2004 Dominus
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Bright, dark red with ruby highlights. Superripe but highly complex nose exudes scents of blueberry, violet, minerals, licorice, game and cocoa powder. Plush and seamless on the palate, conveying a wonderfully silky mouth feel to the dark fruit, coffee and licorice flavors; less animal in character than some other very ripe vintages of Dominus. This wonderfully suave, sweet, youthful wine finishes with slowly mounting, very fine-grained tannins and considerable class. (AG)
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Like so many 2004s, the 2004 Dominus is a full-bodied wine showing brilliantly at age ten, with loads of complex cedar, kirsch, Christmas fruitcake, black currants and spice box. It has a creamy, opulent texture, but remains light on its feet. This sexy wine is showing exceptionally well and is best drunk over the next 10-15 years. Not one of the longest-lived wines from Dominus, but it is certainly at a wonderful point in its evolution right now. This beautiful historic vineyard in Yountville produced 5,500 cases of Dominus from a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. Increasingly, it is rare to find any Merlot being used in Dominus. Proprietor Christian Moueix said that the 2004 harvest stood out because of the extraordinary heat during the first several weeks of September. The harvest was one of the earliest ever – starting at the end of August and finishing before the end of September. Tel. (707) 944-8954; Fax (707) 944-0547
Straddles the Napa-Bordeaux horse, with well-ripened, dark cherry fruit and sweet vanillin oak melding with dusty herbs, forest floor, cedar and tobacco notes. Marvelous concentration and depth; firmly tannic, yet also generous. Could be Christian Moueix’s best Dominus. (LM)
About the producer
Dominus Estate – the Napa property owned by Christian Moueix of Pétrus and La Fleur-Pétrus – has rapidly earned cult status.