Both the 2007 and 2008 Dominus should drink well for 25-30 years.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Easily the greatest Dominus in memory. Comes down on the drier, lower alcohol and less ripe side than many Cabs in its league, yet lacks for nothing in complexity and sheer deliciousness. Tantalizes with blackberry tart, cherry, carob bean and a Pinot Noir-esque cola-rhubarb richness that retreats behind rich tannins and an earthiness sugessting sweet blond tobacco and dried sage.Clearly ageable, it will develop bottle complexity over the next 12 years, at least. It's 94% Cabernet Sauvignon with a few drops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
-
Wine & Spirits
Pure cabernet in its curranty blackness, this is a top vintage of Dominus: It has a precision and elegance of a wine from a great vineyard. the aromas of currants and Black figs meld with the mineral tightness of the tannin; there's a suppleness to the tannin that points up red tones in the fruit, seeiming to glow from within. The wine is comfortint and challenging at once, holding its freshness and bearing as it evolves over the course of several days. this should thrive in the cellar for two decades or more.
-
James Suckling
Lots of forest berries and flowers in the nose. On the palate it is thick and very rich, with big plummy fruit and a light raisin aftertaste. Chewy, round, and very generous on the palate. This still needs some time to come together. Leave this alone for another three to four years. Pull the cork in 2014.
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.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.