Dominus 2011

Description

Wine Advocate #209 Oct 2013 Robert M. Parker, Jr.R 89 Drink: 2013 – 2027 The 2011 Dominus (86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc) displays a streak of herbaceousness. Tasting the wine one can see the stress this vineyard on the valley floor must have endured with all the fog and botrytis. It is exceptionally well made in this agonizing year for vignerons, exhibiting a dark plum/ruby hue along with notes of sweet Provencal herbs intertwined with red and black currants, loamy soil, underbrush and spice. This medium-bodied 2011 is best consumed over the next 10-12 years. Looking at the harvest dates for the 2009 through 2012 Napanook and Dominus reveals that none of these were early, very warm years, such as 2013 is promising to be in northern California. For example, in 2009 the harvest took place between October 5 and 12; 2010 between October 4 and 23; 2011 between October 15 and 24; and 2012 between October 9 and 21. Production has remained steady because the estate crop-thins as much as 50% of the harvest to ensure bunch regularity, even ripening and reasonable yields. The second wine, Napanook, tends to come in around 3,000 cases per year, and Dominus around 5,000 cases per year. I was joking with Christian Moueix when I visited the winery and I told him I am one of the geezers old enough to remember his first vintage of 1983, which was tasted at the Rombauer Cellars until he moved to what appears to be an old bank building in downtown St. Helena, after which they constructed a spectacular winery in Yountville that resembles an extension of their historic terroir. Another great vintage, the 2012s have slightly lower alcohols than the 2009s and 2010s, which surprised me given the exuberant nature of this vintage and its boisterous fruit and glycerin. I was shocked to realize that 2013 will mark over thirty vintages for Christian Moueix and Dominus, not to mention my visits each year. How time flies! Tel. (707) 944-8954