Dominus Napa Valley 2017 is no longer available

Sold Out

Dominus Napa Valley 2017

Red Wine from USA - California

1 Reviews

A Napa cabernet with a French pedigree, packed with tobacco, plum and floral notes, all beautifully balanced through the long, polished finish. Christian Moueix uses French practices in the management of the estate leaving the vines dry farmed so that they run deep in search of water. All the better in a good but uneven vintage for Napa Valley. Indeed, after a beautiful summer, a heat wave in early September induced significant crop loss. Severe fruit selection allowed the team at Dominus to assure high-quality but it resulted in the smallest harvest since 1988. The blend in 2017 is 88% cabernet sauvignon, 7% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot, matured in 40% new oak barrels. Low stock: Limited to six bottles per member.

is no longer available

Code: US9381

Wine characteristics

Red Wine
Full-bodied
Cabernet Sauvignon
2025 to 2037
15% Alcohol
oak used but not v. noticeable
Cork, natural

Dominus/Christian Moueix

Christian Moueix is president of JP Moueix holdings which owns various estates on the right bank of Bordeaux including Trotanoy, La Fleur-Pétrus and Magdelaine. Jean-Pierre Moueix, Christian’s father, was largely responsible for building up the reputations of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol in particular before his retirement in 1973.

Since 1991 Christian has been at the helm of the family company which also acts as a bulk buyer of grapes from other select right bank properties. Son Edouard Moueix is now increasingly involved with Christian spending more time at another important interest, Dominus in California’s Napa Valley.

Christian first visited what is now the Dominus estate in 1981 and admits that he fell in love with it, sold on the 'feeling' of the place. He was introduced by the Mondavi family and, from 1982, the estate was run as a 50:50 joint venture until Moueix bought out his partners in 1994 and built the stylish winery in 120 acres of the old Inglenook/Napanook vineyards. 1983 was the first vintage, with 1994 – elegant, and still with firm tannins when last tasted in 2006, clearly still with plenty of life ahead of it – the first under sole ownership.

The philosophy from the start has been ‘never go for power,’ and Dominus is quite different stylistically from the vast majority of today's California/Napa cabernets and blends, always poised, concentrated but with finesse, and with the balance to mature well in bottle. No corrective methods are used in the winery - no...

Christian Moueix is president of JP Moueix holdings which owns various estates on the right bank of Bordeaux including Trotanoy, La Fleur-Pétrus and Magdelaine. Jean-Pierre Moueix, Christian’s father, was largely responsible for building up the reputations of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol in particular before his retirement in 1973.

Since 1991 Christian has been at the helm of the family company which also acts as a bulk buyer of grapes from other select right bank properties. Son Edouard Moueix is now increasingly involved with Christian spending more time at another important interest, Dominus in California’s Napa Valley.

Christian first visited what is now the Dominus estate in 1981 and admits that he fell in love with it, sold on the 'feeling' of the place. He was introduced by the Mondavi family and, from 1982, the estate was run as a 50:50 joint venture until Moueix bought out his partners in 1994 and built the stylish winery in 120 acres of the old Inglenook/Napanook vineyards. 1983 was the first vintage, with 1994 – elegant, and still with firm tannins when last tasted in 2006, clearly still with plenty of life ahead of it – the first under sole ownership.

The philosophy from the start has been ‘never go for power,’ and Dominus is quite different stylistically from the vast majority of today's California/Napa cabernets and blends, always poised, concentrated but with finesse, and with the balance to mature well in bottle. No corrective methods are used in the winery - no alcohol is removed, no volatile acidity is removed, no acidification is used, and the vines used for Dominus are not irrigated.

2017 gave winemakers the headache of a very hot end of the growing season followed by damaging fires that affected a small part of the harvest. And all this after a wet winter and perfect start to the summer had given rise to great optimism. Winemakers tried to contain sugar levels and harvested grapes like pinot noir earlier, before shrivelling and overripeness marred their potential. The later ripening cabernet benefited from relieving rains and cooler temperatures late on. To cap it all the fires came at the end of the harvest, though many areas had brought in most of their grapes by then. Napa and Sonoma had harvested 90% of their fruit and Mendocino 75%. The fires, as well as their direct damage to communities and forests, created smoke that tainted some fruit not yet harvested. It also cut power to many wineries, causing even more head and heartache to winemakers.

Thankfully, the untainted grapes that were harvested were of outstanding quality and the wines live up to the fruit, ...

2017 gave winemakers the headache of a very hot end of the growing season followed by damaging fires that affected a small part of the harvest. And all this after a wet winter and perfect start to the summer had given rise to great optimism. Winemakers tried to contain sugar levels and harvested grapes like pinot noir earlier, before shrivelling and overripeness marred their potential. The later ripening cabernet benefited from relieving rains and cooler temperatures late on. To cap it all the fires came at the end of the harvest, though many areas had brought in most of their grapes by then. Napa and Sonoma had harvested 90% of their fruit and Mendocino 75%. The fires, as well as their direct damage to communities and forests, created smoke that tainted some fruit not yet harvested. It also cut power to many wineries, causing even more head and heartache to winemakers.

Thankfully, the untainted grapes that were harvested were of outstanding quality and the wines live up to the fruit, both red and white.