2012 Napanook

Dominus Estate is a California classic producer with a French winemaking pedigree. Founded and owned by Christian Moueix, whose family owns the legendary Chateau Petrus in Pomerol, France, Dominus Estate wines are shaped by Moueix’s education at the famed UC Davis viticulture and enology programs. Located in Yountville, CA in the Napa Valley AVA, Dominus Estate began in 1982 as a partnership between Moueix and the owners of Napanook Vineyard, Robin Lail and Marcia Daniel Smith, who were themselves the daughters of John Daniel Jr. Daniel was for many years owner of the much-admired Inglenook winery in Napa Valley. With an eye for classically styled wines embodying the Napa Valley, Moueix began producing Dominus Estates wines formally in 1984 and became the sole proprietor for both Dominus Estate and Napanook in 1995. Like other cult classic producers such as Opus One, Dominus was from the start an enterprise combining traditional Bordeaux winemaking techniques with Napa Valley terroir. One of the ways this was achieved is by utilizing the Napanook property itself, originally planted in the late 1850s when George Yount first began planting vines in Napa Valley. Today the winery is run by a team of French winemakers, and the wines are noted for, as wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. has written, “their unmistakably French personality.” In addition to Dominus Estate, Moueix himself continues to oversee production for Pomerol’s Château La Fleur-Pétrus . Reflecting a traditionally Bordeaux makeup of varietals, the vineyards are planted to 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Some 85,000 bottles are produced annually. The estate’s second wine is Napanook to honor the land the estate was founded on. Buy Dominus Estate wine on WineBid today.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

This is a second label of Dominus Estate