1994 Dominus

Christian Moueix California adventure was not always as excellent as it is today. In fact, Moueix, who is his own toughest critic, is remarkably candid on the early vintages of Dominus, made from the Napanook Vineyard on the western side of Napa Valley outside Yountville: "1983 and 1984 don't count. In '85 we used some press wine and made some mistakes. 1986 I don't like too much. 1987 was the first very good vintage. 1988 wasn't ripe enough. 1989 was a September with rain, and we made a rather Bordeaux-styled wine. 1990 was the second turning point; here is where we started making richer and riper wine." Beginning with the 1990, a favored new parcel of young vines went into the grand vin, and the fruit was generally harvested riper to minimize vegetal character and to get more thoroughly ripe tannins. Another new block was introduced in '94, and this parcel has helped to further soften and enrich the wine.x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D While the wines of the '80s are a mixed bag, especially the vintages prior to 1987, there have been spectacular successes here during the decade of the '90s. The '91 and '94 are among the great cabernet-based wines produced to date in California and simply must be tasted by Bordeaux lovers outside the U.S.x000D x000D x000D x000D In 1995, more convinced than ever about the quality of his site, Moueix bought out his original partners in the venture, Robin Lail and Robin Smith (the daughters of John Daniel, whose Inglenook Vineyard made a string of legendary "cask cabernets" in the 1940s and '50s partly or mostly from Napanook Vineyard fruit). In '97 Moueix constructed a state-of-the-art winery on the 140-acre property (122 acres are under vine) that has enabled Dominus to vinify more of its own fruit, and to introduce a second wine, Napanook. Moueix is intimately involved in operations at Dominus, flying over from his base in Libourne every three months or so. Moueix's Bordeaux enologist Jean-Claude Berrouet visits Dominus every winter to help Napa-based enologist Boris Champy create the final blend for the new wine.x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D In recent vintages, Dominus has generally featured about 80% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc, 5% merlot and 5% petit verdot. Since 1996, much of the declassified material has gone into the Napanook bottling. About 6,000 to 8,000 cases of Dominus are made each year; 2,000 cases of Napanook were bottled in '96, and production rose to 4,000 in '97. I tasted the following vintages of Dominus with Moueix at the estate in early March.