2013, Dominus, Jean-Pierre Moueix, NAPA VALLEY

Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc

The 2013 Dominus remains a huge, dense wine. A blast of scorched earth, tobacco, incense, dried herbs, liquorice, black fruit and gravel saturates the palate. Brawny and explosive, the 2013 is still very young. It can't possibly be described as elegant but rather virile, somber and dark. All that said, the 2013 is not ready yet. I would not open this anytime soon. 98 Antonio Galloni, Vinous (2024)

The 2013 Dominus is, to my way of thinking, one of the most profound wines Christian Moueix has yet made in his rather brilliant winemaking history, both in France and in Napa Valley. This wine, with very low yields of only 3,500 cases and a final blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, offers up notes of cedar wood, forest floor, loamy soil and oodles of blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. Very opaque purple in colour, super-pure and intense, this wine has low acidity, but ripe, noticeable tannins. This is a 30- to 40-year wine and a profound effort from this famous vineyard in Yountville. Drink it over the next 40+ years. 100 Robert M. Parker, Jnr., Wine Advocate (2015)

Red and black fruits, graphite, plum sauce and incipient notes of tobacco and umami introduce a nicely integrated and harmonious Napanook, the most elegant rendition of this cuvée I've encountered. While this is serious wine in its own right, it will give more immediate gratification than its grander sibling. 92 William Kelley, Decanter (2016)

Drinking Window: 2028 - 2043