Winemaker Notes
The 2006 vintage is deep crimson in color. Its nose is dense, complex and full of black cherry, fresh almonds and bitter chocolate notes. The entry is very full and velvety, enveloped with round, deep tannins. The finish lingers on with aromas of bramble berries, cigar tobacco and cocoa beans.
Napanook 2006 is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Merlot.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Here's the challenge of blind tasting. The 2006 Napanook, the wine from younger vines and lesser soils at the Dominus Estate, is transparent, its beauty easy to see. It may, in fact, be the best vintage of Napanook we've tasted on release-all black currants and peppercorn spice, lifted, savory, dark and intense. A great Napa wine for rack of lamb. Meanwhile, the '06 Dominus (recommended below) is all restraint, closed off behind the wall of its structure. If Dominus catches up and surpasses Napanook, which it should, it will be an astonishing wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Napanook (a 3,500-case blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest small amounts of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot) is made in a riper, more California style than usual, displaying more exuberant, up-front notes of kirsch, black currants, and plums. Deep and full-bodied with low acidity, sweet tannin, and a fleshy, succulent personality, it tastes like a classic Napa Cabernet. Consume it over the next 10-15 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
It’s tempting to think of Napanook as a second wine of Dominus, but this Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend has been trying to stand on its own. It doesn’t always succeed, but the ’06 represents a step forward, and is the best release since 2003. Dry and well-structured, it offers complex flavors of black currants and sweet grilled oak. Good now and beyond 2012.
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.