Wijnen

IN DE PERS

100 Lisa Perrotti-Brown – The Wine Advocate Issue #233 - robertparker.com (Oktober 2017) - Bottled in July 2017 and composed of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc, the Dominus 2015 Proprietary Red Wine leaps from the glass with notes of fresh wild blueberries, crushed blackberries and black currant juice with touches of wild thyme, underbrush, iron ore and aniseed with wafts of lavender and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has incredible energy and vivacity, with the firm, pixelated tannins and lively backbone skillfully framing the muscular fruit, finishing with wonderful length and depth. Drink 2019-2055.

Christian Moueix began our tasting of the 2015 vintage with a big smile. “We loved the vintage from the beginning,” he commented simply. Dominus winemaker Tod Mostero explained why 2015 was special: “We had a lot of winter rain—15 inches in December 2014. But then we had a very dry spring—just two inches in March and April. This equated to less vegetative growth, because when you have very little rain in spring, the vegetative growth tends to be limited. This means you need less water in the summer, since the vines prepare themselves for a dry growing season. Because we dry farm, the roots grow deeper and access water that normally wouldn’t be available. We had a similar profile in 2013. The 2015 temperatures were higher than normal but not excessive. Yields were about the same as 2013—smaller than average. The grapes were small. We experienced an early budburst, flowering and harvest, with harvest starting on September 2nd and finished by September 30th."

99-100 Robert Parker – The Wine Advocate Issue #227 - robertparker.com (Oktober 2016) - The 2015 Dominus is a blockbuster. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot (note that no Merlot is used at Dominus Estate, an irony, considering Moueix is the king of Merlot in Pomerol and to a lesser extent St.-Emilion). This wine has incredibly rich, ripe and pure fruit, often suggestive of blueberries, black raspberries and cassis, intermixed with licorice and forest floor notes. A wine of great body, purity and richness, but the balance of a ballerina, this gorgeously lush, voluptuously textured Dominus should drink effortlessly when released and evolve 30 more years, as his older vintages are proving so well.

Christian Moueix’s Dominus Estate continues to be one of California’s leaders in turning out gorgeously elegant, complex and long-lived wines. A magnum of 1991 from my cellar tasted several weeks before I left for California was pure perfection and evidence that at 25 years old, before he had built his stunning winery, great quality was coming from this iconic vineyard. The 2015s are certainly going to be one of his all-time great vintages, rivaling 2013, 2012, 2007, 2002, 2001 and his earliest classics, such as 1994 and 1991. Production in 2015 was about 3,000 cases of Napanook and 3,800 cases of Dominus.

Dominus

De architecten van het befaamde Tate Modern in London en het Olympisch stadion in Beijing, Jacques Herzog en Pierre de Meuron, hadden eerder al het indrukwekkende Dominus Estate gebouwd in Yountville, Napa Valley. De kwaliteit van de geproduceerde wijnen overtreft de nochtans zo grote lof aan dit toonbeeld van hedendaagse architectuur. De bouwheer, Christian Moueix, vertaalt het minimalisme in zijn werkwijze; los van al te modieuze stijlvereisten moet de wijn de essentiële kwaliteit van het fruit weergeven. Dominus is een opvallend karaktervolle en krachtige bewaarwijn. Hij onderscheidt zich door een harmonieus evenwicht tussen finesse, levendig fruit en subtiele tannine.

Christian Moueix richtte Dominus Estate op in Yountville in 1981. De befaamde wijngaard Napanook leverde reeds grote Cabernet Sauvignon sinds de jaren 1940 en 1950 en is de bakermat van de huidige Napa Valley. In 1838 plantte George Yount (vandaar de naam Yountville) er de eerste wijnstokken van de streek.

Moueix

Christian Moueix is net zoals zijn legendarische vader, Jean-Pierre Moueix, vereenzelvigd met Pomerol. Na zijn studies aan UC Davis eind de jaren 1960, vervoegde hij de Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix waarvan hij de leiding nam. Zijn zoon Edouard staat nu aan zijn zijde. Hij bestuurt een indrukwekkend imperium dat ondermeer La Fleur Pétrus, Trotanoy en Hosanna omvat in Pomerol, Bélair Monange in Saint Emilion en Dominus in Napa Valley. In 2008 werd hij “Decanter Man of the Year”.