It’s no secret that the 1994 vintage always delivers: highly layered, with a great blend of tertiary and fresh aromas, good freshness and tension, pure elegance with beautiful balance, and particularly a lots of drinking pleasure. But this specific bottle set a new benchmark: it had all that and much more: even more expressiveness, an even broader aromatic spectrum down to olives (where did those come from?) and a irresistible hint of brett (at least to my palate), meaty notes, aromatic precision that couldn’t be better and a harmony reaching unthinkable heights. Hands down, this was a perfect Bordeaux, better than every Bordeaux I’ve had in some time, better than all previous bottles of the 1994. A genuine Wow moment, unparalleled and unforgettable.
TN: Right from the first sniff to the long-lasting, expanding finish, this is highly expressive with intense and highly precise aromas that are too many to mention them all. A perfect mixture of mature aromas (tobacco, black truffle), fresh, primary aromas (vibrant, fresh forest fruit core mixed with ripe red and dark fruit), a touch of barnyard funk, meaty notes like a mature Pomerol, spices, minerality, vegetal aromas adding more crunch...... endless beauty. Impeccable structural frame with finely melted tannins, high tension and freshness, and a silky texture. The balance between all the components couldn’t be better. A dream wine.
Decanting: Some Dominus 1994 bottles needed hours, some no decanting at all. This one didn’t need any decanting.
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Tasted blind at a social event. Obviously guessed beautifully aged Bordeaux as always with this one. Clear fruit of blueberry, cherry and lighter red berries on a bed of wet earth. Toppings of black truffles and spicy seasoning, sweet pipe tobacco and contrasting vegetal notes. Palate impresses with great tension and soft, caressing tannin. Aromatically showing seductive sweet fruit and leathery elements. Bottle nr. 8 in the last 6 years (from various sources) and this one was the best so far. A fabulous wine and one the best “Bordeaux” I’ve had.
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Ich habe an diesem Abend nicht mitgeschrieben aber dieser Wein war nicht von dieser Welt - schreibe diese Notiz auch hauptsächlich um dieses unglaubliche Aroma (das ich immer noch so klar präsent habe) nicht zu vergessen. Böse Zungen mögen sagen „könnte meine Nase auch in einen Pferdearsch stecken“, ja, der Wein war in der Nase wie auch am Gaumen von deutlichen Stallaromen geprägt. Aber diese war mit umwerfenden Waldbeerentönen, Trüffel, Honig und Teer kombiniert, Fruchtdruck wie ein Jungwein und eine tolle, süssliche Komponente, die ein endloses Finale einleitet. Showstopper.
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OMG this was so good. Super layered and complex, showing notes of cassis, dark fruit, menthol, some black truffle, forest floor, leather, tobacco and also a touch of pyrazine (reminding me of Cab Franc). It‘s medium-full bodied, ripe but classic at the same time, with some medium super silky tannin, medium+ acidity adding freshness and just a mouthfeel of creaminess and richness without weight. Super long finish. An epic bottle and a testament to the greatness of Napa. Too bad most wines are much more extracted now and much riper…
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Very expressive nose, lots of farmyard, lots of greens, tobacco, leather, very aged Medoc in the nose. The palate has amazing sweetness, grippy tannins. Everybody guessed Bordeaux.
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No notes taken. This second bottle from a weaker batch didn’t showcase the peak qualities that the 1994 vintage can achieve. It had just a bit less of everything that typically makes this wine outstanding: less density, a weaker and less pure fruit core, fewer tertiary aromas, and less tension and verve. It was still a very good wine, but not exceptional.
Still going strong, from a magnum. That beautiful aroma of plums and a bit of brett hits you first. Then the smooth complexity of licorice, smoke, chocolate, mocha, cedar, dark fruits, it’s almost beyond description. Wonderful!
Not as great as other bottles, but still a very fine wine. Cranberreis, black cherries, chocolate milk with this dense ripe sexy california-meets-bordeaux structure.
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1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note: Double-decanted. An unusually bretty nose. Fresh and dense aromatically with fresh, on balance dark berry fruit and vegetal notes. Very structured with still quite grainy tannins, but well balanced. While good, the bertty notes were distracting and this is the weakest bottle I’ve tasted in the last 5 years (sample size of 7).
No notes taken. Probably the weakest bottle of this legendary vintage I’ve had but in no way a weak wine. All the traits are there: beautiful fruit core, wonderful mature Bordeaux aromas, minerality and freshness. However, the wine remained a bit muted and was missing a bit of tension. Still a very good wine.
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Near peak, but excellent balanced wine from a favorite Napa year. It finished 3rd place for me in a special Napa lineup, appearing slightly muted versus others.
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I don't get it. I wait 30 years and this is what I get? I mean, it's good and everything, but why? So many better wines, so much younger and for so much less. Sorry I don't have any more. I'd sell the lot for $500 each (Benchmark price) any day. Someone please explain this to me.
Bouteille et bouchon impeccables. Ouvert 2 heures avant dégustation, il lui a fallu encore 30 minutes dans les verres pour être au top. Robe prune. Nez sur les fruits noirs, le poivron rouge (assez marqué) et le café en grains. J’ai préféré la bouche, puissante mais équilibrée, ronde avec des tanins fondus, une touche de bitume, longue finale presqu’un peu poivrée. Pour mon goût, il manque un filet d’acidité supplémentaire mais grand vin.
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No notes taken. This vintage always delivers. Like a great Pauillac in its prime, this is full of ripe cassis fruit, some red berries too, loads of tobacco, black truffles, forest floor, minerality. Pure and precise. Impeccable structure, so fine and light but full of tension and poise, ending in a long finish. The best bottles show even fresher and more precise than this bottle, nevertheless, this was amazing.
Decanting: No extensive decant necessary.
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This wine Never Disappoints W a slight old word nose, it bursts into beautiful purple flowers and red fruit New leather fragrance is intoxicating This wine , If You Have It! Drink and share Blue/red and finish of dry minerality all In Ps. W grilled burgers
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Just like a bottle consumed earlier this year. Still drinking very well. Decanted for one and a half plus hours. One bottle left. Will likely consume it later this year. No need to risk it beginning to go south.
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No notes taken. An amazing bottle and in its prime. Classic Bordeaux-esque tertiary nose, intense, layered, highly precise, superb harmony and lots of tension and freshness. Everything you want in a Cab. Easily 97pts today and I suspect that it will remain on that level for many years. In good bottles like this one, there is no sign of fading or weakness. My favorite 1994 in California.
TN: Intense, expressive bouquet displaying lots of tobacco, chalk and slate minerality, black truffles and dark fruits. Same on the palate with all those glorious tertiary aromas, a strong, fresh dark fruit core, some luxurious oak notes, some herbs and lots of minerality. The satin-like structure is paired with superb freshness, a satin-like texture, good concentration, and tension but not one shred of excess weight. Long and expanding finish. The balance is superb, from start to finish.
Decanting: Not decanted, no decanting needed. Some bottles needed it, this one not.
Color/App: dense, deep, dark, nearly opaque ruby core -> moderately dense garnet rim; medium ++ viscosity. Screamingly great Bordeaux nose right on PnP: blackcurrant and blackberries, leather, soy, earth and tobacco. Had a little trepidation as I was sure the palate couldn't hold up to the promise of that bouquet. I need not have worried. Lovely, balanced palate that was still a powerhouse: cassis, earth, mineral and savoury herbs with a touch of barnyard and smoke. Fully mature and likely to hold at this level for quite a few years more. Stellar palate presence with great midpalate concentration and stupendous length. This one has it all and would easily fit in as a ringer in any mature Bordeaux tasting. I'd have to say this is probably in my top two or three California Cabernets I've ever enjoyed
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Perfect vanilla and oak. Dominus? A hint of tomato compote as well? Obviously I bitched out at the end and called it ‘82 PL. A hint of rubber as well, to finish. @ Napa Boys Trip
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Flight #2. Too similar to #5. I switched the Dommie years. TP after #5 reveal 10 secs before #6 reveal —> “1000% this is ‘96 Lafite”. Just a hint of VAs, less of the vanilla you see in the ‘94 Dommie. I will say it again… the dinner ZB and I are organizing will be a Dom P / Dominus vertical (probably paired with Domino’s — thin crust, we’re not animals). WOTN (consensus opinion).
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Bright red with slight fading at rim. Rich, dark nose, plums and blackberries. Dark-fruited on the palate, black cherries, blackberries, tobacco. Smooth tannins, great acidity, beautiful balance. Plums on the mid-palate. Finishes long, long and dark-fruited. Lovely and still years ahead of it. Drink next 6 to 8 years. Decanted for 60 minutes before service.
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NYE and WOTY. Combine last two tasting notes. Nothing to add except this marvelous wine, from magnun, enthralled a table of six very experienced, knowlegable wine enthusiasts.
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VT Group Tasting Vol. 3: Tasted blind. No detailed notes taken. Another impressive showing of this legend. At first a bit muted, this morphed into an absolute beauty with roughly 3 hours in the decanter. Highly elegant, fine and weightless, very Bordeaux-esque in stature, composition, aroma profile and ripeness level (everybody guessed Bordeaux). While there is still a lot of life left, I can’t imagine this getting any better. At its peak.
Decanting: This bottle needed time to open up (roughly 3-4 hours in a decanter is advised).
Meaty, funky, horsey. Lots of Bret. Palate is still very tannic, and the fruit is not really keeping up with the tannins. Deep, huge wine, got better once the meat course was served, but overall this was a disappointing bottle given other recent notes below. I wonder if this was low level TCA taint, and nobody called it out due to the outrageous bret?
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blind The 94 ages beautiful. Still not at his peak and not tired. Developes nice etherical and spicy notes, still some black currant left in the tank. No hurry to finish the bottles in the cellar. 96-97
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Immaculate bottle stored in my cellar since release. Mid-low neck ullage, immaculate capsule and cork, decanted 1 hour PT consumption. Floral nose of dark fruit, cassis, gentle smoke and oak, copious secondary and tertiary notes, smooth mouthfeel, medium to full bodied with sweet resolving tannins and a long, lingering finish. Balance, power and finesse in this classy, elegant and mind boggling wine. WOTY so far.
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Tasted blind – and for the love of God for the x-th time mistook this for a Bordeaux. Earthy notes, mushrooms and fresh red berry fruits of strawberry and raspberry bursting out of the glass, building expanding intensity. Beyond that, you’ll also find sweet notes of cotton candy and coca cola. On the palate concentrated with lots of tension leaving a lively and energetic impression while adding complexity of leathery aging notes. This evolved nicely adding a fresh herbal dimension while simultaneously becoming more earthy. This was the 6th bottle in 4 years and I’m again impressed about the consistency here. Have scored them 94-96 with no outliers outside of this range.
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No detailed notes taken. Consistent with previous bottles, this showed intense, absolutely perfectly precise aromas of tobacco, black truffles, wet forest floor, with time some tiny hints of brett wrapped around a fresh and pure dark fruit core with some additional red berries and some floral notes. Additional layers of minerality and herbs complement the picture. Stunning intensity and concentration from start to the long and expanding finish. Impeccable structure with melted tannins, good, high acidity, lots of verve and tension, a nice creamy texture and a fine, long finish. This is a superstar wine, without doubt. All others had it blind and guessed this to be Bordeaux. Compared to the Shafer Hillside 1992 (rated 95 pts) we had in the next glass, this showed more concentration and sharpness with a better tension and freshness. 97/98 pts.
Decanting: PnP, decanted, followed over two+ hours. Improved a bit with air. This bottle could have used 1-2 hours in the decanter.
Easter 2022 Dinner for Madelene, Ken and Moss (Wanaka Wedge House, Queensberry, Central Otago, New Zealand): Drunk next to the Chateau Gazin 1995, this came across as far closer to a Pomerol in style than a Napa Cabernet! Grilled bread notes, very ripe plum skin notes, leather, and a ripeness that is expressive of a great vintage. Certainly mature - smooth, complex and harmonious, but in no way drying out. Lowish acids bring an opulence to the palate that makes this a superb wine to drink on its own. Without food, I preferred the Dominus over the Gazin, for reasons of fruit ripeness, depth of flavour, and ultimate complexity, but with food, their positions were reversed, due to the slightly brighter, leaner, and more direct nature of the Gazin, which certainly complimented the spiced and braised lamb.
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A great Dominus and a great lesson in restraint in winemaking. This is a wine of immense class and poise. I guessed this as Palmer given the silkiness and the refinement. Didn't think this was a Napa wine but if this is how the Napa wines of this era tasted like then I need to find a lot more of them.
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Dinner at Bellyhappychef: Everyone was in left-bank Bordeaux for this. Lovely aged Napa that showed restraint and classicism. Black fruit, thought it was from a Bordeaux from a strong vintage, but it had some greenness that emerged with air. I haven't had much experience with old Napas but the couple of times that I had them, I was certain that they were Bordeaux. Very good.
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Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): Garnet core with slight brick rim; lots of spicy red currant, boxwood, tanned leather, a bit weedy, pretty earth and slight truffle, not the best balance, smells older; linear on the palate, spicy palate, a bit tinny, herbaceous, tightly wound, touch liqueured, dusty finish, metalic in the middle; feels coiled still and needs to unfurl; 93+; called 2001 Lafite.
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Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): Tasted double blind. We started out strong, but this was up against stiff competition. Medium ruby, wonderful nose of truffle, damp earth, tobacco, slight green herbaceous note on finish. I called it as 1995 Left Bank Bordeaux.
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Light, rust red color. Big Bordeaux, barnyard nose with orange peel, saddle leather and pretty raspberry. Ash, red meat juices and subtle anise flavors. Quite beautiful!
p.s. snake river filet and ribeye with charred brocclini and arugula/butter lettuce salad.
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Immaculate bottle, in my cellar since release. Slo-ox for 4 hours, decated off moderate sediment and served. Deep dark color. Impenatrable Spectacular nose of dark, lushious fruit, spicebox, leather, road tar, with multiple layers of secondary and tertiary notes. Could smell the nose all night long. Keeps you coming back. Smooth on the palate with resolved sweet tannins. More of the nose on the palate. All well integrated and balanced. Finishes long and quite memorable. Perfect except that after several hours in the glass, it started to lose just a tad of its luster. All in all, WOTY for me. Not bad for $75 on release. Fortunately I still have two magnums and four 750s.
11x Bdx & Bdx Blends from around the World: This wine was served outside of the competition at the end of the tasting and it crushed the competition. Most bottles of the 1994 drink at peak and this bottle was one of them: Very complex, superbly precise, wonderful fruit core balanced by the most wonderful Bordeaux like tertiary aromas. Like a great Pauillac from a great year.
TN: Medium+ expressive nose full of sweet dark fruit, minerality, dark and dense. Quite precise. On the palate this is a perfectly aged Napa Valley Cab blend with wonderful dark fruit, ripe but not too ripe, just the perfect ripeness, some wonderful nutty notes, some coffee notes, truffles and leather. This is just very complex and the precision is off the charts. The structure is impeccable with molten tannins, good tension, medium+ perfectly integrated acidity, a weightless structure but still enough mid palate weight and a long finish. Very balanced and complete.
Decanting: Not decanted. It got better and better by the minute, more intense and more complex. This needs a good hour or two in the decanter to fully shine.
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Weinkongress 2021 (Restaurant Sonne Leuggern): - Tasted blind, without decanting. - Nose: Wow, extremely cool! Red, fresh fruit, which, after a very light cellar scent at the beginning, is fully present. The fruit core is surrounded by vanilla, cinnamon, nut, earth and truffles. Extremely finely layered and targeted aromas. - Palate: To the point, fresh with awesome acidity, intense in flavour yet balanced. Tannins (medium) are polished and very well integrated. Beautifully balanced by the fruit and maturity flavours. Extremely long, full-bodied finish. But this lightness for your Bordeaux blend from Napa is incredible.It's a lot of fun to drink now, but it can still improve, especially since the fruit is still very present and there is enough acidity. - 96-97 points
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Tasted double-blind as part of a random mixed Bordeaux-blend line-up. Intense with a strong character. Ripe fruit profile with aging notes blended deeply into the picture. The palate was fresh and juicy and in great balance, but maybe not as layered as I would have hoped. As usual, no one guess this right and the table consensus was a hot vintage Pauillac. It is impressive how well the Dominus 94 has aged and how much life there is still left with all of the 5 bottles I’ve tasted over the last 3 years (from various sources) in impeccable condition. No need to deplete any stacks here, best to keep popping a bottle every other year or so for the next couple of decades.
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Having just had a bottle of this that I really loved, this was a disappointment owing to its fecal, unclean notes. They blew off somewhat, but this wasn’t great.
A pristine bottle with perfect cork and fill. This poured clear with the colour showing the patina of age. I chose not to decant based on other reviewers recent experiences which, in hindsight, proved not the best decision for this bottle. The nose and palate were quite closed at first and didn't really hit their full stride until the 2 hour mark just as we were finishing. What really struck me was the incredible viscosity of the wine. Very dense with great depth of flavour. It showed fabulous complexity with a mostly tertiary nose and palate - grilled meat, leather, potpourri, loam and Asian spice. The best bottle I have drunk of this wine so far. Pour carefully as this kicked up a lot of sediment in the last third of the bottle which had stood upright for a day before it was opened. Just superb!
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This made for a very interesting blind tasting experience indeed. The truffley sauvage notes, rich textures, and smooth tannins brought me straight to Pomerol and I guessed Trotanoy! Not my finest showing. But it does made you wonder what the Moueix “stamp” is - is it pure coincidence that my guess was another Moueix property? And the influence of the French in Napa is fascinating - I admit equivocation between right bank and left at the outset, but somewhere in Bordeaux seemed to be the obvious starting point. Regardless of all the interesting questions this raises, it’s a very fine bottle of wine that was great fun to drink and is likely at its apogee now. This began to fade after 2 hours in the decanter.
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Sunday round 2 (Chicago, IL): A solid cabernet, but sadly not much more, given the high expectations surrounding the vintage and producer. The nose is very bretty and this has a lot of barnyard going on. The palate is better than the nose, with more of the black fruit character and some leathery notes, but overall the bretty aromas dominate too much here.
A fantastic quaff. No fecanting needed. Opened in 30 minutes in the glass. Beautiful fruit followed by expansive terroir- smoke, leather, spice and resolved tannins. Superb long finish. Lusciously layered. My last bottle, enjoyed with a pork loin. Supple, hedonistic wine.
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TS’ Birthday Gathering (CdC/DP/old Dominus/Latour): Tasted double blind. Again, 95% of the group guessed this wine to be a well matured, high-end Bordeaux from a good vintage. There might be some extra sweetness giving it away in one or the other bottle of this legend. But not this bottle which likely has been matured in a very cold cellar and therefore was the least developed 94 I had so far. Far away from it’s peak it had a towering structure and not yet all the tertiary complexity the best bottles have.
TN: Medium+ expressive nose with lots of ripe but pure and fresh dark berries along some red berries, herbs and minerality. Very precise although not fully expressive. Same picture on the palate where all the fresh dark fruit and the strong minerality component fight for attention. Almost no tertiary aromas. A wall of well-rounded tannins, a high but very-well integrated acidity, the texture and feel is light and fresh with not the same amount of creaminess the more mature bottles show. The finish is long and slightly expanding. All in all, already quite alluring but more promise than hedonistic dreamland as of yet.
Decanting: Usually no extensive decanting is needed, this (non-decanted) bottle could have used a bit of air.
Bottle 5 of 6; Noticed a little bit of a decline in overall flavor and some drying tannins on the finish. Still in fabulous condition. Nose is just singing now, making it irresistible to repetitive sampling! Fabulous vintage for Dominus and it really shows what ripe California fruit can do for a perfectly aged Bordeaux blend ! Enjoyed with a Prime ribeye.
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Double Decanted at home, very little sediment, cork in great condition but it’s so old they used small corks back then, so don’t go too deep, or just use an Au-so. Punctured my first bottles cork :(. Needs very little oxygen at this point (IMO). Took to a nice French restaurant with my 90 year old father and we had an epic evening. I believe it’s the Napa fruit that makes this wine stand above the majority of Bordeaux first growths I’ve had. A beautiful wine. Can go a few more years but at its peak, IMO. Wow!
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Beautiful Meritage/Bordeaux blend. At a perfect age and so rememberable. One of those wine that your still tasting the next morning, noon and afternoon even after brushing your teeth the night before! Decanted and the nose was teasing me during the process. Drank over 4-5 hrs and it was pure heaven all the way. The last sips I started to notice the tannis drying slightly. I am convinced its at it peak. Beautiful wine! Looking forward with much anticipation to the next bottles. Wow!!!
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The legend continues to sing. I only had my first Dominus 1994 a few years ago but chased down every bottle out there since then and this was another beautiful bottle, up there with the best ones I‘ve had. An almost perfect wine, a perfectly aged Bordeaux with a little Napa sexiness. Superb complexity and precision, perfect balance. Intellectual and sexy. The complete package. This bottle with the most pristine provenance could easily life another 20 or more years. 97 to 98 points
TN: Very expressive, complex and precise nose full of dark and red fruits, tobacco, old leather, herbs, minerality and in this bottle some bretty/framyard notes (but totally in the feature, not fault category). Same potpurri of aromas on the palate with a lot of gravitas, a sexy, creamy texture and an overall light feel despite all the intensity. Typical left bank Bordeaux full of creme de cassis, blackberries, dark cherries, some red cherries, herbs, minerality and again a wall of the most wonderful tertiary aromas (see nose). All is no balanced and harmonious, no hard edges anymore but lots of tension. A long and intoxicating finish.
Decanting: Not decanted, no extensive decanting necessary. This opened up quite quickly in the glass. 30+ minutes should be enough here.
Started drinking after 1 hr in decanter. Tannins are mostly resolved, has a rustic taste that gradually receded over the next two hours. Leather, less fruit that many other Napa reds, though note lean. Nice depth at 27 years. I liked it best between 2 1/2 hours to 3 1/2 hours. Drink now or over next 7-10 years(Now - 2029).
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Impressive, this is has the balance of a great Bordeaux with a little more California fruit and flamboyance. A superb ‘94 that I would be delighted to drink again. The fruit, texture, and finish all excellent - and it drinks well from the first sip, pop and pour.
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The 94 Dominus was amazing! Very dark colour for a wine of this age. The nose was more Bordeaux than Napa with hints of tobacco, dark fruit and leather. The wine was delicious - great balance and length. Everyone thought that it was a lovely Easter treat.
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Very good example of this. Nose is both rustic, soily, earthy, even a little farmy but has juicy California red fruit. Has a distinctly old school character. I don't care for Napa but I like these for their rustic, soulful sense of dusty old California. Plenty of life left. Late night bottle, no notes.
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Beautiful wine. Smooth as silk, ripe fruit but could easily fool someone into thinking this was a first growth Bordeaux with similar age. Currently in peak drinking window with many years left to go.
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The gift that keeps giving... This was the first bottle I had that showed some more pronounced brett/barnyard notes but in a perfect dose. A world class wine with high complexity, high precision, a superb balance between sweetness, savoury and mineral notes with lots of tertiary aromas as well as an impeccable structure. Drinks like a great Bordeaux from a great vintage (and is almost always mistaken for a Bdx in blind tastings). Compared to the best bottles, this was probably a tad less nuanced and it could have used a bit more sweetness.
TN: Expressive bouquet with barnyard aromas, tobacco, leather, sweet dark fruit. Intense, inviting, highly precise, wonderful. Same on the palate with many many layers of dark berries, dark cherries, tobacco, barnyard, leather, minerality, herbs. All aromas very well delineated, with great intensity and superbly harmonious. The structure is marked by mellowed tannins and a perfectly integrated acidity with a light, airy and slightly creamy texture. Very long fruit and tobacco driven finish.
Decanting: Not decanted, good from the go. A bit of swirling was enough here.
Glass: Zalto Bordeaux
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This legendary vintage of Dominus continues to be one of my favorite wines to drink today. This is like a perfectly aged Bordeaux full of elegance, weightlessness, the finest tertiary aromas and sweet dark fruit. The intensity, complexity and precision are superb. This wine was served blind to the others and again, everybody guessed Bordeaux. That’s Dominus from the 90s.
TN: Super intense nose full of tobacco, leather, herbs, minerality and some hints of brett aromas which are to die for. Hyper focused, precise and complex on the palate with lots of sweet, creamy cassis, blackberries, dark cherries along fine fresh and dried tobacco notes, leather and hints of black truffles. Lots of minerality and a layer of fresh herbs. The structure is amazing with molten tannins, a perfectly-integrated high acidity, lots of tension and a creamy texture. Very good length.
Decanting: Double decanted three hours before consumption which turned out to be enough.
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Anything Goes (Zoom): Splash decant, poured and sealed in 5 individual jars and then consumed 3 hours later via zoom. The first word I wrote was "awesome". Balanced, everything is there. Leather, plum, sandlewood, raspberry, Cassis, black cherry, attractive funk, relaxed tannins. The wine of the night.
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Virtual Holiday Wine Tasting (Home): Very dark red color with a 7mm transition to clear. Splash decanted, poured into vessels at 2pm and into glasses at 4pm. Drank a glass over 3 hours. This was another stunner tonight putting the full package together and a flat out dead ringer for aged Bordeaux. Wonderfully complex with sullen floral tones of purple flowers, Italian leather, cassis, mint, orange peel, dried forest floor and red fruits. The palate is fully integrated with silky tannins and an elegance to the sophisticated red fruits and dark berries.Wood spices, minerals, orange zest, pencil and black cherry on a long and bright finish. Wow, so refined, so ready. This can go a number of years yet, but it is there now. My and group WOTN.
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The Players: A great lineup for this tasting, which featured the following wines: 2013 Aubert Lauren Vineyard 1982 Leoville Poyferre 1996 Chateau Cos d'Estournel 1994 Dominus 2009 Bryant Family Vineyard 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter 2009 Suduiraut Sauternes
The Prep: All wines were poured into jars and transported, and consumed 2-4 hours later. The following wines had additional decant times: 1996 Cos d'Estournel - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars 2009 Bryant Family - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter - 2 hour decant before pouring into jars
Voting/Ranks: (Group) WOTN - 1994 Dominus #2 (Tie) - 1982 Leoville Poyferre #2 (Tie) - 1996 Cos d'Estournel (My Ranking) WOTN - 1994 Dominus #2 - 1982 Leoville Poyferre #3 - 1996 Cos d'Estournel #4 - 2009 Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet #5 - 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter Note: only 1 point separated the top wine from the Botton wine in this group (for me)
Wine Notes: 1994 Dominus Estate - This was group's and my WOTN. What can I say that has not already been said about this wine? It was firing on all cylinders tonight! I don't see this wine improving, but I do see it holding for a few more years. Nose showed some perfumed notes accompanied by dark fruit, leather and hints of eucalyptus. The palate was dominated with an earthiness (reminiscent of a high end Pauillac wine), cassis, dark cherry and plum, along with some leather and roasted meat. The finish was medium and showed hints of toasted oak. This was an easy 96++, and I wouldn't argue with 97 points. This was mine and the group's WOTN, but any of the wines could have taken top spot in an awesome lineup! I don't see this wine improving but do see it maintaining for another 5-7 years with no problem.
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Definite elements of the California-French union from Christian Moueix showcasing quintessential Bordeaux at first, but somewhat subsides by the second glass. Some sweet vanilla, saddle leather with sandlewood, raspberry and blackberry. Lovely older Cabernet blend with bright flavors and a lighter weight on the palate. Still has good youth as it glides across your tongue, but I would recommend drinking sooner than later.
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Our 26th anniversary was in Wednesday. Didn’t drink the wine until tonight, and all I can say is wow. Didnt decant. Poured and let sit in glass for 20 minutes. Cedar, smoke and sweet black fruits on the nose. Cassis and black cherry. The aromas were a symphony and very long themselves. They Carried over onto the palate. Adding in spice and cigar box, grilled herbs, and perfectly integrated yet powerful tannins. This wine will easily last another 20 years. I had a texture debate between 99/100 and given that it’s 26 I have to say it’s 100. Perfect wine. Stimulating and intellectual but who cares. It’s phenomenal. Highest recommendation.
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not blind, Best vintages of Dominus, all bottles perfectly stored (subcription) and decanted for 2 hours PERFECTION, A great mixture from Bordeaux and Cali Cab, masterpiece
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Wow! Tremendous, in your face, perfumed and developed aromas. A lot of horse stable and barnyard aromas in a delicious blend with fruit and structure. The aromas hang in the empty glass for hours. Big, broad shuoldered and concentrated. A great experience.
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Opened for one hour and then decanted for one and a half hours. Decanting for three hours might have been a better plan. Drinking very well with not signs of tiring.
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Apples, berries, cherries, plums, lavenders, roses, violets, and black truffles in the rich and elegant nose; fruity and savory with harmonious complexity and depth on the palate; lingering long finish; overall, 96-97 points at this stage; my wine of the night.
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A monster. At age 25 this looks indestructible. So much fruit concentration on the attack and nice long aftertaste. Seemed liked it needs more time...weird !
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This needed some swirling to shake of some cellar funk but then developed into a wonderfully aged Napa Cab. Not decanted, this opened up with more time in the glass and getting better by the minute. Coming from perfect storage and provenance this was one of the fresher and younger bottles which definitely needs more time in the decanter (or cellar) to reach the heights the best bottles of Dominus 94 in terms of teritary expression and complexity. 95-96
TN: After a few minutes the nose showed a wonderful tertiary Cab expression with intense leather, truffles, forest floor and some barnyard funk. Additional aromas of sweet dark and red fruits, cola, herbs, curshed rocks on the palate. Medium+ expressive and quite precise. Not as complex as the best bottles but still great. Creamy texture and high freshness, very round but not yet fully melted tannins. Medium+ finish.
Decanting: This bottle would have needed at least 3-4 hours in the decanter. Other bottles I‘ve had didn‘t need any decanting.
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Dégustation "Dreamers" chez Simon B. (Montréal, Canada): Superbe vin assemblé à partir de cépages de types Bordelais, il faut vraiment les attendre ces grands californiens. Vin très riche et très dense avec ses notes de groseilles, cassis, truffe, fumée, moka, cuir, cèdre et herbes. Au sommet.
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1 3/4 h double decant and tasted blind. Clearly aged with a bit of cellar dust initially, but then showing unexpectedly fine and delicate. Still a firm, tannin structure but feels slightly more fragile - unlike previous bottles. Some green herbal notes round off the picture and still decent freshness on the palate. I have scored this consistently 94-96 in the past and while not the best bottle I've had, the consistency of Dominus in the 90ies continues to impress. So far on a par with 1996 in my experience but not quite at the 1992 level.
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2 hour decant, and very little sediment. Layers of black and red fruits with some blueberries in background, ripe but far from overripe (which always surprises me for this vintage). Very smooth, with just the right amount of food-worthy acidity. Some vanilla Oak, pencil shavings and hints of tobacco.
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Wow, what a nice wine out of Dominus here. Classic bordeaux nose, lots of moist earth, barnyard, dark berry liqueur. This is fully mature and maybe heading past its peak, so there is no need to wait on this which was ready right when we popped our pristine bottle. The palette was full of rich stewed fruits, sous bois, caramel, and a fabulous mineral backbone providing lovely balance.
Marvelous effort, definitely one of the top Cali wines that I have ever had.
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Souper Bordeaux/Napa Valley (Chez François G.): Ouvert en remplacement du '91 bouchonné, il n'a pas reçu la même aération que le 1990 et a donc mis un peu de temps à afficher ses pleines couleurs. Un nez de fruit noir, envoûtant. La bouche montre une grande concentration, une texture veloutée. Dodu et long, il montre une assurance tranquille, tout semble facile. C’est à mon goût un vin plus profond que l'excellent 1990. Superbe. 94-95 pts
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Cork immediately plunged into bottle which was worrisome but...wine is intact N - earthy, funky, attractive barnyard, olive tapenade M - very alive, lush fruit, sour plum, dark berry, great acidity and savory to boot. If stored properly I think this wine still has quite some life.
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Dinner with Herwig (Heirloom cafe): On opening was a bit tight. 1 hour later, an intoxicating nose of red and black fruit, forest floor, leafy; palate is full bodied, lovely integrated tannins, black fruits, complex and deep; medium-long finish. This is improving and just lovely. 94 Day 2: this has a bit more noticeable Brett than yesterday, but still not bad for me. The complexity isn’t quite as intense, but still balanced and nice overall. Drink up the first day though. 92
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Brief note. PNP. cork was perfect. Paired with lamb leg and this was dynamite. showing its age but not in a negative way. compared favorably to '94 Latour but the Latour edged it out in the end. Still kept pace and was really delicious.
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Probably the best Cabernet based wine I’ve had in over a decade. Had this wine in 1996 and it was unpleasantly tannic and not showing anything. Now the tannins are perfectly integrated and it’s incredibly polished. There is an earthy, almost petrol like scent that blends perfectly with the more fruit driven elements. This wine (at least in magnum) may not have even peaked yet, and it should last for a few decades minimum. Feel free to ignore the “drink by 2022” edict; this is much younger at 25 than a 74 Heitz Martha at 20.
Edit:
Had this wine in 1998, not 1996.
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Decanted for a few hours Chez Dave. It has a gorgeous nose of sous bois, like a walk in the woods. Voluptuous silk mouthfeel. A beautiful meditation wine. 93/94
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December Guy's Dinner (Our Farm in NJ): Decanted at 2:30 and enjoyed over the ensuing 6 hours until gone. Among three 1994 Cab’s tasted blind by the group at our “Guy’s Dinner” including the ‘94 Rubicon and Insignia. For me and the group this was the best of the three as well as the best wine of the night. It has been in my cellar since release. It is a translucent medium garnet with no bricking. It has a fragrant nose of earthy bramble, sous bois, charcoal and blackberry bramble. Nose got much better after some air. Medium acidity and well integrated tannin giving a silky mouth feel. Palate has a mix of red and black berries, violets, lavender, pencil lead and just a slight bitterness in the finish which is long at over 30 seconds. This is superbly balanced and great with or without food.
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Tasted double blind. Wow! Wow! This is the best bottle of the 1994 I’ve had so far. A generous friend served this out of his cellar and I got the feeling that his bottles got a bit better storage vs the case I bought on the secondary market. This is in its prime drinking window but is a touch younger than the other bottles I had with more tension and verve. It showed like a hypothetical blend of the 1994/1991 (tertiary profile, complexity and balance) and the 1992 (tension, youthful(ler) fruit). I guessed high-end Bdx from a good, hot vintage. When revealed that it isn’t a Bordeaux it was instantly clear that it must be a Dominus – probably the most Bdx of them all. 98 points easily, probably even 99.
TN: Full-blown, intense tertiary aromatics (loads of tobacco and black truffles, along some leather and wet forest floor). Dark fruit, much darker fruit than experienced in other bottles or the 91 a few days later. Cassis, some red fruit with cherries. Sweet but not in any way too sweet (or ripe, everything is pure here). Complex, versatile, highly precise and with great length and all that embedded in an ultra-elegant structure with perfect tannins and a fresh and perfect acidity.
Decanting: Decanted for roughly 4+ hours and it performed exceptionally good.
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Dominus Estate 1983-1995 Vertical (RPM Steak): Soaring nose of florals (violets), a celeraic component and blue fruits. Palate had a different spice mix (anise and licorice) in addition to the expressive flavors of plum. Needs time, probably drinking at peak in 8-15 years. Excellent tonight.
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Dominus: 1983-1994 (RPM Steak): 92/94/Ringer: Similar to the 1991, this is just so darn young (particularly in the context of the older vintages). Big nose of primary fruit, chocolate and minty herb notes. The palate is richly concentrated with firm structure. The complexity is there with tobacco and cedar lurking beneath. But overall still primary and seemingly super young. Hard to believe its a 25 year old wine! Upside from here.
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This wine had a very deep red center and red/orange rims. The medium+ intensity nose put forth black currants, mocha, dark minerals, and raspberries.
In the mouth, this wine was gorgeously textured with rounded tannin and integrated acidity. It was quite lovely and had a long finish. It was best after 4+ hours in a decanter.
This wine is in the zone but should continue to drink at this level for at least a decade, and maybe more. Could it get better?
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Decanted for an hour but was ready as a Pop-n-pour. Blackberries, blue berries, hints of cassis; creamy vanilla Oak; silky smooth but the alcohol came through a bit more than expected and took this down a point for me.
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Flawless bottle of a great wine, drinking at perfect maturity. Very right back Bordeaux in style, but with a softness, ripeness, and sense of generosity that might suggest it comes from another place. This is classic, stunning, and alluring. I may very well be under-scoring this. Probably the best showing of this wine in this vintage. Currants, leather, cedar, smoke, cigar box.
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Napa Cult CabSav 1994 dinner (Singapore): John Daniel Jr. sold this old and famous vineyard to Moueix family. Another stet up in richness from Opus one. Blueberry, Xmas cake, licorice. I felt a little volatile acidity as well. Still very good if you like it a touch richer.
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Elegant, balanced, structured, and drinking so well.
The nose immediately took me to Bordeaux with its lead, black fruit, tobacco, soil, and crushed stone. The wine was unbelievably nuanced and kept evolving throughout the afternoon. Lovely, layered, and so approachable. This can continue to age long into the future. What a showing and a yet another new benchmark for Napa Cab. An experience to remember!
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A lost Friday afternoon gathering – Mostly blind, some double blind (Blacksalt, Washington DC): Very Bordeaux like but quite. Expressive youthful nose displaying perfectly ripe black fruit, crème de cassis, blackberry, tobacco, a hint of ash, cedar and crushed rocks. Beautifully balanced palate, layers upon layers of perfectly ripe black fruit, exceptional weight yet silky and polished, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, noticeable very fine tannins and a long sweet cassis fruit driven finish. Although domestic for certain, it is the most restrained and claret like wine. This remains extremely youthful and can easily improve for another decade or two. My favorite domestic red and the second favorite after the 82 Mouton.
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Acker Merrall & Condit Bordeaux vs. California Tasting (Michelangelo Hotel): Tasted blind next to the '95 La Mission Haut Brion. This is the first time I haven't rated this 98 pts or better. Why? Maybe because it was blind and it was up against another great Bordeaux? Nevertheless, I always love the nose on this wine and could smell it all day long. This was the last vintage of Dominus where I clearly detect a touch of brett in the wine (which I like). This was the first time I've had the '94 Dominus where I also detected a slight touch of California sweetness on the finish.
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This wine showed again amazing and again different from the other bottles from this case I had over the past two years. This was the first bottle that was completely dominated by brett. So much barnyard funk along the still intact fruit core. Experience tasters who had it blind guessed it to be an old school Palmer. With 30+ years of age. Definitely a Bordeaux-styled Napa Cab here where just the slightly riper profile than the average Medoc could lead you to guessing it to be Napa. Wonderful and with a lot of life left.
TN: Pure magic! A highly complex wine displaying full power barnyard funk, leather, wet forest floor, some tobacco, meaty tones, dark cassis fruit core, lots of herbs. The wine is deep and dense but with no sense of weight. The tannins are mellowed and the acidity is perfectly integrated. Quite high precision and good length. For a higher rating the precision and tension should have been even a tad higher.
Decanting: This bottle didn’t need any decanting, others of the same case needed an hour+ while one bottle was rather a bit advanced.
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Beautiful wine right in it's window for drinking. Lots of floral notes (lavender, paper whites, etc). Licorice, light tar, Medium body but very layered and 3 dimensional on the palette. Very Bordeaux driven
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Drank from Magnum. I agree with other tasters that the wine was flawed. Not corked, but a slight flaw. Had right bank characteristics on the nose early in the evening, but devolved over 2 hours. We held back about 375ml to taste at 4 hours, and it was gone - just the flaw remaining. A shame, as I have had this bottle since release. It should have held up well in magnum, but did not. Second bottle of Dominus (2009) that I have had in the past month that has disappointed. Not convinced yet that this wine belongs amongst the top end Bordeaux-style Napa blends.
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A little hard for me to calibrate, as I rarely drink top-end Cal Cabs, but this was a nice bottle. Dark and youthful in the decanter. The nose was a bit hot for me, but showed pencil shavings and herbs. The palate was a bit more fruity, with prune or overripe plum and a hint of brett perhaps. Fairly silky, I would have guessed a modern high-end Bordeaux from a ripe vintage.
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The deepest, saturated flavors. This is without parallel. Beyond the dark plums, the black cherries, and the intoxicating complexity, there is the edge of Brettanomyces that crept into 1990s Dominus.
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This wine was my and the group's WOTN, no question. The first bottles out of a case bought a year ago were peakish with little upside left. Although very good (rated 96 points twice), it appeared that the wine has to be consumed in the next one or two years. This bottle told a different story! It has the same seductive tertiary Bordeaux aromatics but much more freshness and tension which would allow the wine to further develop and gain for a decade or more. Unquestionably the best Dominus 1994 I've had so far and a great example of the heights aged Napa wines can achieve. 97-98 points.
TN: Wonderful earth, leather, mushrooms, black truffles, wet earth, some barnyard aromas, dark melted cassis, strawberries, cherries, lots of mint which I haven't experienced in the other bottles providing an additional layer of freshness. Very intense and with a high precision. Sharp, fresh with lots of tension and beautifully melted tannins. Good length, great balance. With a great sense of completeness.
Decanting: Not decanted and it was perfect. As you don't know how developed the wines shows I would advise against any decanting. This bottle might have benefitted from a short one, the previous bottles rather not.
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Wet leather, dense and heavy. Earth. Mixed forest berries. Firm structure and powerful. Tobacco. Tightly structured. Still great freshness and perfectly integrated on the palate. Some minty notes too. Unlike with the previous two bottles over the last 18mths, the age was more apparent, but also the strongest presentation of this vintage so far for me with previous scores of 94 and 95.
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Nose of black berry, leather, forest floor and a touch of cedar, same on the palate, big body, delicious, at it's best so enjoy now, rich fruit, a cross between a Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon, mouth filling fruit, elegant, long, long, flavorful finish and aftertaste.
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A classical mature California Cabernet Sauvignon, this Dominus is in the prime of its life. Wood tannins and secondary nuances of cedar and smoke give it a quite Bordelais profile. Impressive stuff.
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Wine & Dine Vol XI (Florhof (Zurich)): No decant needed. Still great structure balancing acidity, alcohol, smooth tannins and flavour intensity. Lots of earth and wet soil around a darkish fruit with light methonl scnets appearing over time. Still quite fresh on the palate but also just a tad light.
Over time the earthy barnyard charater fades and reveals more fruit which was pleasant. The fruit component continued to increase but ultimately ended up showing also very faint hints of cardboard which tainted the overall great impression.
The 1994, which I've had before and arrived at a similar conclusion, is at its peak but probably already facing a downward slope. I wouldn't cellar much longer and enjoy as long as it's this great. Over the first 1h or so easily 95, but ending up at low 90ies as glass time increases. Hence 94 probably fair.
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Wine & Dine Vol. XI (Zürich): Wonderful aged Bordeaux blend full of seductive tertiary aromas and Pinot like noblesse. Everything you want from such a wine. The group of 10 had it blind and everybody guessed Bordeaux. Most liked it best in a group with Shafer Hillside Select 1994 and Mondavi Reserve 1994. This bottle was a bit more developed than the one I had back in May, anyway, this wine is at its peak giving lots of pleasure.
TN: Still quite intense, deep aromatic profile with lots of precision. Tobacco, barnyard, leather, wet forest floor, dark red fruit, some cassis underneath. Minerality is missing here. Very sexy and seductive. While the nose is all about the tertiary aromas the medium long finish is all about the fruit. Fully resolved tannins, good medium acidity, and very good balance and harmony.
Decanting: Do not decant it. Let it breath in the glass. It is at its peak but the bottle we had a few months ago deteriorated after three hours.
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Bright medium garnet, slightly cloudy at the edges. Strong alcohol on sweet vanillin and red berries on the nose. Sweet red berries, strong vanillin, a touch of citrus zest, and something approaching umami. Very tasty.
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Tasted at a dinner with a 13 year vertical of Dominus between 1985 and 2007. This was a great wine, young, fresh vibrant, lush dark fruits, cassis, solid structure, long finish.
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The first sip gave me goosebumps. Beautiful mature Claret. On the nose leather, wet-forest floor, wood, barnyard as well as herbal aromas. On the palate intense graphite, pencil shavings, a strong dark fruit core, some mint and cola scents in addition to the above mentioned aromas. Fully mellowed tannins, good freshness, perfect balance, great elegance. A Napa wine disguised as a superb Bordeaux. I deduct some points due to the nose, which showed only medium intensity and was not overly spectacular. On the palate the wine impressed more and I guess, it will continue to do so for a few more years.
Pop and poured. Good from the start but improved with some air. Needs about 45 minutes in the decanter but be careful, the wine faded a bit after three hours in the decanter the last sips weren’t that memorable anymore.
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Tasted blind. A mindboggling first impression with very herbal and intense nose, a bit tar and petrol from the age, hard to tell whether red or dark fruit, a bit of both probably; well balanced and fresh on the palate with soft, caressing tannins. Over time more and more minty; a lot of power, depth and breadth in flavours with this wine that appears at or near the peak. Now to drinking tactics: While the initial thought was this is easily a 97-98 pointer, the wine loses complexity and intensity over time in the glass. We didn‘t decant before the first glass we kept the bottle in a decanter for 3h or so over dinner which was a mistake. I think no need to decant, enjoy right from the bottle (via a glass, obviously).
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Plum and cigar aroma and beguiling wood roses. Drinks soft and sexy. Complex wine with cherries, cola, anise, cedar, pepper. Wonderful. Decant for 30-60 minutes.
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With FRANK and Ellen Mascaro along with their children Tony Anna Madeline and Ella for Frank's birthday at Salvatori's restaurant. FRANK brought a 99 Dominus which was phenomenal. I was there on an impromptu invitation when he posted the 99 Dominus as a text. And amazing evening. The 94 Dominus was incredible. smelled like an old Bordeaux from Pomerol. Tobacco, cedar, on the nose. Rich dark fruit, rounded tanins, long finish
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A good bottle. Like a great Bordeaux but it's sweeter and has some orange hint. Still log life ahead. If a great Napa is exactly like a Bordeaux, then why we need a great Napa? Let's say Dominus is like a great Bordeaux infused with California sunshine and has it's own personality. I often found Dominus can match with some great Bordeaux and even better. This one I drank after 94 Mouton and did outshine it. IMO, Dominus is one of the most consistent fine wine in the world. Salut!
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One of the best Dominus vintage. Bright sweet red fruits, vanilla, sweet spices and cola. Round, complex and silky. Long finish. Definitely on the elegant side for Napa, and one of the best Napa cabs to me
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Note most comparable to that on 6/19/16. Even as a Burgundy drinker who often hates on California wines, it can’t be denied that this is good. Nose has a lot of red berry juice, but the intricacies of damp earth, game meat, and leather are always such a pleasant surprise on these. Round and balanced palate. Strong with blackberry, cassis, and some tar.
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Had two bottles which were both on the same level, prime drinking window for the next 3 to five years, maybe more. Color still very dark, on the nose more Pauillac than Cali, whiff of cedar, red and blue berries and a faint note of banana, which I like very much in great wines.
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WineBid Tasting Event (Mandarin Oriental): Second time with this wine in a week which is kindof funny. Again it's more funky than I expect, but good black and red fruits and a nice spiciness to it and overall a wine that if you don't know you'd easily guess was an old world style. Enjoyable. Poured from magnum.
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Had at a spectacular WINEBID.com tasting event. Total of 39 wines tasted with an unbelievable lineup ! Bravo to Sterling Roig.
Tasted from a magnum.
What a huge wine. Herbs and vegetable flavors which give way to a fully resolved originally tannin driven wine with classic Bordeaux resolution. Oh so fun to just sniff. Tobacco, lead pencil and slight berries.
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Winorama: A winter in Wineland II; 1/6/2018-1/14/2018 (Portland, Eureka, Napa): Not sure this bottle was 100%. There was a lot of funk that I don't really associate with these older cali cabs and the fruit a bit more muted. Still a tasty wine and it was maybe blowing off over time (perhaps we should have decanted?). Can tell the age for sure and so this bottle at least was prob not making it all the way to the 2022 drinking window, but could see how it might not have always had best storage. Fun to try next to a '92 Diamond Creek and an '06 Grace.
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Tasted Blind. Most got Cali but most thought a lot younger. Still big but nice balance at this point from a perfectly cellared bottle. Dominus always is one of my favorites, even in bad years, but especially from good years like this one. Probably won't improve beyond this point.
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Brilliant combination of new world richness and Bordeaux aromatics. Dark, earthy, and herbaceous aromas; absolutely gorgeous, effusive, fun to swirl and sniff. Cashmere texture, with lovely touches of fresh herb and mineral flavors, marred only by a bit of heat on the finish. Tremendous wine and drinking beautifully right now.
The Judgement of Paris - reloaded: Easy to identify as the Napa wine. Very intense, some heat on the palate too. Lots of dark fruit, high acidity. Too intense, lacks a bit of balance and elegance but still good, just not great.
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Exactly what it should be. Deep/dark, complex with a long finish. In a very good drink window right now. Opened for one and a half hours with no decant.
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Sundown in Hong Kong (Frind's House): Translucent black-red. Nose is very deep black coal, very small-berried black-fruited, tight-wound blueberry, dried star anise, nail polish remover, kumquat oil, metal shavings and grahite. Palate is immediately very harmonious, coal shards, anthracite, lots of black small-berried fruit. More dilute than I’d expected from the nose - the tannins are pretty much fully melted - but it actually fleshed out with time in the glass. All it lacked was significant length.I wanted to like this more but the palate or length didn't quite match the promise of the nose. It was a very tired label so maybe not a perfect bottle. Whatever, it was one hell of a bottle of wine.
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I was a bit stingy with my last CT score - but this is noticably more four-square and Californian than the superb 1991 Dominus (which for me is a ringer for a 1982 Paulliac 1st growth). Good, but I’d rather have the 1991 in my glass all day long...
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Wines of Good Hope: Summer 2017; 7/29/2017-9/14/2017 (River's Inlet, British Columbia): A very good 750 of this. Comparable to the 1991 but with more juice. Whereas the '91 can really trick experienced claret drinkers as to Bordeaux or old school California, this '94 has distinctly ripe, round, and opulent red and blue berry fruit that says Napa. Albeit earth-influenced and balanced.
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Popped the first of my last 2 mags of this wine over the weekend. A nice bottle of wine but not drinking as well as when I had a few other bottles 10 to 15 years ago. Still a lot of balanced graphite and jammy fruit mixed with tastes of some of your finer truffles, but not as pronounced as before. I'll pour the other magnum before the end of the year.
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Dark, ripe fruit right out of the bottle. Opens with 30 minutes in the decanter and holds well over the evening. Very well made wine, but I think it is at its peak and would be drinking now. A-
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My first outing with the 94 Dominus and it's a cracker. Reminds me of an 89 last month, but the padding just a little richer and denser. Very graphite led. Cool and elegant but with padded depth. Dark red to black fruit with some licorice and then green olive. Dense and long. Really good. ****1/2
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Incredible dinner wines with friends (Screagle, Krug, Yquem, Bryant, +++) (Our home): This was the most divisive wine on the night. There is a fair amount of Barnyard stink to this which put some people off. I loved it. This seems like its at peak, but no hurry. It drinks like old Bordeaux IMO. Purple/ruby in color. The nose is awesome with cassis, barnyard, cigar box, a bit of damp earth and slight cedar. On the palate, this is so complex. Layers of cassis, dried currants, loam, with very slight tannins. A very long finish. Great with the food. I have had this a couple times many years ago and always thought it needed more time. Not any more.
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Concur with Buckeye 76. Napa bordeaux classic, properly aged and drinking a plateau. Drank with massive grilled porterhouse, and was pretty awesome. Definite bordeaux funk/complexity, good flavor and finish. Drink anytime.
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Fabulous wine, and our score has inched up since our last bottle in 2008. This is truly a Napa Bordeaux. Elegant wine with perfect balance, full body, and a very smooth long finish. Black currants, plums, leather, and licorice. This wine will go another ten years easy.
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By Coravin,125ml @ 67 Pall Mall. A masterclass once again and blew the 1994 Montebello (Papies 92) out of the water. Spice, dark fruits, cedar tobacco the nose is from a textbook bordeaux. And then it follows with a proper solid base of fruit which is ripe and rich but unlike the montebello its in check and adds depth to the wine with out upsetting the balance. We can go on and on here. Solid 95
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Decanted 75 minutes, but really started to hit its stride at two hours. Cassis, cherries, charcoal. The oak is again prominent, but it feels like this bottle has a bit more life in it compared to last time. Mouth-coating wine with a 45-second finish. This gives me more confidence there's another 5-10 years left in the drinking window.
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Dinner with Rich and Paul (Bella Trattoria): 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet franc, 12% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Double decanted for an hour; nose is flat out awesome, highly aromatic, bordeaux styled nose with bell pepper, lovely green from cab franc, blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, even some red fruit; palate is wonderfully complex with fully integrated tannin, fresh medium acidity, black fruits, slight forest floor; medium-long finish. Comparable to a top tier Bordeaux, world-class, incredible complexity on both the nose but also the palate (nose>palate), and lacking only just a tad in the length of the finish. Nevertheless a near-perfect wine drinking well now but with potential to still improve with additional age. One of my all-time favorite wines. 95-97 Day 2: Lost a bit of the complexity on the first day. Drink up when first opened.
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This was awesome. Soft, sexy, slightly musty, earthy. Very much like an older bordeaux. No decant needed. Opened within 10 min in the glass as we drank it. Disappeared fast.
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Everything you can expect from a solid aged cali-bordeaux. Still full of red fruit, well balanced, with pencil and cedar accents. I look forward to seeing how the famed 2013 vintage will size up 20 years from now.
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Gorgeous wine. Smooth as velvet. A perfect representation of Bordeaux in California. Elegant and refined, yet full flavored with great fruit purity. WOTN
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On the downswing, but the fruit is still holding up. Oak is prominent, and that didn't change after 90 minutes to two hours. A complex spiciness on a lingering 50 second finish. Still very nice.
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Had a 6L magnum i've been waiting on for years and this was the 2-day big dinner opportunity to unleash it. I uncorked this sucker and it immediately tasted exactly like what I imagined an aged California would: a little fruit forward with a bordeaux-like subtleness of saddle and led pencil but not ripe. Opened for 4 hours in individual decanters and re-corked half the bottle for day two. The wine was slower to open up than I thought and finished the first night wondering what another two hours of decant might have brought. On day two, it was opened it up for about 2 hours before serving and it was reached that elusive 94 rating thats posted. I would say that I was slightly disappointed with night one...my guests were not, but they didn't pay for this bottle! This wine for me came into its own on second day. I would suggest that perhaps a 6 plus hour decant might bring the best out of this wine...but then again it was out of a 6L bottle.
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Fantastic bouquet of damp earth and wet leather above rich and ripe red and blue berry fruit. Deep and rich on the palate with generous but nicely developing fruit. Great texture and minerality. Lots of red cedar and drinks like a mid '90s St. Julien. Made the '96, also a great bottle, seem muted and austere in side by side comparison. In a great place for drinking right now.
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Rich, delicious, full-bodied black cherry fruit with graphite and slight leathery flavors, very round and integrated, great breathe and depth, long finish
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Big-Time Reds (Tilia): A big cabernet. Tannic and large. As nice as this was, it didn't come close to living up to the expectaion set by other people's notes.
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Absolutely stunning nose of leather, cedar, touch of gamy and barnyard with dark plum. Tannin is mellow harmonized with the acidity. A beautiful wine now and will continue to drink well for years to come. This wine never ceases to amaze and remains a reference standard for Dominus.
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Drunk with my wife and my brother in law to celebrate the top law exam of his son. Magnificent. Without rough edges. Best wine tasted for a long time. Nearly to perfection in his way. One hour decanted and always improving in the glass during the dinner. Will keep the quality at least for 5 years.
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A group of seasoned Bordeaux and Cali cab tasters took this on blindly. To a man, the decision was French. Not even any equivocation. I thought it had a little gunpowder on the nose. I speculated 96 Cos. Another pointed out the dense black cherry, big mouth feel. One thought LaTour-ish, 1986-1990? Then a vote for 86 Talbot, and described as fading with brett being present. Then someone pointed out the crushed olives and minerals. Scores were 95. 96, 98 with the one low score. This was followed by a 96 Dom. There was not a single French guess for the 96 bottle.
Probably a little past its prime...but still beautiful. Very intense and complex on the nose. Long finish. Beautiful wine...that was beaten by the Beychevelle 1985 :)
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Decanted for about 30 minutes then back into the bottle to consumed over the next 4 hours. A little watery, musty, and sour the first few hours. As it began to pick up addition heft freshness and tannins returned. Stewed cherry, leather, tobacco, wet wood, anise, and a slight medicinal undercurrent. The nose kept smelling younger and younger as the wine sat.
(From magnum) Youthful ruby color. Hugely reductive nose with significant sulphurous, rotten egg notes (I believe the "funk" other notes mention is reduction not brett). As the reduction fades, notes of graphite, red currant, and tobacco. Red fruit and earth in the mouth, with nice acidity and soft but still present tannins. A gorgeous, structured Napa Cab, but needs air to blow off the extreme reduction.
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Verticale Dominus: Un nez de mine de crayon, discret. Une belle bouche droite, de style classique, plus léger, dans un style plutôt austère pour la région. Bel équilibre et finesse, dans un style bordelais classique, séreux. 92 pts
Je croyais avoir trouvé le 1996. Petite déception au dévoilement vu la réputation du millésime.
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Wonderful Wine. Blind I would pick as a Paulliac. Lead pencil graphite and iron on the nose. Lush fruit with dusty minerals with again a graphite over tone. This showed the most Bordeaux character of any bottle of this wine i have tasted yet. In it's plateau and will drink well for 5-10 years at least. Always hard to guess when they are in such a good place, like right now. I decanted for 1 1/2 hours and then poured back into the bottle and brought to a resturant. Drank over 2 hours.
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Wine Tasted at Acker Auction (Riverpark - New York, NY): Tasting, brief note. Black cherry with great spice. Great balance of structure, fruit and evolved flavors. Moderate length. Very good for now, but should drink nicely for close to another decade.
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Mostly Napas and white Burgundies with Washington Winos (Ripple Restaurant in Washington D.C.): This came across as more Bordeaux like: touches of leather, leafy wet earth, but fresh and flavorful. Red and black fruit. Tasty, medium bodied with medium plus finish. Thanks to Howard Cooper for bringing the bottle. Howard actually tried this on day 2, taking the still partially filled bottle home, and he said it showed better. Very good point! Some of these wines - not the oldest ones no doubt - may well have shown better the next day...
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Reinterpreted Paris Tasting 'Best Bottle Circle' Style (Emmen, Switzerland): Clear red showing some first bricking at the edges. Nose shows ripe plums, chocolate and coffee. Nice depth and enormous power. Very long. This is a stunning wine to drink now over the next 10-15 years. After some weaker Dominos 1994 I was happy to taste a good bottle once again.
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Stunning. Two hours in the decanter. Still a beautiful deep red. Spicy on the mouth, leather and cedar. Phenomenal length. Drink and you won't be disappointed. Keep for a few more years and it will get even better if well stored.
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Fell short of the great performance from last October's bottle; perhaps a storage provenance issue, and/or just a less than perfect cork seal. Either way, it was good and certainly had its moments where it was very good, but just not enough of them.
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Deep garnet, nose of classic paulliac, leather, cedar, hint of floral note too. Elegantly balanced in mouth, good acidity and fine tannin yield a very good structure. Black fruit and leather with tobacco aroma, lovely blend and the best US wine I adore, 1991 is just as fine too, but more plush. Should age well.
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ran it up against a 2000 sassicaia and i think this was favored by the whole group. the nuance and aging on this bottle is just perfect right now and i suspect it will hold in this excellent state for the better part of a decade.
we gave it only a two hour decant and it was very expressive. tons of fruit still there with all sorts of intriguing lean vegetal things peeking through.
really everything you would hope a napa cab would become.
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From perfect storage since release. While its starting to show some crimson, this wine is still an adolescent brute. First time I've had this in several years, it's a typical Dominus clove and tobacco nose. In the mouth it's black and brutal big fruit, slightly closed, thick and long. Just not quite ready. Drink the '87, '90, '91 and '92 now...let this set another 5-7 years.
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Canlis: Offered a taste from Jackson on a tour of the cellars--very nice, rich, still brooding IMHO with black dark fruits, tobacco, silky but present tannins.
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A little disappointing. Given reputation and other scores, was expecting more from this wine. Seemed past its prime. Drank along side 2003 Hermitage Blanc and 1990 Lagrange. While it was better than the Lagrange, the Hermitage Blanc stole the show. This wine was week, a little spice notes and some length. Based on length and spicy notes, gave it this score. Otherwise, it would not have even given it a 90.
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Nice color but some minor signs of age in the edges. Big nose of plum and cherry, and some tobacco. Palate has some cedar, spice, and cherry. Tastes like a Paullaic of similar vintage. Not as big as I'd expected. A little short on the finish possibly, but a very solid bottle. Drinking fine, but on the downslope in my view.
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Drank with family at Phoenix gathering. One of 3 '94 Cal Cabs drank over several evenings (Beringer PR and Mondavi Reserve). Mixed emotions, especially in light of almost 95 point community rating. Concur with earlier note about "funk" at first. This seems to be what the experts call "complexity" and nose. Not unpleasant, but not positive descriptors either. Thought the "complexity" dominated the fruit over the course of drinking. Definitely blew off over time, but never had the "wow" moment I associate with 95+ point wines. Certainly good, but not that level. Purchased upon release and stored perfectly.
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This bottle had a lot of funk that took a few hours to blow off, and unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to decant ahead of time, which I'd highly recommend. In spite of that, the wine showed very powerful, still with significant unresolved tannins. A lot of earthy/herbal flavors riding the backbone of dark fruit, a long finish, and overall matched extremely well with a huge ribeye steak and mushrooms fried with bacon.
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Outstanding and complete wine. Double decanted with a moderate amount of sediment. Still full of life. Nose is bordelais but with depth of fruit and complexity on the palate. I wish there was more but it seems to be the last. If you have one, share with friends....
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Great wine. Perfect fill. Still interesting and great, but starting to fade after 30 minutes. Big, rich and with. A bit of the old exotic flavors but still clean. Plums, cedar, sage, mint. Exquisite wine. Huge aftertaste. 97 p.
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Nice stuff but didn't rock me. Enjoyable but over shadowed by stable mates. That said I was pretty distracted and may have missed something. Just wasn't the head turner I expected.
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Decanted 2 hrs and drank over 3 at the resturant. With the air the wine showed really really Well. Dark Cherry fruit infused with a vibrant chocolate cola, underbrush background. This will only get better. the decanting is a must at this time. If if ever developed more layers of tertiary notes I would raise the score
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Wow, this is a special bottle. I admit to knowing nothing about this bottling/vintage prior to last night, though the impression this left will be with me for years to come. When others talk about, or pour, some of their favorite California powerhouses, I usually sigh, and try to keep a open mind. The reason is because this wine, with the promise of even greater heights of expression yet to come, manages to precisely pack volumes of dense, focused red and black fruits with a concoction of spice, soil and floral top notes that render the taster motionless, or at least greatly humbled; whereas modern/recent efforts are kind of the opposite. If a King or Queen walks into a room, it's common (courtesy? obligation?) to stand, acknowledging their presence, even if you don't particularly care for them, their politics, whatever. However, if this wine enters the room, I'm happy to stand, knowing full well I'm in the presence of (actual) greatness. Full-bodied, seamless, artfully lifted and detailed. 14,1% abv. (fully resolved), thru 2029, very highly recommended
Aerated to decanter one hour, returned to bottle, and served non-blind several hours later.
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My mental note on this wine is so far off from the others here that I will not score it. Pristine cork. From a 55 degree cellar. Slight bricking on the edge. I tracked this from popping the cork. It took a couple of hours before some leather poked out. There was no fruit to speak of. Flat entry. All structure. No charm or generosity. Three winos tried this, one of whom had had lots of past Dominus. This was the low bottle of four tasted this evening with first place going to a 2001 Pichon Baron.
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Deftige Nase mit einem spannenden Aromenspiel von Kirsch- und Beerenfrucht, v.a. Johannis- und Brombeere, Paprika, Zeder, Brettanomyces; am Gaumen so perfekt weich, elegant und geschmeidig mit spürbarem, aber feinem Tannin, rauchiger Note und erdigen Aromen; sehr variabel mit veränderter Temperatur und Sauerstoffkontakt, extrem vielschichtig, aber vor allem extrem lecker!
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This is a glorious wine, one of my all time favorites. It's the perfect mix of napa (ripe, sweet fruit) and bordeaux (balanced, structured, secondaries). There's a perfume on the nose that is beguiling, and may be related to the cab franc in this wine. The wine is deftly balanced. Drank well after popping the cork 2 hrs ahead of time (no decant). I would say this will go another 5, but the fruit may fade a little. So long, sadly my last bottle!
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94 Napa: a 20-year retrospective @ my place (Netherlands): Nose of incredible beauty and complexity... A rock-star of a wine, ultimate, impressive and layered. Wonderful spice and sausage and blood. A real delight. Perfect mix of styles, best of both worlds (modern/classic). Top-drawer. 98/100 (group scores 97-100)
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Napa 1994 (@ JK): This is a truly great wine in a beautiful drinking stage now. The bouquet is a feast with luxurious smells and still beautifully ripe red and dark forest fruits and a lot of sweet spices. You can keep on sniffing and discover something new every time. Same on the palate, beautiful acidity and soft tannin with still a good bite. This wine can easily last another 5 years, but no real reason to wait. It is at its peak now.
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Tried from two pristine bottles with different results. One thing for sure, this wine was produced with a bit too much brett. First bottle was decanted for several hours. A fair presence of brett out of the gate, but after 4+ hours, the brett blew off and the wine started to strut it's stuff, with beautiful texture, seamless, good acidity and freshness, excellent 96 points. Second pristine bottle had a lot of brett both on the nose and entry and it did not go away. Several hours later it was still there, very strong. Not corked, but heavy handed on the brett. 88 points. If you own this wine, make sure to decant at least 4+ hours in advance.
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MNSC - Peter (The Principal (Tom Aikens as guest chef)): probably the best bottle I've had ever. double-decanted 3hrs prior to drinking and that's what it took for to show its true colours. still fresh and youthful, it's packed with intense aromas of smoke, leather, forest fruits and spices. stunning.
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Coravin 6/13/14: Deep ruby color with very minor bricking, young appearing; nose floats out of the decanter, blackcurrant fruit, blackberry, superbly intense, very complex dusty minerality, flinty gunpowder, some complex secondary characteristics of tobacco, cedar, some delightful green like eucalyptus; palate is still very youthful with initial tannin that moderates through the palate, silky texture, full body, brooding black fruit throughout gives it a core of fruit without being overripe or flashy, nice tart acidity in the midpalate that persists through the medium-long finish. A lovely wine and an example of the best that California can offer, comparable to a first growth bordeaux. Still has many years ahead (at least a decade or two). 95-96+ 6/24/14: Opened the remainder. There was a bit of wine collecting at the Coravin entry site. A substantial drop-off from when this wine was first opened, and I'm not pleased. (Bitterness on palate is the main change). This is why I generally try to avoid using Coravin on my best bottles...
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Super Tasting 3 of 5; Going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali (Maciej and Steve host a 1994 California Horizontal) (George, Toronto, ON): Served blind. Popped and poured. Garnet in colour, with a light brick. An expressive nose of red currant, graphite, earth, undergrowth, moss, cedar, spent coffee grinds, cured meat, dried tobacco, celery leaf and a touch of horse stable. On the palate, showing tremendous balance; medium acidity, fine grained tannin, with a long finish rounded out with notes of cassis, dried tobacco, blood, earth and pyrazine. This was quite impressive and one of the finest wines of the evening. On reveal, no surprise here. Relatively consistent with previous showings.
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1994 California Cabernet Horizontal (Super Tasting Year 2, 3 of 5) (George Restaurant, Toronto, ON): (tasted single blind) I was a big fan of this from the first pop. Nose has a lovely dirty side showing modeling clay, bandaid, farm, coffee bean, celery salt, leather, tobacco, lush dark cherry, plum, sweet cassis and cured meats. Palate has good acid and some good sweet but firm tannin. Another wine reminiscent of Bordeaux, though with slightly more lush fruit. It was a bit tricky to peg this as the Dominus with a few other rustic wines in the line-up, but it certainly was a candidate. I initially had this down as a 94++, but I came to like it more as it sat in the glass.
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Outrageous wine. Smoke and gunpowder. Leather and Brett. Deep, DARK, brooding black fruit. Soft, silky, sumptuous, long, complex. Lovely freshness and acidity to complement the depth and still ample fruit.
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French Laundry (Napa): Another great bottle. Very forward and sweet nose of black fruit, maybe caramel, earth, mushrooms and a hint of iron. The palate matches and I am surprised at how youthful and forward this is. Long, smooth finish. Big finish with nice grip.
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At Rat's Restaurant for our 20th anniversary. Hadn't been there in quite a while, food, service and ambiance were all first rate....brought the 94 to commemorate our anniversary.
Decanted for about 30 minutes. Deep color, no real signs of aging. On the nose its a dead ringer for a Bordeaux with pencil/graphite, lavender, cedar, farmyard/brett. Palate has dark fruits, cherry, black currants, earth, cedar, spices, truffles. Incredibly smooth mouth feel and long, layered finish. Perfect combination of old world elegance and restraint with California fruit in the mid palate.
Wine is fully mature with a good arc in front of it. This is a really special bottle.
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Dinner with Friends - Dominus, Trimbach, Coutet (Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand): Still not entirely resolved. This is a brilliant Pomerol lookalike which will continue to evolve in a positive manner. More defined and concentrated than the 1992 tasted at the same time. This came across as less nuanced but more powerful. It also felt less animal than the 1992. I have always had a soft spot for the countenance of the 1992 and have had misgibings about the 1994 due to its bretty aspects, but tonight the 1994 felt less ferrel (although I still love the soft and complete nature of the 1992). Based on tonight I would say 96+ points. This will continue to grow in stature , although I do not see this ever reaching the heights of the 1991.
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Truffle, floral, licorice and baked cherry pie and Asian spice create the compelling aromatics. Silky, sexy, soft and polished, the fruit is clean, pure and persistent. Fully mature, this wine delivers a lot of pleasure. This was from a pristine bottled bought on release and stored in a cold cellar.
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Saturday night wines: Tasted at 4 AM at 13 degrees Celsius in the cellar. Giving little initially, remembered as very Bordeaux-like, at least with some warming, structure, yet a hint of sweetness.
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From magnum. Drank this with a rack of lamb persille. A great match. The wine has evolved beautifully. Gorgeous cedary, undergrowthy nose, with lots of great balance and length. A fantastic wine - drinking now.
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At Dinner with a 20 ounce Fleming's steak and sautéed mushrooms, nose of cedar, tobacco, currants, dark fruit, and leather, more of the same on the palate, rich, almost mouth filling, elegant, tasty, medium body, and long finish. Great food pairing!!!
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The Twelveth Annual Stonefields Dinner (Guelph, ON): Very classically styled bordeaux nose with just the right amount of brett for my palate. Nose of cedar, leather, farmyard, violets, dark cherries and black currants. Palate is lovely and showing fairly integrated with low tannins and fairly prevalent acid on the long finish. Consistent with a magnum consumed earlier this year, if a touch more advanced, integrated, and with a bit more brett (fine by me).
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The Twelfth Annual Stonefields Dinner (Guelph, ON, Canada): Wow…..this is so complex…..leather, cedar, blackcurrants, earth, forrest floor and sweet cherry The palate is equally stunning……sweet pipe tobacco, cedar, leather, earth, black currants, black cherries, sweet cassis and a definite Brett presence (which I love) The finish is long, layered, integrated. 1994 Dominus does it again.
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American Belle 2nd Edition (Switzerland): Tasted blind: Intensive dark color. Nose of leather, red berries and chocolate. This specific bottle felt unbalanced, dry tannins and too acidic. Despite the nice vanilla, berry and coffee notes quite a bit of green flavors. Again an off bottle like the 1991 in the glass next to it?
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Friday Night in Toronto (10tation Catering): One of my most anticipated wines of the night. At first, the nose was a bit musty, but it blew off as it sat in the glass. From magnum, I expected this to be quite youthful, but the bouquet was nicely developed; red currants, earth, undergrowth, mushroom, fresh picked herbs, blood, leather and cedar. On the palate, a bit of plushness, but complimented really nicely by some brisk acidity. Finishes long. Exceptional, and should certainly get even better in this format
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A Friday Night Toronto Wine Dinner: Poured from magnum. Second Dominus of the night and a similarly beautiful Bordeaux styled nose. Nose blasts sweet toasted cedar, loads of violets, black currants, barnyard. Palate is a bit more plush and primary feeling than the 1992 poured from 750 earlier in the evening, likely due to the format. Kind of a round plum flesh texture. Again finishes long and should go a while longer yet, especially in this format.
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Pulled 6 oz (Coravin) from a magnum. I see why so many others flunked blind tastings guessing old world. Incredible wine perhaps a tad behind the 1991 Dominus. Nose and palate of a 25 year old Pauillac. Depth, complexity, and enjoyment in a glass!
Quite a wine. Drank over 2 hours. Very forward and sweet nose of black fruit, maybe caramel, earth, mushrooms and a hint of iron. The palate matches and I am surprised at how youthful and forward this is. Long, smooth finish. Big finish with nice grip.
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Still a youthful, deep, ruby-black, the 1994 Dominus explodes with blackberry, cassis and truffle notes, along with some rustic sous bois (and arguably a slight hint of brett). This Bordeaux-styled wine is rich and intense but classically proportioned; though it is somewhat more rustic and heady than the almost perfect 1991 Dominus. Edouard Moeiux remarks advises serving this wine at a relatively cool temperature.
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Brilliant as always. Hard to say if it is the best bottle of Dominus I have had -- and I have had pretty much every vintage since '84 -- but it really couldn't have been better. One could have given it 100, but I've never gone above 97 before, save for the '01 y'quem, and prefer to keep that realm hallowed for the freakishly good.
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Lifted nose of bright fruit, including top notes of cinnamon, pepper and dust. Very Bordeaux like with high acidity, albeit heavier on the palate. Very nice to drink to now!
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Slowed oxyed for a coupe hours, then double decanted back into the bottle, started drinking about 45 minutes later. From popping the cork, the nose was quite expressive, with cedar, leather, and some dark fruit on the nose. In the mouth, it had a nice, round feel...not big...just balanced. Paired tremendously with herb crusted lamb chops
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Good on opening and Great after an hour, We have been tasting this periodically since early 2000 and it still holds up well. The beautiful floral fruity nose was mesmerizing and the structure held up perfectly to my Veal Chop dinner with a friend.
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Served during a tasting session. Fully mature. Served along side high end Bdx. Did very well. Detectable as California from the fruit and tannin profile. Very good freshness and balance. Complex and long. A great Cabernet indeed. Popular with the group too.
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Mature wine of stunning quality and complexity. Marmite (bottle aged toasted oak), flint, plums (of course) but on this showin the wine felt more like a blackcurrant dominant wine. the mercaptans are still there but they are completely incorporated into the wine and make themselves known mainly in the palate. Meaty in the mouth This wine impresses on its balance of flavor. It is rich but gentle and has a beautiful texture that is perfectly judged. This is classic Dominus stylistically and this is in both a good and perhaps obvious way - while it could be mistaken for a French wine, it ultimately is a unique new world style, in my experience. As the wine opens in the glass the farmyard aspects become more obvious. A slight lack of fruit intensity and body at the very end of the palate precludes a higher score, in my opinion. It is great wine but is not in the same class as the 1991. This wine is a point but will certainly last until 2024....
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Truly amazing. Great fruit with a good amount of leather on the nose. Still bright and youthful. It drank great from the opening and even tried a glass two days later from the vacuum pumped bottle. Really good. This wine continues to impress and feels like it is at it's peak but does not show signs of losing its' loftiness. Great fruit, great producer and in top form. Stay thirsty my friends.
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Same as my July note, incredible nose of spices and roses, deep and long flavors—an amazing wine drinking at the height of perfection. Drink now, this will not get better. It is in the window of perfection.
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Taste: Full bodied with some firm tannins and medium acidity. Well balanced with tones of cedar, dark red cherries, cassis, and some herb tones as well.
Overall: This felt like it needed longer in the decanter to fully show. It is hard when there are a lot of people as well. While this was a really good wine, it didn't get the chance to kick into the next gear.
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A New Years Eve treat! Decanted for four hours, perhaps needed more. Silky smooth, delicious. Still some tannins present. Would guess it could age another five years. Certainly one of the best I have every had.
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PHMG WAG: #100 (Chez Lyon in Eugene, OR): This was a great bottle, best Dominus I've had. Aged to perfection with 5-7+ yrs left. Cassis, blackberry, earth, and stone/mineral notes. Great balance and length. No cigar box or pencil, but still notably Bordeaux like.
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Smooth as silk with lovely flavors of cassis and black fruits. The tannins are totally ameliorated and the wine is supple but lacks any real complexity on the finish. A nice drink but maybe sliding past it's best at this point. I've noticed that most vintages of Dominus start to decline by age 20.
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Served double blind. Ripe, red fruited, herbal, quite deep on the palate but with a slightly roasted element that I associate with a lot of supertuscans and that doesn't really appeal to me. Picked as cali cab.
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Holy majorley this was incredible. Within 20 minutes in the glass the wine just explodes. Huge firm body that contains a rich dark red fruit with undertones of cool eucalyptus and soft acidity. The finish lasts forever and it's just so perfectly balanced together right now. It still needs to shed a touch of baby fat but it's drinking great now... I can imagine in 5-10 years it'll be an all star. Easily top 10 Cali Cab experience for me.
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The Big Sendoff; 9/15/2012-9/16/2012 (The Home of Dave L): Utterly fantastic wine. Similar in profile to the ’92 but more flamboyant. Nose of min,t currants, and a hint of blood. Red ripe fruit on the palate, with a strong herbal and minty edge, prominent acidity and freshness. Lengthy finish that repeats and really hangs on the palate. Great wine, with fantastic complexity and poise. Just a hair behind the Lynch Bages for WOTN. Has the ripe forward fruit that I associate with good Cali cabs, though restrained and "bdx like".
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Athens Wine Event, August 2012; 8/25/2012-8/26/2012 (Athens, Greece): Decanted for 1 hour and this is needed. The wine on open is tight and the aromatics are unbalanced and needs a bit of time in a decanter to settle down. Post the there is no keeping this wine down! The nose is of classic well aged Pauillac. A 1990 theatrical Pauillac in our mind. Big nose ,cedar, spice, light floral and earthy beautifly vibrant and did not waiver over the 1 hour( well 2 if u add the decanting) that we monitored it. On the palate it is very much alive although reaching the maturity plateau and again if this was blind we would have guessed 1990 Pauillac. Mid palate is its weak point but this is a wonderful wine great to enjoy now but with a good few years ahead. 96
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Great juice, and not fully mature yet. Just the slightest hint of a funk that was huge several years ago, but is now just part of the wine's character. Deeply flavored and structured, one of the best California wines I've ever had.
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Deeply complex nose. One of those rare wines you could just happily smell and never drink. Multidemsional taste, lots going on as it evolves from tongue, to palate, to throat. Anise, cedar, mocha, black cherries, all in a deep and dark symphony.
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Can't get enough of the nose. Wonderful - thick and viscous, loaded with black fruit, some toasted oak and tar. Finish medium plus. Much better with long decanting, preferably overnight.
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First bottle out of OWC. Unbelievable nose, still a very big wine. Needed almost 2 hours to blossom, but when it did, what a mouthful. These wines age beautifully...
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Few modern Napa Cabernet Sauvignon wines are truly better with age. Most do not add complexities, they just lose their exuberance. That is not the case with Dominus Estate. I remember buying this on release for $35. Those were the good old days. From a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, the wine pops with its floral, truffle, black cherry, tobacco, earth and licorice scented perfume. Rich, supple textured and long, this is drinking perfectly today. I'm not sure it's going to improve, but if you have a bottle or two, this is showing great today.
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Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): An old-school Napa cab that could easily pass for Bordeaux. Stuffed with blackberry, black currant, sweet tobacco, and pencil lead underneath, the wine shows a hint of antiseptic brett and alcohol -- but very few notice. Mouth-watering acid on the palate. This would be an exceptional food wine.
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Drank this with a fantastic dry aged prime rib steak done on the gas grill. What a fantastic match. The wine is evolving beautifully. We made the mistake of not allowing it enough time in the decanter at first, with the result that it tasted less fruit forward than it really is - but with a couple of hours of breathing this evolved and opened up beautifully. Gorgeous cedary, undergrowthy nose, with lots of great balance and length. A fantastic wine - drinking now.
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STG does California Cabernet (Seattle): served blind this was my favorite of the flight. It was very green, with intense tannin, bordeaux-like and oh so elegant. Loved it.
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Wow. This wine is really coming into its own! Tererfic nose of oak, spice and anise. Powerful stuff on the palate as well. Definite cab backbone with a new/old world blending of style that is really rewarding. Evolved over the hours it was open. Complmexity and balance abound. Long finish. PDQ96 (might be too low!) Love that specator gave it a 91 :-)
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Kingston Dinner (Fairfield, CT): brown bagged and tasted blind by everyone except me. Everyone guessed that it was French. I would have made the same guess if I were in their shoes. This wine tastes distinctly French. The nose has all sorts of stuff going on, but most importantly was that this wine was made to endure the test of time. Very impressive.
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Decanted 2 hours before drinking. Nose of dark fruit, tobacco. This wine is drinking very well right now. Complex palate of casis, tobacco, cherry, old world terroir, spice. Perhaps a hint of mocha. A gorgeous cali cab that is drinking like a bordeaux. Extended finish.
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Continues to amaze. decanted for about 3 hours. This one made a 1998 Lafite seem pedestrian. And even made the 2000 Hosanna seem ho hum (same wine maker!).
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My last single bottle of this :( Nose shows very pretty cherry, leather, cassis, blackcurrants, cedar, pyrazene, earth and sweet tobacco The palate has very suave texture and great balance with no edges whatsoever. Pencil lead, graphite, glycerine, leather, cherry, cedar, cigar box and a potpourri of dark fruit all come together with stunning complexity. The finish is very, very long! 2 minutes after my last sip I still taste it. Such pure fruit and secondary notes....wow, really special.
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Very complex wine...tasted some funk barn and raisins...full of flavors, long finish...dust and mud and some dried fruits, very smooth though. Definitely old world.
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From a double magnum bottle, cork was hard to open cleanly, had to do some surgical extraction but succeeded. Poured about half into decanter and drank about an hour later. very classic Bordeaux left bank impression, well balanced, soft tannins but with a well structired undertone. This and the 91 vintage definitely shows Dominus at its best, cannot say I prefer which, loved both. The oak showed much later, surprising, lots of varietion and fun to enjoy slowly, towards the end of 3 hours, it became more Nappa like and shed the left Bank image. Excellent。
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Decanted 2 hours before drinking, impressive nose with strong ripen currants, on plate it is rich, sweet and fruity, medium to full bodied, well balanced, smooth tannin perfectly integrated with the acidity, 30+ seconds aftertastes, very elegant and everything is just perfect, fully matured and possibly at the peak, and plenty of life ahead, awesome!
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Charlie's 65th - Lots of wines! (Charlie's Home): Very nice. For my tastes (at this point), I would wait a few more years on this. It is mature at this point, so why not let it unwind. Nice cassis fruit still there though the nose is more about barnyard/funk and some damp leaves (tobacco?). Complex and layered although slightly thinner than I was expecting. Nice wine and probably one hurt in this setting.
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A very very fine wine indeed - and a classic example of "less is more". A cool complexity to the fruit here that has a lightness of touch to it - minty entry then very fine grained tannins. Muted plums, chocolate, dusty earth and some tobacco. Very decent stuff. I have to say, I wish they still made Cali Cabs like this rather than the rather brutish beasts of modern times.
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Flavours and aromas of mushrooms, muted cigar box, and earth. Smooth and mellow. Subdued fruit lurks in the background. Overall a nice wine but fading a bit. I have always liked this wine; this is the last bottle and it has been great to enjoy it over the years. Very distinctive and unlike other California wines; old world styled - an indication that California wines could have followed a different path (in a good way).
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Garnet colour here; Intense menthol tinged fruit on nose. Dark ripe Morello cherries, spice, earth. Complex and evolved. Really enticing perfume. Lovely texture and mouthfeel and superb, complex flavours on the palate. Rich and intense - opulent like a fine Pomerol. Outstanding.
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from magnum, decanted and consumed over the next 90 minutes. This wine is fully mature, and very much in an old world style, with plenty of subtle earthy/brown notes much more prominent than the subdued fruit. There was some serious brett-like or bottle funk nose on this wine which faded a little over the course of 90 minutes but never quite went away.
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Another great dominus 1994. Finish was perhaps shorter than ideal for such a touted wine (or maybe it was being compared to the overlong opus 1996) so on balance most people expecting the 99pts RP wine were left disappointed but I wasnt, as I thoroughly enjoyed this again. Still quite intense ruby colour. Nose of leather, tobacco with a slight minty/green element to it. On palate the fruit is still strong, with tertiary characteristics of leather and cedar, and again a slight green/herbal (in a good way) undertone. medium/long finish.
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Consistent with previous note. Some bricking, but otherwise quite a ruby red; nose is the real strength here with some blackberry, black currant, some red fruits, some smoke, some green including eucalyptus, hint of mint, some old world earth, just a lovely nose; palate has good structure with acidic balance and well integrated tannins that don't take over the palate, good red fruit in the midpalate, finish is a bit shorter than expected given the reputation of this wine. Overall the nose is spectacular, bordeaux-like, and the wine overall is very enjoyable. Drank over the course of 3 hours, improved over at least the first 2 hours with air. I think this wine has peaked but will last. 94-95 for me.
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HDH auction tasting at Tru; 1/28/2011-1/29/2011 (Chicago, IL): From a magnum. A much brighter colour than the '91 Dominus that was poured before lunch. A more pungent and primary nose with blueberries and red fruits, and clearly much younger than the '91. On the palate, this is slightly bitter with notes of coffee, and again much more primary than its 3-year-older brother. Not much fruit, but instead a lot of earthiness. It's difficult to write an objective tasting note with the '91 sitting next to this. There are similar characteristics in the two wines though; a great vein of acidity but a finish that leaves one wanting. The one thing that I will appreciate here is that this is very Bordeaux-like, and doesn't have the overripe black and red fruits that plague Napa cabs. Tannins are well-rounded and lovely. Paired with "potato espresso" -- mashed potato with ground coffee beans with potato foam.
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This was decanted in my glass for just over an hour. A nose of cigar box, tobacco, and delicious ripe dark fruits. On the palate the perfectly ripened black fruits (READ- not over ripe), prodigal proportioned acidity to balance the cedar and earth followed by more scrumptious fruit. Leather and spiciness are revealed with more time in the glass. The transition from start to finish is lengthy throughout all components (first taste, mid-palate, finish) this wine ends with perfectly integrated (but still present) round tannin. The finish sits in my mouth, begging for more wine, crying for at least 15 seconds. WOW! This is only the second time I have had this wine and each time it has blown me away. An excellent pairing with everything Chinese BBQ (Pork / Duck/ Sausage / Ribs), I will buy more despite the current auction value; it is worth every penny!!!
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A good encounter with the Dominus 1994. Massive wine with plenty of live left. To be honest the wine was almost too young. Drink 2015-2030. Legend in the making
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I was a little concerned with the last two poor showings of this but this one was amazing. A beautiful blend of Bdx and Napa. Charcoal and chocolate. Wow!
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Smooth on opening; layered dark fruit flavor with good complexity; soft tannins that are not powerful so this bottle had probably peaked in its drinkability; sustained finish.
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Some Fine Wines (Imperial Treasure, Great World City): When first poured this had the classic tobacco leaf nose of an aged Cabernet but in the glass this evolved into an extremely pungent barnyardy nose of a young CDP! Still very young in terms of acidity and tannin structure. On the palate it is full-bodied and extremely rich but not cloying or alcoholic. This aspect is what I admire about Dominus. Admitedly this is a very respectable wine and I wouldn't doubt it is one of the best vintages produced but for my taste I would prefer a younger Dominus.
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Alcohol :: 14.1% Very dark ruby core and lightly brownish on the rim. First sniff, heavy barnyard and game dominant the aromatic profile with graphite, underlying sweet plum, mineral, tobacco and damp earth. Very rich and intense palate with layer and layer of ripe dark fruits, plum, Chinese herb, leathery, barnyard and lots of gaminess and graphite. The heavy barnyard note immediately fill up the mouth and palate with good grip of spiciness and hint of sweet plum, very charming in it's own way. Very structure, med-high level of silky tannin with very good balance and harmonious that flow on to the long long finish with vanilla oak and herbs after taste. This still very young and has lots of structure to shed. Very good, however, this lack of the class and finesse that the 1991 offer, and I wonder if the bottle is under perfect condition as the barnyard just dominant the aromatic and flavor profile, which unlike a Cabernet based wine instead of a Rhone CDP. Buy - Re-taste is needed.
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nose - i get red fruits, and roses mouth - delineated currant then licorice, with lots of green notes interspersed. this has none of the fruit bomb attributes seen in napa cabs. more bordeauxesque, and in fact paired remarkably well with the steak, faring better with it than on its own. a fine wine and a food wine makes a fine food wine (?)
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Similar to notes when last tasted 1 1/2 years ago. Dark with slight browning of rim. Notes of lead pencil and currants on nose. BIg rich middle palate that is very balanced with long finish. This wine still has a lot of life left.
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Intense on the nose with spice box and cedar prevailing. Somewhat tannic, earthy, slightly spicy forest floor. Impressive but not overwhelmed given pedigree and price point.
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This is what the mean by a wine at its absolute peak. Opened, let breath for about 90 minutes (not decanted), and poured. This wine is in its absolute perfect drinking window. On the nose, I can't imagine ANYONE picking this out as a Napa Cab, it's purely Bordeaux. The black fruit is there, but this is all leather, some forest floor, bark, and just a touch of eucalyptus or some other leaf. It was the only characteristic that hinted at Cali Cab, and it was very subtle. I've never had a wine with such perfectly integrated tannin. The wine was pure silk, more leather on the palate, with a touch of fig and a fantastic finish that must have gone on for over a minute. Truly a classic Cali Cab.
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Brick red; very rich leather, tobacco shop nose; dried black cherry, black berry fruits; portabello mushroom at the back end; full body enuf to be stand alone Cab or dinner wine. has light, acid more than unctous style, typical of Bdx will not fatigue the palate; finish kind of fast. generic, otherwise would have scored higher
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this wine was very old world in style. The nose is erring towards mature bordeaux (leather, cedar, earth, spices) but to the taste I would say it is surprising youthful and even slightly unevolved (certainly tasted next to the 1994 opus). Leather, cedar (lots) and spices on the palate. Quite long finish. My gut reaction was that this could go (if not improve) for another 10 years at least.
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Easily one of the best Napa reds I have ever had. It is unsurprising that this was made by a Frenchman - very Bordeaux-like indeed! I would have guessed though that it contains a higher proportion of Merlot than it actually does. In any event, what a wine.
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Wonderful wine with this velvety mouthfeel that just coats the palate and refuses to end. Youthful for its age. Tasted twice, and both times outshone by an 82 Bordeaux, Gruaud Larose on this night, and a Lynch Bages 2-3 years ago. The older Bordeuax's tertiary flavors just made them more interesting, though the Dominus does what it does very well. If this does get some of that old claret quality over the next decade it will become truly special.
Had this for a 3rd time on 5/21/11 and this time it was outdone by a 1988 Haut Brion. Don't get me wrong, it's a splendid wine, and 1/3 of the tasters gave this wine of the night. For me, however, the Haut Brion's cigarbox notes simply won out. That being said, it is hands down the best American wine I've had.
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Great nose with lots of spice, flavor. Some fruit, some mint/green, some truffle. Palate is very dark and smooth. Good tannic structure, some cassis and just a hint of something licorice-like. It is excellent, but not quite the 99 points awarded by RP. Very balanced, subtle. I think it has the tannic structure and acidity to age for a decade, but perhaps the fruit will have disappeared by then.
Update: I think this wine was overshadowed by the subtlety of some of the excellent bordeaux tonight. In the future, perhaps consider placing this with more California wines or drink by itself...
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84;68 Fairly light and starting to look quite mature but it is very thick still. Tastes much younger than it looks. Fresh and well balanced. Not like the funky 94's that we sometimes get (and that I love) but very solid and impressive.
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Wonderful showing of a great vintage for this wine. Nose exhibited old world characteristics. Spice, terroir, oak. The wine is extremely balanced drinking very much like a Bordeaux. Not nearly as fruit forward as more recent Dominus wines, in part to the aging and partly to the 12% merlot in the blend. Previous reviewer may be thinking of more recent Dominus which have no merlot. Blackberry, cassis, truffle, earthiness characterize this wine. Wonderful.
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89;56. Very mature looking. Dense in the middle but lightening/browning to the rim. Nose is exceptional, could swear it is an old Bdx. Sweet plum, prunes, cedar, cigarbox, a definite ten on this nose. Palate is very good, but lacking the explosiveness and funky notes we've had on other bottles. Clean and well balanced. Could swear it was a right bank Bdx even though I know it has no Merlot at all. 93p.
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Deep red; rich coffee, earthy nose, mushrooms sauteed in butter; very " tight" bal body of red cherry fruit and darker earthy notes. Impression of a wine on the cusp of adulthood. Bigger and more friendly than Bdx tasted at the same time. Has the ability to stand alone or go w food better than Bdx does. Very balanced fruit, wood, and tannin. not near top, many yrs to go. very SMOOTH finish.
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This was not in line with the 100 point theme as was our starter. Pretty nice showing, although I remember this wine better about 5 years ago. For me, at its peak. It is holding up nicely with some cedar and oak. Earth and dirt with mature cherries. Great minerality on finish. Like visting an old friend. Want to hang with them for a while but then get bored.
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Roy Hersh Offline - Dominus and Shafer HSS (Vancouver, BC): Slightly darker in colour than the ‘91. The nose doesn’t jump out like that of the ’91, but it shows more Napa sweet fruit. On the palate riper black fruits with some black liquorice. Overall this is blacker, riper, darker and sweeter than the ‘91. Younger on palate and nose with more structure, more acid and a longer finish than its older sibling. Showing a little bit of heat. Getting better as it sits in glass developing some cedar and leathery notes. This is a few years away from peak and will coast for a long time after that. Excellent. 92+
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Another great showing. Consistent notes with last one consumed;
Powerful, lush, seamless. Had forgotten how good this is. Coats the entire palate with wonderful notes of dark fruit. Smooth as silk with a backbone to suggest many years of life ahead.
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The spicy, mushroom, smoke, tobacco, cassis and earthy nose, reminded me of a good Pauillac. Concentrated and full bodied with ample depth, this elegantly styled wine ends with a long mouth filled with ripe cassis
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Wow! I had no expection of this being as good as it is. I gave this a two hour decant. Wonderful, complex nose. Seems older right off the bat. Very suave and semless in the mouth. Amazingly complex. Has a lot of secondary developemt, but also has a firm core of fruit still there. This is like a cross of the best of Napa and the best of Bordeaux. Truly a great wine.
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well, this is completely different from all the other vintages tonight. It is hard to imagine a more distinctive nose vis a vis 1991, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Musty, fur, gamy and barnyard. Black fruit, herbs and concentrated with less minerality than the 1991 and more complexity. I think I like the 1996 more. Nevertheless, I am banking my taste will change and enjoy this monster more 5 years down the road. Buy.
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An extraordinary wine, very old world in character. Balanced and integrated, with a gorgeous nose of tobacco and an earthy loam smell that was remarkable. In the mouth, cassis and leather dominate. I am very sorry this was my last bottle of this wine.
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Pop and pour. Rich dark fruit on the nose with a bit more obvious oak than the 91,mint,dark chocolate,leather. Big and young mouthfeel- felt a bit primary yet. Loads of dark fruit,vanilla,some tobacco,leather. Wish this could have been decanted as it was just a snap shot of what should get much much better down the road.
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EWG - Church & State - Cabs - Jan 3, 2009: I think it had been years since I had tasted a Dominus, now I have had the 94 twice in a month. I will give Dominus props for creating distinct wines. They have a musky earthiness like no other. Such a contrast to most of the other cabs that leaned heavily toward ripe fruit. Not to say this wine doesn't have ripe fruit. This is not a lean wine. I did think the bottle I tasted a few weeks ago showed better purity.
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From Magnum, decanted 30 minutes Wow...hello bordeaux....I had this side by side with the 1995 Cos d'estournel and blind I would have gotten these wine mixed up. So complex, notes of cherry, cassis, saddle, leather, earth, barnyard. The fruit was so pure but had such gorgeous tertiary flavours Finish was long and endless with layers. Unreal.
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Huge opulence. But huge mercatptins. Next to the La Fleur Petrus 1989 - it was easy to see its cabernet dominance and also its massive fruit and ripeness. It is multi layered but the mercaptins tend to dominate the wine. This wine is not yet ready - needs more time to settle into full maturity. I hope this wine will lose some of the leathery mercaptin stink in time.
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20 Years of Dominus - Part 2 - The Teaser Flight: This was just silly good. Still very young. Pure velvet, very high in tannins, somewhat primary blackberry/cassis fruit. Medium to full bodied. Impeccable balance, elegance, finesse, and Bordeaux-likeness. Definitely shows off some Brett, but in a very good way. Dead ringer for 1990 Montrose on the nose. One of my favorite wines of the night.
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Dominus Masterclass with Edouard Moueix (St. Regis Hotel, Singapore): Amazingly good - this was just sweet seduction. Absolutely haunting nose. Clear, ringingly high-toned notes of leather, loamy earth, tobacco, scented sweet cherries, elegant plums and flowery hints. Almost orgasmic. Palate was showing beautifully as well, with wonderfully ringing flavours of truffles, earth, leather, smoke, sweet cherries, cassis wrapped in the sheerest of silky robes. Lacking maybe in sheer power, but with super clean, clear tones of great purity, all singing with joy. Long, long finish too. The mid-palate feints to dip slightly, before flooding back in gentle layers of smoke and tobacco just filling the mouth. Supreme elegance. Superb drinkability. Sweet seduction. Bordeaux class blended with Californian sass. A brilliant wine, and easily the best wine out of Napa I have yet had the pleasure of tasting.
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Powerful, lush, seamless. Had forgotten how good this is. Coats the entire palate with wonderful notes of dark fruit. Smooth as silk with a backbone to suggest many years of life ahead.
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Paris Tasting in Zwolle (De Librije - Zwolle): 1994 Dominus Napanook Red (USA, California, Napa Valley) Kleur: Diepe, robijnrode kleur met oranje verkleuring aan de rand. Aroma / bouquet: Donker en wat gebrand aroma, rokerig, teer en caramel. Vleugje jodium. Gedroogd fruit. Iets te eendimensionaal. Smaak / Afdronk: Iets te rijpe, gebrande en oxidatieve neus. Ook in mond veel donkere en rijpe tonen. Metalige en storend drogende afdronk. Algemeen / potentieel: Te eendimensionaal. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 10 + Smaak / Afdronk: 9 + Algemeen / potentieel: 7 = 81/100
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Generously donated by Uncle Jack's Restaurant to our event. Tasted blind. I immediately focused on an obvious left bank Bordeaux profile with red fruit, tobacco, smooth saddle leather, a bit of chocolate, and earthiness. The sommelier said the wine was within our theme, which was wines from the USA, so after a lot of thoough I came to 1994 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red. But I've had that wine a few times, even owned a few bottles, and this was cleaner with more precise flavors, so I dsicarded that and gave up. Well, I got the year right.
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Deep ruby, garnet color. I decanted about 1 hour. The full range of flavors and tannins are still present. Age has integrated and subdued the individual elements. Very impressive.
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Like walking through your grandmother's kitchen. Fabulous comforting aromas and complex but softening and mellow flavors but just a touch less vibrant than it once was. You definitely want to be drinking these up now.
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Very special bouquet which I unfortunately did not describe in more detail. Full bodied, dark cherries, oak. Long finish. A bit drying. Off bottle??? No score
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Opened and poured. Deep purple to the edge; Nose of black cherry, berries and spice. On the palate this is an amazing wine; black cherry, blackberry, plum, peppery-spice and a very pleasant earthy note. Still showing good acidity and well integrated with smooth tannins - the balance approaches perfection. Very silky mouth-feel with a long smooth finish. This remains one of my favorite Cali wines and still worth chasing at auction.
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Tasted along side the '91 Dominus. Tthe 94 is at it's prime with big fruit and almost imperceptible tannins.It's possible the 91 is the 94 three years down the road. It was sophisticated and elegant but fruit has dissipated.
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This was the first of these bottles that had too much farm/stall aromas. I still really liked the wine and by the next day- today- the horse-like aromas had blown off, but I was left with a cologned cali cab that reminded me of a very good wine from say Napa in 1998. I like it, and would give it around a 93 rating if it were a different wine, but I have had enough 1994 Dominus to call this an off bottle.
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Predominance of earth and leather on the nose. Fruit comes through on the palate. Well balanced Bordeaux blend with a hint of Napa sweetness but not too much so. Very good value imo.
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I love this wine. It's distinctly bordeaux on the nose and incredibly well made from start to finish. Tannins are nice and round now but still has time to go.
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1994 and 1997 California Cabernet Retrospective (Chicago, IL): From Magnum. Deep red fruit and earthy mint and tobacco type notes. A Bordeaux sensibility but distinctly Californian. Somewhat out of whack at first, with a somewhat hollow middle and hot finish, but rounds out really well fairly quickly. Firm, fine tannins. A lot of time left. Rated 19/20.
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Drank with Mike and Sharon. This wine is in a great place right now, aromatic on the nose, fully resolved on the palate. The fruit is showing strong. Based on this bottle, there is still more life left for this one.
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Dominus Vertical Tasting (Binny's South Loop - Chicago, IL): Some medium ruby color. Not opaque. Aromas of barnyard, funk, rustic cherries and raspberries, with a little blackberry too. Palate is softer than others in the tasting showing excellent age. Beautiful finesse and elegance here with excellently integrated tannins.
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Blind tasting of five 1994 Cabernet Sauvignons. First place. Lovely, rich, intense flavors of cedar and leather on the nose, more of the same on the palate, full bodied and rich with sublety like a Pomerol, lovely long finish and aftertaste. Fabulous wine, at its peak and drinking well, enjoyed four pours.
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US 1994 at its best... (Zurich): Tasted blind: Nose of leather, herbs, dark chocolate and berries. Wonderful sweetness, elegance and length. Still very youthful...superb wine
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Served at holiday dinner 3 weeks ago, but I wanted to get a note in on my recollections. Decanted for 1 hour before pouring, which clearly was not enough. The earth aromas and notes were strong, almost overpowering, but I took my cue from previous tasters and waited for it to blow off, which it began to, revealing what was to my palate a mature, balanced, pretty, but not exceptional wine. Nevertheless, the Tasters-Who-Know in the group pronounced it an exemplary expression of a California Cab. For me, it didn't blow me away until the next morning (11 a.m. on a Saturday, decanter covered with plate), when I decided to have a taste to see how it held up. Phenomenal nose now, everything well-integrated, still bright, I called the guys back and we finished it off! The moral of this story is to pull the cork on this one well in advance.
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Courtesy of my neighbor's on NYE 2008. Awesome stuff. great fruit, beautifully integrated wine. probably would keep for years but it is really nice right now....
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Christmas Dinner - Decanted for 2+ hours. Oak aroma when I first pored into the decanter, but disipated after an hour. Incredibly balanced flavors of cherry, blackberries and vanilla. In a word; SILKY! I wish I had purchased more so I would have it. I would drink over the next 2 years.
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A nice bottle with a complete tasting profile. The nose was earthy initially but some floral aspects were noted later. The taste of dark fruits was balanced throughout.
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Deep, dark color not showing 14 years of age in any way. Luscious, powerful nose with dark fruits and lots of cedar/tobacco. Very very long finish. In beautiful shape but still young to me.
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Rick's Birthday Dinner (Wink Wine Bar): The star of the evening for me. Just incredibly supple fruit with great earthiness, texture, balance, acid. One of the best red wines I've ever had. Finish goes on and on. Although this shows some signs of California fruit, it is more like Bordeaux than some more modern styled Bordeaux. An amazing achievement in wine making and the poster child wine to prove that all California Cab doesn't have to be uber-ripe to be good.
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Bud Starr's September Tasting (Bud Starr's Clayton, MO): Explosive nose -- very ripe and a bit bretty. I thought Bordeaux at first, then I tied myself into a knot trying to figure out what vintage it could be. Typical Dominus so far. It would have had to have been a 1990 Bordeaux or a California wine. On the palate, it was a bit simple and not up to its usual self. A disappointing showing for this bottle.
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This was yet another incredible Dominus. At first I was take aback by the barnyard aromas of this wine, because, quite frankly I have not detected it this in this wine. Then, I noticed rose petals and dried flowers, and the farm aromas blew off quite nicely. There was also a nice dry earth and mineral component to this wine that I have not encountered before, and as always a beautiful pure cassis and aged mellow cigar tobacco, with a sweet earth note. And finally a sweet paprika and cardamon note that is just overwhelming. This is the most advanced and most primary bottle of this wine that I have encountered. There is dry aged mellowness to this wine; Julie just loves it. In fact she was a little upset when I followed it with a Shafer Hillside 1996. That says alot because it was really good as well. Is this the best wine to come from California?... ever!
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Quite possibly the best representation of this wine yet... and that's saying something. I believe that well stored bottles are still getting better in the cellar, and that at its height it will flirt with perfection.
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Yummy, double decanted, drinking like a velvet glove, rich oppulent perfectly balanced elixir...This is great juice drinking very well...Plenty of life left though I have no clue how it can get much more evolved
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I opened a la Audouze x4 hours and then decanted before dinner and enjoyed over another 2 hours. This is extremely complex with many layers aromas and fruit that integrate well on the palate. Agree with most other evaluations. Well store this will likely last another 5 years.
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DRINKING FANTASTIC BUT WITH THE TANNINS AND BALANCE TO LAST MANY MORE YEARS. JAMMY FRUIT, BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS, AND LICORICE IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR, NICE COMPLEXITY AND A LONG FINISH.
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This was a complex, multi-layered wine that was brought to a tasting of mostly Bordeaux offerings. The Dominus was decanted for about 2 hours before being passed around the table. The nose reminded me more of Bordeaux with the earthiness and the taste was full of minerals and very elegant. It was close to being WOTN but was edged out by a younger Kistler.
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CT Group Revisits 1994 Cabernets @ Home (Milford): I kept going back and forth between the Araujo and Dominus as the WOTF... the Dominus eventually won out. While not as lush as the Araujo, this had a bit more complexity, with flavors of coffee, earth, metal shavings and leather weaving in and out between the solid block of black fruit. A wine that impresses in a subtle way.
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This wine once again blew me away. I took no notes, but remember a huge nose of saddle, dark fruits, and earthiness. And it was awesome in the mouth. Incredible
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Similar to last bottle. Opens with a big time funky nose that blows off after an hour. Really nice fruit and very complex when opened but seems to close up a little with time?? very enjoyable. The 2002 Insignia was just a little better though very young.
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Yummy wine drinking very well right now. solid fruit but not too jammy, still solid structure. Very Bordeaux-like for a Cali wine - earthy gravitas with explosive cassis fruit. Ordering more of this stuff!
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Well, it looks like this was my last bottle. Opened following the final out of the 2007 World Series in honor of the Red Sox dominating performance. I think I've said most of my comments before. First glass went to my girlfriend, who said: "Did you say this is from California? Tastes like top Bordeaux to me." Couldn't agree more. This bottle had none of the edge found in the last one I tried. Sure, there's acid, but it is healthy and nicely integrated. An excellent wine drinking very well now!
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definitely a 100 point nose, as complex as any Cali wine I have had, leather, tar, earth, complex dark fruit. very elegant in the mouth like a first growth bourdeaux. Lacking that superlong finish to warrant a higher score
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Pulled this wine out for a 50th birthday celebration, this wine has very little "fruitiness"...but has loads of mineral and eucalyptus components...very bordeauxesque. While I can't find any fault with the wine, it really isn't my cup of tea. My favorite bordeauxs offer the complexity of this wine, but with the fruit to compensate. I will look to sell or trade my remaining 2 bottles.
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Still purplish with a hint of red. Beautiful nose of dark currants, with lovely barnyard funkiness, very complex. Emphasis here - the aromatics are quite beguiling. Palate is medium to full bodies, with excellent extract, and quite concentrated flavors of currents, plums, perhaps some olives thrown in, and a note of mulberry. Fine grained tannins give an impression of density but aren't obtrusive. Bice balance, with enough acidity to carry the wine through a very pleasant and long finish. I think the wine has room for further improvement, but as CA cabs go, this is the best I've tasted in a long time. Bravo! Where is Chris Pheolps now?
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Good dark color. Gorgeous nose of Napa dirt with hints of sweet earth, chocolate, eucalyptus and blackberries. This is now quite well aged and has a beautiful soft and plush texture. It possesses wonderful flavors of dark berries, chocolate and perfumed earth and the finish is quite smooth and moderately concentrated. A great example of how well a Cali cab can age but I think I liked it better a few years ago when it had a bit more power and concentration. At Veritas - NYC
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Very complete wine, with a lot of concentration and stature, similar to a first growth Bordeaux. More obvious fruit than most Bordeaux, but not like the fruitiness of many other high end Cali Cabs. Had it with the 1991 Opus One, and it was hard to call which was better. Similar concentration and length, jsut different flavor profiles. Drinking well now.
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What can I say about this wine that hasn't already been said. I really think it's improved over the years and may be at it's tastiest moment, right now.
This still has the appearance of a young wine. But if I had tasted it blind, I'd have guessed a '90 Graves (dare I say HB or LMHB?). It has lots of the tobacco flavors that I associate with Graves and none of the plummy, cassis flavors that I associate with Calif Cab. Blind taste this with a bunch of Bordeaux and no one will catch the 'ringer'. Anyway, tannins have really integrated, the secondary fruit flavors are perfectly framed, length is really good. Just a great bottle of wine and really shows how great the '94 vintage was in Calif...
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Wonderful wine! Tasted in a vertical of Dominus including 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004 and a 1986 Montelena. The 1994 was WOTN. Of this lineup, the 1990 was over the hill (NR), the 1996 (88 pts.) was the weakest of the remainging wines, the 1995 was the brightest with more acidity than the others (93 pts). The 1992 (94 pts) split the difference between the 1991 (96 pts) and 1994 in that the '92 was a fleshy, lower acid wine. The '91 was very structured, higher in acidity and less round than either the '92 or '94. The '94 was lower in acid than the '91, but still had structure, and was deeper and richer. The 1997 (95 pts) was also very good. The '01 (91 pts) tasted very young compared to the others and needs time. The '04 (NR) may be in a clumsy period or there was a huge shift in winemaking. It tasted more Foleyesque with an enormous amount of new oak.
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Am I in Bordeaux? What an amazing wine, I would absolutely miss this if it were blind.Beautiful dark color a little brick going on. On the nose green pepper, earth, asparagus, currant black cherry, cinammon and licqourice. On the palate incredible texture, tannins are perfect, soft and structuring the fruit perfectly. Meaty aspects, cherry, currant and mineral aspects go into a LONG finish. What a wine. The best I have had all year. This is tasting amazing right now, get one out if you have it!
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Drank in a 94 califormia meritage horizontal with Insignia and Harlan. worst of the night. definite green pepper on the nose and palate. Wine is in serious decline.
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Dumbfounded by Dominus (Kirkland, WA): Dill and chocolate on the oaky nose. Really young and horsey, lots of harsh and somewhat bitter tannins. Chocolate, meaty, leafy, very stylistically distinct. Somewhat bitter though.
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Tasted April 1, 2007 at an offline. Opened and decanted about 30 minutes to an hour before serving. Dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of plums, blackberries and black cherries with a very light and pleasant floral undertone of acacia flowers. Flavors of mixed cherries and berries with a hint of bitters on the long finish. Silky smooth on the palate with medium acidity, integrated tannins and medium body. Last tasted in 2005 and this tasting was no comparison to that one. This wine seems to be emerging for its’ shell and promises greater things to come.
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Dominus Vertical Dinner (onesixtyblue): Full deep red color with some lightening. Mmmnn, wonderful round bright red fruit and spice on the nose. Lovely rich round chocolate black fruit with cedar and tobacco with round ripe tannins on the finish. A great wine, drinking at its peak - my WOTN.
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DOMINUS VERTICAL DINNER (160 Blue - Chicago, IL): Aromatic nose of currants and smoke is so dense it smells 'textured'. Big and brawny. A prodigious amount of fruit and unmistakably California on the palate. Savoury tannins add complexity. But this hasn't developed the secondary notes of the older wines in tonight's vertical. (4+14+18+9=95).
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Dominus v. 94 Mondavi Resv. The Dominus is better when first opened but the Mondavi continues to improve with air time. Both excellent. By the end of the night I think the Mondavi is just a little better. Decant the Dominus an hour ahead and give the Mondavi three hours.
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The wine was highlight of game 5 Cards win in WS. The group consensus was clearly Bordeaux, both in taste and nose. Beautiful wine fully evolved and ready to drink.
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1994 Dominus (Magnum) This wine had very clean taste, not at all the funky, exotic flavors that this wine normally has. It was good, but not as exciting as we normally find it. After two days in the bottle (just the cork put back in) it developed much more very dark secondary notes like tar, black olives, toast and mushrooms. Extremely sweet. In magnum this wine needs more time. 93p
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Magnificent bottle, drank at Butch and Grill. Deep, complex mouthful of Pauillacian flavours, earth, cigar, pencil shaving, with a lovely streak of ripe Californian blackcurrant fruit. Hands down best Californian I've had, but maybe because it tastes so French. Outstanding.
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Blind tasting. Leathery aromas with dried black cherry and black currant. Same dark fruit on palate with equal amounts of earthy character. Tasted blind, I thought this at least 3 or 4 years older, so time to drink up if this bottle is representative. But this seemed far more advanced than I remember from when last tasted, perhaps two years ago.
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ESTG Does '94 - '97 California Cab's (Roy's Place): Wow! I thought we were doing Cali' cab's! This has\d a classic Bordeaux nose - pencil, cigar box, wet earth, tobacco. The balance on this was fantastic - a very smooth, nicely integrated wine. The finish was super long.
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This is a dead ringer for Left Bank Bordeaux. Still quite youthful, this wine displays scents of cedar, ripe berries, violets, cassis liqueur. Full bodied and extremely silky. Not decanted, this showed well right from bottle and lasted well past 2 hours. I am not convinced this will reach the 98-99 point mark, but it is an incredible wine that shows what heights can be reached in Napa. It is both complex and elegant. This bottle was bought by my Dad years ago and I have kept it for a nice occasion to open with him. (He didn't believe it was the same bottle...)
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Decided to open this with Evan, Brandy, and Christine. Cork was pristine on this well-stored bottle. Color was beautiful and deep. The nose on this wine blew us all away. We sat around just smelling this for about 20 minutes. We found everything from the expected tobacco and black cherry, to the less expected ginger and green peppers. Very complex. Unfortunately, in the mouth this was not at all the wine I was expecting. It seemed thin and had a relatively short finish. Almost all oak on the palate (a little spicy) not a trace of fruit. Based on others descriptions...we were drinking a different wine. Perhaps the bottle was stored too cold and was in a different developmental stage than others who have had this recently. Maybe an off bottle. Or maybe it needed way more air or way less air (decanted for about 1 and a half hours and enjoyed over the next 2). Nose-great wine. Palate-great disappointment. It would have rated about 90 points...but I'll write this off to one of the above problems
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My one and only bottle. Purple hue with some lightening at the edges. Nose immediate and powerful, with cedar in spades plus pencil shavings, pine needles, and forest floor. Also a little tobacco, which blew off. The palate had a lot going on, revealing cassis, plums, blueberry, and licorice. The most amazing aspect of this wine was the presence of deliciously sweet, fine-grained tannins. The sweetness lasted into the long, silky finish. Wow, what a lovely wine.
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Effusive nose of red fruit and damp earth. At first, very tight and tannic - sharp and angular in the mouth. After a couple hours of decanting, the wine softened considerably and rounded out in the mouth. Still one of the most "French" wines I've encountered from California. This had some nice barnyard, earthy complexity, smokiness and ample fruit (after the wine opened).
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That trade mark, intoxicating Dominus nose - St Peter's basilica after high mass meets St Julien in California. Rich, ripe, beautiful minerality, a big wine but entirely balanced and certainly not a bruiser, this is still young, and drinking tremendously. One of the great cabs.
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Another great showing for this wine. I have had this several times since release and only once did it slightly disappoint, showing a little too much barnyard for my taste. This bottle's bouquet filled the room as soon as it was decanted. Dark ruby colored, full bodied, oak fully integrated. Pure dark fruits, very complex with a very long finish.
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Tastes like a first growth Bordeaux. Smoke and truffles on the nose, with hint of lead pencil. Just the right amount of sweetness. Still lots of tannin, but smooth and not bitter at all.
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Bottle of Angst, Volume I (Older Bordeaux and More) (Chateau Guerette): [Decanted 2+ hours] Showing an ever so slight bricking at the rim, this was every bit as good as I remember it from a few years back. Probably drinking at peak right now, the nose was rich with blackberry, menthol, eucalyptus, and spice. Rich without being heavy, this more than held its own among the Bordeaux bruisers served alongside.
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A mirror but younger image of the ’91 with maybe a little bit more fruit and tannins. Not as rounded as the ’91 but still a great pleasure to drink. Herb’s bottle was pristine and obviously properly cellared – could use a few more years.
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I brought this, and I was pleased to go six for six in fooling the other very experienced tasters at the table who all thought this was Bordeaux (even though it followed several Bordeaux before it). Plums, lead pencil, some bretty funk, and a bit of green tobacco / pepper on the nose. Ripe and spicy mouthfeel. Great balance and a super finish -- the best 1994 Dominus in a couple of years.
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STG does 1994 Cal Cab (Michael and Claire's house): I have had this wine once before, and this showing was not nearly as good. It was a fine wine but it lacked greatness. The nose showed spearmint and chocolate. The palate was very lush with good balance. The fruit was balanced by the tannins, but I found little to no complexity. I was surprised when the bag was removed.
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Seattle Tasting Group does 1994 California Cabernet (Bellevue, WA): This was a solid yet disappointing showing for a legendary wine. Everyone liked it with 7 of 8 tasters rating it between 90 and 92 points. However, no one thought it had the fireworks of a truly great wine. The reticent nose shows horse and graphite. The palate shows licorice, black olive, and leather, a really, really nice old-world twist clearly reminiscent of Dominus. However, this was a little simple on the attack, lightly candied and just somewhat underwhelming. The wine did receive significant decanting, perhaps over-decanting?
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Spiced fruit and nose, no rough edges. Just an amazing nose--probably the most exotic I have experienced. Years of life left if you are fortunate enough to have some, but very pleasing now. After three pours I was quite satified!
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Tasted February 26, 2005 at an offline at Quails Inn Dinner House in San Marcos, CA so brief comments only. Opened and decanted about 2 hours before serving in Lenox Tuscany Bordeaux glasses. Color not noted. Nose reminds me of a left bank Bordeaux such as a Paulliac. Nose is still tight, only giving up some cedar, graphite and spice. Palate did not show as expected: mostly primary flavors of anise, cherries and herbs. This is still a good wine, potentially great but as a potentially great wine I wasn’t impressed with how this wine is showing right now. No recommendation on when to open the next one or decanting advice...I’m simply confused at this point.
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The OC Tasting Group does California Cab (Pinot Provence Restaurant - Costa Mesa): Very funky nose - rubber, cedar, - not pleasant at all. On the palate, very disjointed - fruit is there, hiding underneath, but overshadowed by bitter tannins. Long finish - shows some promise if the fruit can come out, but not showing well tonight. After sitting in the glass for a while, came back at the end of the night to re-taste. Some of the funk has blown off, but the tart, acidic side is still dominating the wine. Maybe a bad bottle.
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Birthday wine. Opaque and dark - very youthful. Nose of casis and cedar. Soft like velvet but tremendously concentrated. Cassis, jammy blackberry, caramel, mocha, vanilla and cedar tumble over the taster's palate. There is a subbtle hint of tobacco, forest floor and barnyard. The finish goes on and on revealing new layers of complexity as every second goes by. I suppose it could be mistaken for bordeaux but for me (unblinded) this was Napa all the way. My first 94 and it's a cut above the 97 and 99 but the latter aren't too far behind.
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I have been fortunate enough to have had a string of outstanding and even great wines lately as the year closes out, including the 1990 Pegau Reservee, the 1990 Montrose, and a 1986 Climens, so I figured I would give it one more try with the 1994 Dominus. One almost hesitates to post on this wine, but this is certainly the best California wine I have ever tasted (not that my experience in this department is particularly wide). Very dark ruby red, with a slightly restrained nose of purest tobacco and cassis, with some spice notes peeking through. In the mouth, the descriptors seem to fall short--what does one use to convey an order of magnitude beyond delicious? Perfectly balanced in every way, this seems to be one of the most complete wines I have ever had--suave, beautifully delineated, with great delicacy and power at the same time. Seems very dominated by the Cabernet component at this stage, despite the apparent goodly portion of Merlot in it. The flavors on the palate have intensified and sharpened to the point where it was only by my great restraint that the other tasters got anything to drink. The ripe Cabernet notes finish long, maintaining that perfect balance that was apparent on the initial attack. A great wine!
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In honour of the Red Sox domination of the Yankees over the final four games of the ALCS, I thought a bottle of '94 Dominus was appropriate. Opened at the start of the game and consumed over the course of a splendid evening. This was a perfect bottle with a solid cork stained only 1/2 inch. Pristine nose with violets, plums and cassis. On the palate, silky smooth with mostly resolved tannin and freshening acids. Lots of cool fruit, loam and vinous grip. Mouthfilling and spreading flavours - a spherical wine with a very long finish. With time in the glass a hint of leather and shoe polish emerges. Perfect mouthfeel with the paradox of great intensity combined with a perceived weightlessness. As the wine opens further, the mildest hint of barnyard emerges on the nose, adding complexity (this essence is not strong enough to describe the wine as bretty at all). A touch of Vicks cherry cough drop emerges on the finish. Complex and Bordeaux-esque. Bags of life left (just like the Bosox!)
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Superb tasting of Ch. Montelena and Dominus 87, 90, 91, 94 & 97 (London, UK): Mature red brick. Superb nose of ripe cassis, cedar, lead pencil, and much riper green pepper. This was altogether riper and more together than the 91. On the palate still a lot of structure underlying the really ripe, rich fruit. Very refreshing, long, ripe and multi-layered. Years of life left and a stunning wine. 97+ points.
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This followed the '99 Kistler Vine Hill for an all-American Super Bowl Sunday. Gorgeous Bordeaux-like nose of super-ripe black fruits and a touch of mushrooms and green pepper, enough to add complexity and depth without becoming vegetal. This was breathtaking but I still prefer the '91 for its purer fruit, as this (with its hint of iodine) comes across as touch more medicinal. Nevertheless it is a superlative wine - I'm being ridiculously picky here - that is drinking beautifully right now.
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It's always referred to as the Californian wine that can be mistaken for right-bank Bordeaux. Again, ruby red colour. Very dense at the core. Vanilla-buttery-oaky nose. IMO the oak was showing a bit too much on the nose. Sweet and well-defined, but lacking in complexity. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing in this wine. Only after the previous wine it was a bit one-dimensional. I liked it a lot though. The aftertaste was a tad short.
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excellent, complex nose of fruits, forest floor, funk, good depth but not as full bodied as expected, travel shock?, prior bottles better but still great length, bit of harsh tannins overtake fruit on finish
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deep, dark, Bordeaux-like with forest floor, funk, mushrooms, oak, fruit underneath, very complex but not up-front fruity like '94 Insignia same night, not as forward as '95 Leonetti Merlot that Dave brought, but opened & kept getting better through the n
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4/21/2024 - Cailles wrote: 100 Points
It’s no secret that the 1994 vintage always delivers: highly layered, with a great blend of tertiary and fresh aromas, good freshness and tension, pure elegance with beautiful balance, and particularly a lots of drinking pleasure. But this specific bottle set a new benchmark: it had all that and much more: even more expressiveness, an even broader aromatic spectrum down to olives (where did those come from?) and a irresistible hint of brett (at least to my palate), meaty notes, aromatic precision that couldn’t be better and a harmony reaching unthinkable heights. Hands down, this was a perfect Bordeaux, better than every Bordeaux I’ve had in some time, better than all previous bottles of the 1994. A genuine Wow moment, unparalleled and unforgettable.
TN: Right from the first sniff to the long-lasting, expanding finish, this is highly expressive with intense and highly precise aromas that are too many to mention them all. A perfect mixture of mature aromas (tobacco, black truffle), fresh, primary aromas (vibrant, fresh forest fruit core mixed with ripe red and dark fruit), a touch of barnyard funk, meaty notes like a mature Pomerol, spices, minerality, vegetal aromas adding more crunch...... endless beauty. Impeccable structural frame with finely melted tannins, high tension and freshness, and a silky texture. The balance between all the components couldn’t be better. A dream wine.
Decanting: Some Dominus 1994 bottles needed hours, some no decanting at all. This one didn’t need any decanting.
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3/23/2024 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Tasted blind at a social event. Obviously guessed beautifully aged Bordeaux as always with this one. Clear fruit of blueberry, cherry and lighter red berries on a bed of wet earth. Toppings of black truffles and spicy seasoning, sweet pipe tobacco and contrasting vegetal notes. Palate impresses with great tension and soft, caressing tannin. Aromatically showing seductive sweet fruit and leathery elements. Bottle nr. 8 in the last 6 years (from various sources) and this one was the best so far. A fabulous wine and one the best “Bordeaux” I’ve had.
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3/23/2024 - EMAZurich Likes this wine: 98 Points
Ich habe an diesem Abend nicht mitgeschrieben aber dieser Wein war nicht von dieser Welt - schreibe diese Notiz auch hauptsächlich um dieses unglaubliche Aroma (das ich immer noch so klar präsent habe) nicht zu vergessen.
Böse Zungen mögen sagen „könnte meine Nase auch in einen Pferdearsch stecken“, ja, der Wein war in der Nase wie auch am Gaumen von deutlichen Stallaromen geprägt. Aber diese war mit umwerfenden Waldbeerentönen, Trüffel, Honig und Teer kombiniert, Fruchtdruck wie ein Jungwein und eine tolle, süssliche Komponente, die ein endloses Finale einleitet. Showstopper.
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3/23/2024 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 97 Points
OMG this was so good. Super layered and complex, showing notes of cassis, dark fruit, menthol, some black truffle, forest floor, leather, tobacco and also a touch of pyrazine (reminding me of Cab Franc). It‘s medium-full bodied, ripe but classic at the same time, with some medium super silky tannin, medium+ acidity adding freshness and just a mouthfeel of creaminess and richness without weight. Super long finish. An epic bottle and a testament to the greatness of Napa. Too bad most wines are much more extracted now and much riper…
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3/23/2024 - Anca Bernet Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wiedermal mit altem bordeaux verwechselt. Schöne tertieräre aromen. Erinnert am figeac 1993. Scheint ein warmer 30 jähriger Bordeaux. Rote frucht, herbal, tabacco
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3/23/2024 - Collector1855 wrote: 98 Points
Very expressive nose, lots of farmyard, lots of greens, tobacco, leather, very aged Medoc in the nose. The palate has amazing sweetness, grippy tannins. Everybody guessed Bordeaux.
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12/31/2023 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points
No notes taken. This second bottle from a weaker batch didn’t showcase the peak qualities that the 1994 vintage can achieve. It had just a bit less of everything that typically makes this wine outstanding: less density, a weaker and less pure fruit core, fewer tertiary aromas, and less tension and verve. It was still a very good wine, but not exceptional.
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12/26/2023 - Lipsman wrote: 98 Points
Still going strong, from a magnum. That beautiful aroma of plums and a bit of brett hits you first. Then the smooth complexity of licorice, smoke, chocolate, mocha, cedar, dark fruits, it’s almost beyond description. Wonderful!
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11/25/2023 - G_H wrote: 95 Points
Not as great as other bottles, but still a very fine wine. Cranberreis, black cherries, chocolate milk with this dense ripe sexy california-meets-bordeaux structure.
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11/25/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 92 Points
1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note:
Double-decanted. An unusually bretty nose. Fresh and dense aromatically with fresh, on balance dark berry fruit and vegetal notes. Very structured with still quite grainy tannins, but well balanced. While good, the bertty notes were distracting and this is the weakest bottle I’ve tasted in the last 5 years (sample size of 7).
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11/19/2023 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
No notes taken. Probably the weakest bottle of this legendary vintage I’ve had but in no way a weak wine. All the traits are there: beautiful fruit core, wonderful mature Bordeaux aromas, minerality and freshness. However, the wine remained a bit muted and was missing a bit of tension. Still a very good wine.
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10/24/2023 - dkwins Likes this wine: 95 Points
Near peak, but excellent balanced wine from a favorite Napa year. It finished 3rd place for me in a special Napa lineup, appearing slightly muted versus others.
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10/7/2023 - levinml wrote:
I don't get it. I wait 30 years and this is what I get? I mean, it's good and everything, but why? So many better wines, so much younger and for so much less. Sorry I don't have any more. I'd sell the lot for $500 each (Benchmark price) any day. Someone please explain this to me.
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9/15/2023 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bouteille et bouchon impeccables. Ouvert 2 heures avant dégustation, il lui a fallu encore 30 minutes dans les verres pour être au top.
Robe prune. Nez sur les fruits noirs, le poivron rouge (assez marqué) et le café en grains. J’ai préféré la bouche, puissante mais équilibrée, ronde avec des tanins fondus, une touche de bitume, longue finale presqu’un peu poivrée.
Pour mon goût, il manque un filet d’acidité supplémentaire mais grand vin.
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9/3/2023 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
No notes taken. This vintage always delivers. Like a great Pauillac in its prime, this is full of ripe cassis fruit, some red berries too, loads of tobacco, black truffles, forest floor, minerality. Pure and precise. Impeccable structure, so fine and light but full of tension and poise, ending in a long finish. The best bottles show even fresher and more precise than this bottle, nevertheless, this was amazing.
Decanting: No extensive decant necessary.
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8/18/2023 - dkentaustin wrote: 96 Points
This wine Never Disappoints W a slight old word nose, it bursts into beautiful purple flowers and red fruit
New leather fragrance is intoxicating This wine , If You Have It! Drink and share Blue/red and finish of dry minerality all In
Ps. W grilled burgers
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5/28/2023 - tritip wrote: flawed
Corked, sadly
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5/26/2023 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Just like a bottle consumed earlier this year. Still drinking very well. Decanted for one and a half plus hours. One bottle left. Will likely consume it later this year. No need to risk it beginning to go south.
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5/8/2023 - doctornoah Likes this wine: 94 Points
River School Auction Tasting (Washington DC): An excellent Dominus, with classic sunny dark fruits, a touch of green pepper, and excellent length. A smooth and pretty wine.
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4/23/2023 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
No notes taken. An amazing bottle and in its prime. Classic Bordeaux-esque tertiary nose, intense, layered, highly precise, superb harmony and lots of tension and freshness. Everything you want in a Cab. Easily 97pts today and I suspect that it will remain on that level for many years. In good bottles like this one, there is no sign of fading or weakness. My favorite 1994 in California.
TN: Intense, expressive bouquet displaying lots of tobacco, chalk and slate minerality, black truffles and dark fruits. Same on the palate with all those glorious tertiary aromas, a strong, fresh dark fruit core, some luxurious oak notes, some herbs and lots of minerality. The satin-like structure is paired with superb freshness, a satin-like texture, good concentration, and tension but not one shred of excess weight. Long and expanding finish. The balance is superb, from start to finish.
Decanting: Not decanted, no decanting needed. Some bottles needed it, this one not.
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4/9/2023 - lesz Likes this wine: 93 Points
decanted 1 1/2 hours. lots of tobacco on nose. very delicious.
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4/3/2023 - BVal Likes this wine: 97 Points
Color/App: dense, deep, dark, nearly opaque ruby core -> moderately dense garnet rim; medium ++ viscosity. Screamingly great Bordeaux nose right on PnP: blackcurrant and blackberries, leather, soy, earth and tobacco. Had a little trepidation as I was sure the palate couldn't hold up to the promise of that bouquet. I need not have worried. Lovely, balanced palate that was still a powerhouse: cassis, earth, mineral and savoury herbs with a touch of barnyard and smoke. Fully mature and likely to hold at this level for quite a few years more. Stellar palate presence with great midpalate concentration and stupendous length. This one has it all and would easily fit in as a ringer in any mature Bordeaux tasting. I'd have to say this is probably in my top two or three California Cabernets I've ever enjoyed
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3/6/2023 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still drinking very well. Opened for an hour and then decanted for one and a half hours. That worked well.
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2/4/2023 - ash_then_chase Likes this wine: 96 Points
Perfect vanilla and oak. Dominus? A hint of tomato compote as well? Obviously I bitched out at the end and called it ‘82 PL. A hint of rubber as well, to finish. @ Napa Boys Trip
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2/4/2023 - ash_then_chase Likes this wine: 95 Points
Flight #2. Too similar to #5. I switched the Dommie years. TP after #5 reveal 10 secs before #6 reveal —> “1000% this is ‘96 Lafite”. Just a hint of VAs, less of the vanilla you see in the ‘94 Dommie. I will say it again… the dinner ZB and I are organizing will be a Dom P / Dominus vertical (probably paired with Domino’s — thin crust, we’re not animals). WOTN (consensus opinion).
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1/6/2023 - Charlie C Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bright red with slight fading at rim. Rich, dark nose, plums and blackberries. Dark-fruited on the palate, black cherries, blackberries, tobacco. Smooth tannins, great acidity, beautiful balance. Plums on the mid-palate. Finishes long, long and dark-fruited. Lovely and still years ahead of it. Drink next 6 to 8 years. Decanted for 60 minutes before service.
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12/31/2022 - Geoff Likes this wine: 100 Points
NYE and WOTY. Combine last two tasting notes. Nothing to add except this marvelous wine, from magnun, enthralled a table of six very experienced, knowlegable wine enthusiasts.
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12/18/2022 - Cailles wrote: 98 Points
VT Group Tasting Vol. 3: Tasted blind. No detailed notes taken. Another impressive showing of this legend. At first a bit muted, this morphed into an absolute beauty with roughly 3 hours in the decanter. Highly elegant, fine and weightless, very Bordeaux-esque in stature, composition, aroma profile and ripeness level (everybody guessed Bordeaux). While there is still a lot of life left, I can’t imagine this getting any better. At its peak.
Decanting: This bottle needed time to open up (roughly 3-4 hours in a decanter is advised).
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11/22/2022 - robmatic wrote: 90 Points
Meaty, funky, horsey. Lots of Bret. Palate is still very tannic, and the fruit is not really keeping up with the tannins. Deep, huge wine, got better once the meat course was served, but overall this was a disappointing bottle given other recent notes below. I wonder if this was low level TCA taint, and nobody called it out due to the outrageous bret?
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11/19/2022 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 97 Points
blind
The 94 ages beautiful. Still not at his peak and not tired. Developes nice etherical and spicy notes, still some black currant left in the tank. No hurry to finish the bottles in the cellar. 96-97
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9/17/2022 - Geoff Likes this wine: 100 Points
Immaculate bottle stored in my cellar since release. Mid-low neck ullage, immaculate capsule and cork, decanted 1 hour PT consumption. Floral nose of dark fruit, cassis, gentle smoke and oak, copious secondary and tertiary notes, smooth mouthfeel, medium to full bodied with sweet resolving tannins and a long, lingering finish. Balance, power and finesse in this classy, elegant and mind boggling wine. WOTY so far.
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8/15/2022 - D'Yquembe Mutumbo wrote: 96 Points
Consistently excellent with plenty of life left.
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5/4/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 96 Points
Tasted blind – and for the love of God for the x-th time mistook this for a Bordeaux. Earthy notes, mushrooms and fresh red berry fruits of strawberry and raspberry bursting out of the glass, building expanding intensity. Beyond that, you’ll also find sweet notes of cotton candy and coca cola. On the palate concentrated with lots of tension leaving a lively and energetic impression while adding complexity of leathery aging notes. This evolved nicely adding a fresh herbal dimension while simultaneously becoming more earthy. This was the 6th bottle in 4 years and I’m again impressed about the consistency here. Have scored them 94-96 with no outliers outside of this range.
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5/4/2022 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
No detailed notes taken. Consistent with previous bottles, this showed intense, absolutely perfectly precise aromas of tobacco, black truffles, wet forest floor, with time some tiny hints of brett wrapped around a fresh and pure dark fruit core with some additional red berries and some floral notes. Additional layers of minerality and herbs complement the picture. Stunning intensity and concentration from start to the long and expanding finish. Impeccable structure with melted tannins, good, high acidity, lots of verve and tension, a nice creamy texture and a fine, long finish. This is a superstar wine, without doubt. All others had it blind and guessed this to be Bordeaux. Compared to the Shafer Hillside 1992 (rated 95 pts) we had in the next glass, this showed more concentration and sharpness with a better tension and freshness. 97/98 pts.
Decanting: PnP, decanted, followed over two+ hours. Improved a bit with air. This bottle could have used 1-2 hours in the decanter.
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4/16/2022 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
Easter 2022 Dinner for Madelene, Ken and Moss (Wanaka Wedge House, Queensberry, Central Otago, New Zealand): Drunk next to the Chateau Gazin 1995, this came across as far closer to a Pomerol in style than a Napa Cabernet! Grilled bread notes, very ripe plum skin notes, leather, and a ripeness that is expressive of a great vintage. Certainly mature - smooth, complex and harmonious, but in no way drying out. Lowish acids bring an opulence to the palate that makes this a superb wine to drink on its own. Without food, I preferred the Dominus over the Gazin, for reasons of fruit ripeness, depth of flavour, and ultimate complexity, but with food, their positions were reversed, due to the slightly brighter, leaner, and more direct nature of the Gazin, which certainly complimented the spiced and braised lamb.
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2/26/2022 - Dibbs Likes this wine: 95 Points
A great Dominus and a great lesson in restraint in winemaking. This is a wine of immense class and poise. I guessed this as Palmer given the silkiness and the refinement. Didn't think this was a Napa wine but if this is how the Napa wines of this era tasted like then I need to find a lot more of them.
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2/25/2022 - melvinyeowq Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dinner at Bellyhappychef: Everyone was in left-bank Bordeaux for this. Lovely aged Napa that showed restraint and classicism. Black fruit, thought it was from a Bordeaux from a strong vintage, but it had some greenness that emerged with air. I haven't had much experience with old Napas but the couple of times that I had them, I was certain that they were Bordeaux. Very good.
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2/6/2022 - Rezy13 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): Garnet core with slight brick rim; lots of spicy red currant, boxwood, tanned leather, a bit weedy, pretty earth and slight truffle, not the best balance, smells older; linear on the palate, spicy palate, a bit tinny, herbaceous, tightly wound, touch liqueured, dusty finish, metalic in the middle; feels coiled still and needs to unfurl; 93+; called 2001 Lafite.
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2/6/2022 - Francophile1 Likes this wine:
Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): Tasted double blind. We started out strong, but this was up against stiff competition. Medium ruby, wonderful nose of truffle, damp earth, tobacco, slight green herbaceous note on finish. I called it as 1995 Left Bank Bordeaux.
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2/6/2022 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Light, rust red color. Big Bordeaux, barnyard nose with orange peel, saddle leather and pretty raspberry. Ash, red meat juices and subtle anise flavors. Quite beautiful!
p.s. snake river filet and ribeye with charred brocclini and arugula/butter lettuce salad.
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2/5/2022 - G_H wrote: 97 Points
Out of a pristinely stored magnum this was just a beauty. Cola, herbs, licorice, cassis embedded in a beautiful velvety robe. Delicious!
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12/31/2021 - Geoff Likes this wine: 99 Points
Immaculate bottle, in my cellar since release. Slo-ox for 4 hours, decated off moderate sediment and served. Deep dark color. Impenatrable Spectacular nose of dark, lushious fruit, spicebox, leather, road tar, with multiple layers of secondary and tertiary notes. Could smell the nose all night long. Keeps you coming back. Smooth on the palate with resolved sweet tannins. More of the nose on the palate. All well integrated and balanced. Finishes long and quite memorable. Perfect except that after several hours in the glass, it started to lose just a tad of its luster. All in all, WOTY for me. Not bad for $75 on release. Fortunately I still have two magnums and four 750s.
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12/26/2021 - AndrewWill wrote: flawed
Based on other notes, I suspect I bought a corked bottle. Strong whiff of Sharpie on opening. Fruit was basically nonexistent. Acid streak.
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12/20/2021 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
11x Bdx & Bdx Blends from around the World: This wine was served outside of the competition at the end of the tasting and it crushed the competition. Most bottles of the 1994 drink at peak and this bottle was one of them: Very complex, superbly precise, wonderful fruit core balanced by the most wonderful Bordeaux like tertiary aromas. Like a great Pauillac from a great year.
TN: Medium+ expressive nose full of sweet dark fruit, minerality, dark and dense. Quite precise. On the palate this is a perfectly aged Napa Valley Cab blend with wonderful dark fruit, ripe but not too ripe, just the perfect ripeness, some wonderful nutty notes, some coffee notes, truffles and leather. This is just very complex and the precision is off the charts. The structure is impeccable with molten tannins, good tension, medium+ perfectly integrated acidity, a weightless structure but still enough mid palate weight and a long finish. Very balanced and complete.
Decanting: Not decanted. It got better and better by the minute, more intense and more complex. This needs a good hour or two in the decanter to fully shine.
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12/13/2021 - Bob Bimon Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fantastisk flaska. Första gången jag drack lagrad Napa men mums vad gott det är.
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12/4/2021 - J_H Likes this wine: 96 Points
Weinkongress 2021 (Restaurant Sonne Leuggern): - Tasted blind, without decanting.
- Nose: Wow, extremely cool! Red, fresh fruit, which, after a very light cellar scent at the beginning, is fully present. The fruit core is surrounded by vanilla, cinnamon, nut, earth and truffles. Extremely finely layered and targeted aromas.
- Palate: To the point, fresh with awesome acidity, intense in flavour yet balanced. Tannins (medium) are polished and very well integrated. Beautifully balanced by the fruit and maturity flavours. Extremely long, full-bodied finish. But this lightness for your Bordeaux blend from Napa is incredible.It's a lot of fun to drink now, but it can still improve, especially since the fruit is still very present and there is enough acidity.
- 96-97 points
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12/4/2021 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points
Tasted double-blind as part of a random mixed Bordeaux-blend line-up. Intense with a strong character. Ripe fruit profile with aging notes blended deeply into the picture. The palate was fresh and juicy and in great balance, but maybe not as layered as I would have hoped. As usual, no one guess this right and the table consensus was a hot vintage Pauillac. It is impressive how well the Dominus 94 has aged and how much life there is still left with all of the 5 bottles I’ve tasted over the last 3 years (from various sources) in impeccable condition. No need to deplete any stacks here, best to keep popping a bottle every other year or so for the next couple of decades.
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11/16/2021 - englishman's claret wrote:
Having just had a bottle of this that I really loved, this was a disappointment owing to its fecal, unclean notes. They blew off somewhat, but this wasn’t great.
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11/13/2021 - D'Yquembe Mutumbo wrote: 96 Points
Fabulous once again, this is the equivalent of a great LB Bordeaux from a good vintage. An absolute California classic.
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11/11/2021 - hkbob Likes this wine: 97 Points
A pristine bottle with perfect cork and fill. This poured clear with the colour showing the patina of age. I chose not to decant based on other reviewers recent experiences which, in hindsight, proved not the best decision for this bottle. The nose and palate were quite closed at first and didn't really hit their full stride until the 2 hour mark just as we were finishing. What really struck me was the incredible viscosity of the wine. Very dense with great depth of flavour. It showed fabulous complexity with a mostly tertiary nose and palate - grilled meat, leather, potpourri, loam and Asian spice. The best bottle I have drunk of this wine so far. Pour carefully as this kicked up a lot of sediment in the last third of the bottle which had stood upright for a day before it was opened. Just superb!
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10/23/2021 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
This made for a very interesting blind tasting experience indeed. The truffley sauvage notes, rich textures, and smooth tannins brought me straight to Pomerol and I guessed Trotanoy! Not my finest showing. But it does made you wonder what the Moueix “stamp” is - is it pure coincidence that my guess was another Moueix property? And the influence of the French in Napa is fascinating - I admit equivocation between right bank and left at the outset, but somewhere in Bordeaux seemed to be the obvious starting point. Regardless of all the interesting questions this raises, it’s a very fine bottle of wine that was great fun to drink and is likely at its apogee now. This began to fade after 2 hours in the decanter.
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9/19/2021 - acyso wrote:
Sunday round 2 (Chicago, IL): A solid cabernet, but sadly not much more, given the high expectations surrounding the vintage and producer. The nose is very bretty and this has a lot of barnyard going on. The palate is better than the nose, with more of the black fruit character and some leathery notes, but overall the bretty aromas dominate too much here.
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9/17/2021 - DWStyle Likes this wine: 97 Points
Last bottle of 6… sad to see the last drop 🥲 go!
Delicious! Starting to fade after 3 hour open. Did not decant, not advised. A total pleasure!
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8/25/2021 - pmk wrote: 97 Points
A fantastic quaff. No fecanting needed. Opened in 30 minutes in the glass. Beautiful fruit followed by expansive terroir- smoke, leather, spice and resolved tannins. Superb long finish. Lusciously layered. My last bottle, enjoyed with a pork loin. Supple, hedonistic wine.
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8/24/2021 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points
TS’ Birthday Gathering (CdC/DP/old Dominus/Latour): Tasted double blind. Again, 95% of the group guessed this wine to be a well matured, high-end Bordeaux from a good vintage. There might be some extra sweetness giving it away in one or the other bottle of this legend. But not this bottle which likely has been matured in a very cold cellar and therefore was the least developed 94 I had so far. Far away from it’s peak it had a towering structure and not yet all the tertiary complexity the best bottles have.
TN: Medium+ expressive nose with lots of ripe but pure and fresh dark berries along some red berries, herbs and minerality. Very precise although not fully expressive. Same picture on the palate where all the fresh dark fruit and the strong minerality component fight for attention. Almost no tertiary aromas. A wall of well-rounded tannins, a high but very-well integrated acidity, the texture and feel is light and fresh with not the same amount of creaminess the more mature bottles show. The finish is long and slightly expanding. All in all, already quite alluring but more promise than hedonistic dreamland as of yet.
Decanting: Usually no extensive decanting is needed, this (non-decanted) bottle could have used a bit of air.
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8/21/2021 - DWStyle Likes this wine: 97 Points
Bottle 5 of 6; Noticed a little bit of a decline in overall flavor and some drying tannins on the finish. Still in fabulous condition. Nose is just singing now, making it irresistible to repetitive sampling! Fabulous vintage for Dominus and it really shows what ripe California fruit can do for a perfectly aged Bordeaux blend ! Enjoyed with a Prime ribeye.
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7/15/2021 - DWStyle Likes this wine: 98 Points
Double Decanted at home, very little sediment, cork in great condition but it’s so old they used small corks back then, so don’t go too deep, or just use an Au-so. Punctured my first bottles cork :(. Needs very little oxygen at this point (IMO). Took to a nice French restaurant with my 90 year old father and we had an epic evening. I believe it’s the Napa fruit that makes this wine stand above the majority of Bordeaux first growths I’ve had. A beautiful wine. Can go a few more years but at its peak, IMO. Wow!
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6/26/2021 - DWStyle Likes this wine: 98 Points
Beautiful Meritage/Bordeaux blend. At a perfect age and so rememberable. One of those wine that your still tasting the next morning, noon and afternoon even after brushing your teeth the night before! Decanted and the nose was teasing me during the process. Drank over 4-5 hrs and it was pure heaven all the way. The last sips I started to notice the tannis drying slightly. I am convinced its at it peak. Beautiful wine! Looking forward with much anticipation to the next bottles. Wow!!!
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6/23/2021 - Cailles wrote: 98 Points
The legend continues to sing. I only had my first Dominus 1994 a few years ago but chased down every bottle out there since then and this was another beautiful bottle, up there with the best ones I‘ve had. An almost perfect wine, a perfectly aged Bordeaux with a little Napa sexiness. Superb complexity and precision, perfect balance. Intellectual and sexy. The complete package. This bottle with the most pristine provenance could easily life another 20 or more years. 97 to 98 points
TN: Very expressive, complex and precise nose full of dark and red fruits, tobacco, old leather, herbs, minerality and in this bottle some bretty/framyard notes (but totally in the feature, not fault category). Same potpurri of aromas on the palate with a lot of gravitas, a sexy, creamy texture and an overall light feel despite all the intensity. Typical left bank Bordeaux full of creme de cassis, blackberries, dark cherries, some red cherries, herbs, minerality and again a wall of the most wonderful tertiary aromas (see nose). All is no balanced and harmonious, no hard edges anymore but lots of tension. A long and intoxicating finish.
Decanting: Not decanted, no extensive decanting necessary. This opened up quite quickly in the glass. 30+ minutes should be enough here.
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6/5/2021 - WojoWineCave Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow, this wine has aged very well. Still life in there and certainly had that French Bordeaux nose but with more fruit notes.
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5/15/2021 - curtr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Started drinking after 1 hr in decanter. Tannins are mostly resolved, has a rustic taste that gradually receded over the next two hours. Leather, less fruit that many other Napa reds, though note lean. Nice depth at 27 years. I liked it best between 2 1/2 hours to 3 1/2 hours. Drink now or over next 7-10 years(Now - 2029).
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5/14/2021 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Impressive, this is has the balance of a great Bordeaux with a little more California fruit and flamboyance. A superb ‘94 that I would be delighted to drink again. The fruit, texture, and finish all excellent - and it drinks well from the first sip, pop and pour.
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4/10/2021 - UPL Likes this wine: 99 Points
What a beauty! long life ahead
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4/4/2021 - LuckyLars wrote: 97 Points
The 94 Dominus was amazing! Very dark colour for a wine of this age. The nose was more Bordeaux than Napa with hints of tobacco, dark fruit and leather. The wine was delicious - great balance and length. Everyone thought that it was a lovely Easter treat.
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3/23/2021 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. Very good, but I believe it is time to drink up.
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3/23/2021 - Jack wrote: 92 Points
1.5 L
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2/16/2021 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 93 Points
Very good example of this. Nose is both rustic, soily, earthy, even a little farmy but has juicy California red fruit. Has a distinctly old school character. I don't care for Napa but I like these for their rustic, soulful sense of dusty old California. Plenty of life left. Late night bottle, no notes.
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2/12/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful wine. Smooth as silk, ripe fruit but could easily fool someone into thinking this was a first growth Bordeaux with similar age. Currently in peak drinking window with many years left to go.
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2/11/2021 - lesz Likes this wine: 95 Points
lovely
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2/9/2021 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
The gift that keeps giving... This was the first bottle I had that showed some more pronounced brett/barnyard notes but in a perfect dose. A world class wine with high complexity, high precision, a superb balance between sweetness, savoury and mineral notes with lots of tertiary aromas as well as an impeccable structure. Drinks like a great Bordeaux from a great vintage (and is almost always mistaken for a Bdx in blind tastings). Compared to the best bottles, this was probably a tad less nuanced and it could have used a bit more sweetness.
TN: Expressive bouquet with barnyard aromas, tobacco, leather, sweet dark fruit. Intense, inviting, highly precise, wonderful. Same on the palate with many many layers of dark berries, dark cherries, tobacco, barnyard, leather, minerality, herbs. All aromas very well delineated, with great intensity and superbly harmonious. The structure is marked by mellowed tannins and a perfectly integrated acidity with a light, airy and slightly creamy texture. Very long fruit and tobacco driven finish.
Decanting: Not decanted, good from the go. A bit of swirling was enough here.
Glass: Zalto Bordeaux
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12/30/2020 - Cailles wrote: 98 Points
This legendary vintage of Dominus continues to be one of my favorite wines to drink today. This is like a perfectly aged Bordeaux full of elegance, weightlessness, the finest tertiary aromas and sweet dark fruit. The intensity, complexity and precision are superb. This wine was served blind to the others and again, everybody guessed Bordeaux. That’s Dominus from the 90s.
TN: Super intense nose full of tobacco, leather, herbs, minerality and some hints of brett aromas which are to die for. Hyper focused, precise and complex on the palate with lots of sweet, creamy cassis, blackberries, dark cherries along fine fresh and dried tobacco notes, leather and hints of black truffles. Lots of minerality and a layer of fresh herbs. The structure is amazing with molten tannins, a perfectly-integrated high acidity, lots of tension and a creamy texture. Very good length.
Decanting: Double decanted three hours before consumption which turned out to be enough.
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12/27/2020 - galewskj wrote: 96 Points
Anything Goes (Zoom): Splash decant, poured and sealed in 5 individual jars and then consumed 3 hours later via zoom. The first word I wrote was "awesome". Balanced, everything is there. Leather, plum, sandlewood, raspberry, Cassis, black cherry, attractive funk, relaxed tannins. The wine of the night.
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12/27/2020 - rocknroller wrote: 96 Points
Virtual Holiday Wine Tasting (Home): Very dark red color with a 7mm transition to clear. Splash decanted, poured into vessels at 2pm and into glasses at 4pm. Drank a glass over 3 hours. This was another stunner tonight putting the full package together and a flat out dead ringer for aged Bordeaux. Wonderfully complex with sullen floral tones of purple flowers, Italian leather, cassis, mint, orange peel, dried forest floor and red fruits. The palate is fully integrated with silky tannins and an elegance to the sophisticated red fruits and dark berries.Wood spices, minerals, orange zest, pencil and black cherry on a long and bright finish. Wow, so refined, so ready. This can go a number of years yet, but it is there now. My and group WOTN.
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12/27/2020 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 96 Points
Zooming Along with Anything Goes!: Zooming along with Anything Goes
The Players: A great lineup for this tasting, which featured the following wines:
2013 Aubert Lauren Vineyard
1982 Leoville Poyferre
1996 Chateau Cos d'Estournel
1994 Dominus
2009 Bryant Family Vineyard
2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter
2009 Suduiraut Sauternes
The Prep:
All wines were poured into jars and transported, and consumed 2-4 hours later. The following wines had additional decant times:
1996 Cos d'Estournel - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars
2009 Bryant Family - 1 hour decant before pouring into jars
2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter - 2 hour decant before pouring into jars
Voting/Ranks:
(Group)
WOTN - 1994 Dominus
#2 (Tie) - 1982 Leoville Poyferre
#2 (Tie) - 1996 Cos d'Estournel
(My Ranking)
WOTN - 1994 Dominus
#2 - 1982 Leoville Poyferre
#3 - 1996 Cos d'Estournel
#4 - 2009 Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet
#5 - 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter
Note: only 1 point separated the top wine from the Botton wine in this group (for me)
Wine Notes:
1994 Dominus Estate - This was group's and my WOTN. What can I say that has not already been said about this wine? It was firing on all cylinders tonight! I don't see this wine improving, but I do see it holding for a few more years. Nose showed some perfumed notes accompanied by dark fruit, leather and hints of eucalyptus. The palate was dominated with an earthiness (reminiscent of a high end Pauillac wine), cassis, dark cherry and plum, along with some leather and roasted meat. The finish was medium and showed hints of toasted oak. This was an easy 96++, and I wouldn't argue with 97 points. This was mine and the group's WOTN, but any of the wines could have taken top spot in an awesome lineup! I don't see this wine improving but do see it maintaining for another 5-7 years with no problem.
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12/5/2020 - khybner Likes this wine: 95 Points
Top wine. 2nd bottle from the same case. 1h in decanter. Starting to show maturity but nice balance between fruit, acidity and tannins.
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11/21/2020 - citizen1 Likes this wine: 96 Points
PnP - fantastic like the last bottle; an hour later sublime. Agree with the recent post that it is time to drink this up.
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11/14/2020 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 92 Points
Definite elements of the California-French union from Christian Moueix showcasing quintessential Bordeaux at first, but somewhat subsides by the second glass. Some sweet vanilla, saddle leather with sandlewood, raspberry and blackberry. Lovely older Cabernet blend with bright flavors and a lighter weight on the palate. Still has good youth as it glides across your tongue, but I would recommend drinking sooner than later.
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10/22/2020 - Lipsman wrote: flawed
Corked magnum.
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10/1/2020 - RockinCabs wrote: flawed
TCA, but the wine underneath was clearly beautiful. Too bad it grew much worse with air.
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9/18/2020 - eschaefer Likes this wine: 100 Points
Our 26th anniversary was in Wednesday. Didn’t drink the wine until tonight, and all I can say is wow. Didnt decant. Poured and let sit in glass for 20 minutes. Cedar, smoke and sweet black fruits on the nose. Cassis and black cherry. The aromas were a symphony and very long themselves. They Carried over onto the palate. Adding in spice and cigar box, grilled herbs, and perfectly integrated yet powerful tannins. This wine will easily last another 20 years. I had a texture debate between 99/100 and given that it’s 26 I have to say it’s 100. Perfect wine. Stimulating and intellectual but who cares. It’s phenomenal. Highest recommendation.
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9/6/2020 - aquacongas wrote: 100 Points
not blind, Best vintages of Dominus, all bottles perfectly stored (subcription) and decanted for 2 hours
PERFECTION, A great mixture from Bordeaux and Cali Cab, masterpiece
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8/15/2020 - AudunG wrote: 95 Points
Wow! Tremendous, in your face, perfumed and developed aromas. A lot of horse stable and barnyard aromas in a delicious blend with fruit and structure. The aromas hang in the empty glass for hours. Big, broad shuoldered and concentrated. A great experience.
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8/10/2020 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened for one hour and then decanted for one and a half hours. Decanting for three hours might have been a better plan. Drinking very well with not signs of tiring.
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7/26/2020 - CWang wrote: 97 Points
Apples, berries, cherries, plums, lavenders, roses, violets, and black truffles in the rich and elegant nose; fruity and savory with harmonious complexity and depth on the palate; lingering long finish; overall, 96-97 points at this stage; my wine of the night.
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7/10/2020 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 94 Points
A monster. At age 25 this looks indestructible. So much fruit concentration on the attack and nice long aftertaste. Seemed liked it needs more time...weird !
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6/29/2020 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
This needed some swirling to shake of some cellar funk but then developed into a wonderfully aged Napa Cab. Not decanted, this opened up with more time in the glass and getting better by the minute. Coming from perfect storage and provenance this was one of the fresher and younger bottles which definitely needs more time in the decanter (or cellar) to reach the heights the best bottles of Dominus 94 in terms of teritary expression and complexity. 95-96
TN: After a few minutes the nose showed a wonderful tertiary Cab expression with intense leather, truffles, forest floor and some barnyard funk. Additional aromas of sweet dark and red fruits, cola, herbs, curshed rocks on the palate. Medium+ expressive and quite precise. Not as complex as the best bottles but still great. Creamy texture and high freshness, very round but not yet fully melted tannins. Medium+ finish.
Decanting: This bottle would have needed at least 3-4 hours in the decanter. Other bottles I‘ve had didn‘t need any decanting.
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6/19/2020 - jee27 wrote: 95 Points
Dégustation "Dreamers" chez Simon B. (Montréal, Canada): Superbe vin assemblé à partir de cépages de types Bordelais, il faut vraiment les attendre ces grands californiens. Vin très riche et très dense avec ses notes de groseilles, cassis, truffe, fumée, moka, cuir, cèdre et herbes. Au sommet.
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5/13/2020 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points
1 3/4 h double decant and tasted blind. Clearly aged with a bit of cellar dust initially, but then showing unexpectedly fine and delicate. Still a firm, tannin structure but feels slightly more fragile - unlike previous bottles. Some green herbal notes round off the picture and still decent freshness on the palate. I have scored this consistently 94-96 in the past and while not the best bottle I've had, the consistency of Dominus in the 90ies continues to impress. So far on a par with 1996 in my experience but not quite at the 1992 level.
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4/9/2020 - vanpe003 wrote: 91 Points
Seemed fairly "average" at this point in its life. Did not have the nuance or complexity tasted side-by-side with a 1995 Penfold's Grange.
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4/4/2020 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 96 Points
2 hour decant, and very little sediment. Layers of black and red fruits with some blueberries in background, ripe but far from overripe (which always surprises me for this vintage). Very smooth, with just the right amount of food-worthy acidity. Some vanilla Oak, pencil shavings and hints of tobacco.
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3/27/2020 - D'Yquembe Mutumbo wrote: 96 Points
Wow, what a nice wine out of Dominus here. Classic bordeaux nose, lots of moist earth, barnyard, dark berry liqueur. This is fully mature and maybe heading past its peak, so there is no need to wait on this which was ready right when we popped our pristine bottle. The palette was full of rich stewed fruits, sous bois, caramel, and a fabulous mineral backbone providing lovely balance.
Marvelous effort, definitely one of the top Cali wines that I have ever had.
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1/31/2020 - d'Artagnan wrote: 95 Points
Souper Bordeaux/Napa Valley (Chez François G.): Ouvert en remplacement du '91 bouchonné, il n'a pas reçu la même aération que le 1990 et a donc mis un peu de temps à afficher ses pleines couleurs.
Un nez de fruit noir, envoûtant. La bouche montre une grande concentration, une texture veloutée. Dodu et long, il montre une assurance tranquille, tout semble facile. C’est à mon goût un vin plus profond que l'excellent 1990. Superbe. 94-95 pts
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1/19/2020 - soyhead wrote:
Cork immediately plunged into bottle which was worrisome but...wine is intact
N - earthy, funky, attractive barnyard, olive tapenade
M - very alive, lush fruit, sour plum, dark berry, great acidity and savory to boot. If stored properly I think this wine still has quite some life.
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1/14/2020 - aagrawal wrote: 94 Points
Dinner with Herwig (Heirloom cafe): On opening was a bit tight. 1 hour later, an intoxicating nose of red and black fruit, forest floor, leafy; palate is full bodied, lovely integrated tannins, black fruits, complex and deep; medium-long finish. This is improving and just lovely. 94
Day 2: this has a bit more noticeable Brett than yesterday, but still not bad for me. The complexity isn’t quite as intense, but still balanced and nice overall. Drink up the first day though. 92
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1/1/2020 - citizen1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Velvet in a glass.
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12/31/2019 - chcook Likes this wine:
Brief note. PNP. cork was perfect. Paired with lamb leg and this was dynamite. showing its age but not in a negative way. compared favorably to '94 Latour but the Latour edged it out in the end. Still kept pace and was really delicious.
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12/31/2019 - MrOctoberfest Likes this wine: 97 Points
Probably the best Cabernet based wine I’ve had in over a decade. Had this wine in 1996 and it was unpleasantly tannic and not showing anything. Now the tannins are perfectly integrated and it’s incredibly polished. There is an earthy, almost petrol like scent that blends perfectly with the more fruit driven elements. This wine (at least in magnum) may not have even peaked yet, and it should last for a few decades minimum. Feel free to ignore the “drink by 2022” edict; this is much younger at 25 than a 74 Heitz Martha at 20.
Edit:
Had this wine in 1998, not 1996.
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12/17/2019 - skurtz Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for a few hours Chez Dave. It has a gorgeous nose of sous bois, like a walk in the woods. Voluptuous silk mouthfeel. A beautiful meditation wine. 93/94
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12/16/2019 - Lord of the Bottles wrote: 88 Points
1994 California Cabernet Blind Tasting (Michelangelo Hotel, New York): Iodine nose. Tightly wound. Some fruit. Not my style at all but some others liked it.
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12/15/2019 - oldwines Likes this wine: 96 Points
December Guy's Dinner (Our Farm in NJ): Decanted at 2:30 and enjoyed over the ensuing 6 hours until gone. Among three 1994 Cab’s tasted blind by the group at our “Guy’s Dinner” including the ‘94 Rubicon and Insignia. For me and the group this was the best of the three as well as the best wine of the night. It has been in my cellar since release. It is a translucent medium garnet with no bricking. It has a fragrant nose of earthy bramble, sous bois, charcoal and blackberry bramble. Nose got much better after some air. Medium acidity and well integrated tannin giving a silky mouth feel. Palate has a mix of red and black berries, violets, lavender, pencil lead and just a slight bitterness in the finish which is long at over 30 seconds. This is superbly balanced and great with or without food.
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12/6/2019 - Cailles wrote: 98 Points
Tasted double blind. Wow! Wow! This is the best bottle of the 1994 I’ve had so far. A generous friend served this out of his cellar and I got the feeling that his bottles got a bit better storage vs the case I bought on the secondary market. This is in its prime drinking window but is a touch younger than the other bottles I had with more tension and verve. It showed like a hypothetical blend of the 1994/1991 (tertiary profile, complexity and balance) and the 1992 (tension, youthful(ler) fruit). I guessed high-end Bdx from a good, hot vintage. When revealed that it isn’t a Bordeaux it was instantly clear that it must be a Dominus – probably the most Bdx of them all. 98 points easily, probably even 99.
TN: Full-blown, intense tertiary aromatics (loads of tobacco and black truffles, along some leather and wet forest floor). Dark fruit, much darker fruit than experienced in other bottles or the 91 a few days later. Cassis, some red fruit with cherries. Sweet but not in any way too sweet (or ripe, everything is pure here). Complex, versatile, highly precise and with great length and all that embedded in an ultra-elegant structure with perfect tannins and a fresh and perfect acidity.
Decanting: Decanted for roughly 4+ hours and it performed exceptionally good.
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12/3/2019 - SoundinBetween wrote:
Dominus Estate 1983-1995 Vertical (RPM Steak): Soaring nose of florals (violets), a celeraic component and blue fruits. Palate had a different spice mix (anise and licorice) in addition to the expressive flavors of plum. Needs time, probably drinking at peak in 8-15 years. Excellent tonight.
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12/3/2019 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Dominus: 1983-1994 (RPM Steak): 92/94/Ringer: Similar to the 1991, this is just so darn young (particularly in the context of the older vintages). Big nose of primary fruit, chocolate and minty herb notes. The palate is richly concentrated with firm structure. The complexity is there with tobacco and cedar lurking beneath. But overall still primary and seemingly super young. Hard to believe its a 25 year old wine! Upside from here.
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12/3/2019 - fclarity wrote: 95 Points
This wine had a very deep red center and red/orange rims. The medium+ intensity nose put forth black currants, mocha, dark minerals, and raspberries.
In the mouth, this wine was gorgeously textured with rounded tannin and integrated acidity. It was quite lovely and had a long finish. It was best after 4+ hours in a decanter.
This wine is in the zone but should continue to drink at this level for at least a decade, and maybe more. Could it get better?
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11/23/2019 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for an hour but was ready as a Pop-n-pour. Blackberries, blue berries, hints of cassis; creamy vanilla Oak; silky smooth but the alcohol came through a bit more than expected and took this down a point for me.
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11/23/2019 - Marc wrote: 97 Points
Flawless bottle of a great wine, drinking at perfect maturity. Very right back Bordeaux in style, but with a softness, ripeness, and sense of generosity that might suggest it comes from another place. This is classic, stunning, and alluring. I may very well be under-scoring this. Probably the best showing of this wine in this vintage. Currants, leather, cedar, smoke, cigar box.
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11/8/2019 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
Napa Cult CabSav 1994 dinner (Singapore): John Daniel Jr. sold this old and famous vineyard to Moueix family. Another stet up in richness from Opus one. Blueberry, Xmas cake, licorice. I felt a little volatile acidity as well. Still very good if you like it a touch richer.
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11/1/2019 - Satoshi Nakamoto Likes this wine: 95 Points
Elegant, balanced, structured, and drinking so well.
The nose immediately took me to Bordeaux with its lead, black fruit, tobacco, soil, and crushed stone. The wine was unbelievably nuanced and kept evolving throughout the afternoon. Lovely, layered, and so approachable. This can continue to age long into the future. What a showing and a yet another new benchmark for Napa Cab. An experience to remember!
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11/1/2019 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
A lost Friday afternoon gathering – Mostly blind, some double blind (Blacksalt, Washington DC): Very Bordeaux like but quite. Expressive youthful nose displaying perfectly ripe black fruit, crème de cassis, blackberry, tobacco, a hint of ash, cedar and crushed rocks. Beautifully balanced palate, layers upon layers of perfectly ripe black fruit, exceptional weight yet silky and polished, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, noticeable very fine tannins and a long sweet cassis fruit driven finish. Although domestic for certain, it is the most restrained and claret like wine. This remains extremely youthful and can easily improve for another decade or two. My favorite domestic red and the second favorite after the 82 Mouton.
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10/10/2019 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Acker Merrall & Condit Bordeaux vs. California Tasting (Michelangelo Hotel): Tasted blind next to the '95 La Mission Haut Brion. This is the first time I haven't rated this 98 pts or better. Why? Maybe because it was blind and it was up against another great Bordeaux? Nevertheless, I always love the nose on this wine and could smell it all day long. This was the last vintage of Dominus where I clearly detect a touch of brett in the wine (which I like). This was the first time I've had the '94 Dominus where I also detected a slight touch of California sweetness on the finish.
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9/29/2019 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
This wine showed again amazing and again different from the other bottles from this case I had over the past two years. This was the first bottle that was completely dominated by brett. So much barnyard funk along the still intact fruit core. Experience tasters who had it blind guessed it to be an old school Palmer. With 30+ years of age. Definitely a Bordeaux-styled Napa Cab here where just the slightly riper profile than the average Medoc could lead you to guessing it to be Napa. Wonderful and with a lot of life left.
TN: Pure magic! A highly complex wine displaying full power barnyard funk, leather, wet forest floor, some tobacco, meaty tones, dark cassis fruit core, lots of herbs. The wine is deep and dense but with no sense of weight. The tannins are mellowed and the acidity is perfectly integrated. Quite high precision and good length. For a higher rating the precision and tension should have been even a tad higher.
Decanting: This bottle didn’t need any decanting, others of the same case needed an hour+ while one bottle was rather a bit advanced.
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9/28/2019 - napasoutherner Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful wine right in it's window for drinking. Lots of floral notes (lavender, paper whites, etc). Licorice, light tar, Medium body but very layered and 3 dimensional on the palette. Very Bordeaux driven
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9/21/2019 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
Good depth - excellent - quite old world style
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8/25/2019 - sdsull wrote: 89 Points
Drank from Magnum. I agree with other tasters that the wine was flawed. Not corked, but a slight flaw. Had right bank characteristics on the nose early in the evening, but devolved over 2 hours. We held back about 375ml to taste at 4 hours, and it was gone - just the flaw remaining. A shame, as I have had this bottle since release. It should have held up well in magnum, but did not. Second bottle of Dominus (2009) that I have had in the past month that has disappointed. Not convinced yet that this wine belongs amongst the top end Bordeaux-style Napa blends.
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6/20/2019 - tazerowe Likes this wine:
A little hard for me to calibrate, as I rarely drink top-end Cal Cabs, but this was a nice bottle. Dark and youthful in the decanter. The nose was a bit hot for me, but showed pencil shavings and herbs. The palate was a bit more fruity, with prune or overripe plum and a hint of brett perhaps. Fairly silky, I would have guessed a modern high-end Bordeaux from a ripe vintage.
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5/27/2019 - Lipsman wrote: 98 Points
The deepest, saturated flavors. This is without parallel. Beyond the dark plums, the black cherries, and the intoxicating complexity, there is the edge of Brettanomyces that crept into 1990s Dominus.
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5/16/2019 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
very good showing. right bank feel.
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5/15/2019 - hprphf wrote: 95 Points
Acker 2019/05 (Zuma): Magnum. Deep woody nose and elegance among style. Fantastic balance and clarity. 95
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5/10/2019 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
This wine was my and the group's WOTN, no question. The first bottles out of a case bought a year ago were peakish with little upside left. Although very good (rated 96 points twice), it appeared that the wine has to be consumed in the next one or two years. This bottle told a different story! It has the same seductive tertiary Bordeaux aromatics but much more freshness and tension which would allow the wine to further develop and gain for a decade or more. Unquestionably the best Dominus 1994 I've had so far and a great example of the heights aged Napa wines can achieve. 97-98 points.
TN: Wonderful earth, leather, mushrooms, black truffles, wet earth, some barnyard aromas, dark melted cassis, strawberries, cherries, lots of mint which I haven't experienced in the other bottles providing an additional layer of freshness. Very intense and with a high precision. Sharp, fresh with lots of tension and beautifully melted tannins. Good length, great balance. With a great sense of completeness.
Decanting: Not decanted and it was perfect. As you don't know how developed the wines shows I would advise against any decanting. This bottle might have benefitted from a short one, the previous bottles rather not.
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5/10/2019 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wet leather, dense and heavy. Earth. Mixed forest berries. Firm structure and powerful. Tobacco. Tightly structured. Still great freshness and perfectly integrated on the palate. Some minty notes too. Unlike with the previous two bottles over the last 18mths, the age was more apparent, but also the strongest presentation of this vintage so far for me with previous scores of 94 and 95.
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2/18/2019 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 98 Points
Nose of black berry, leather, forest floor and a touch of cedar, same on the palate, big body, delicious, at it's best so enjoy now, rich fruit, a cross between a Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon, mouth filling fruit, elegant, long, long, flavorful finish and aftertaste.
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12/29/2018 - sdr Likes this wine: 92 Points
A classical mature California Cabernet Sauvignon, this Dominus is in the prime of its life. Wood tannins and secondary nuances of cedar and smoke give it a quite Bordelais profile. Impressive stuff.
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10/27/2018 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wine & Dine Vol XI (Florhof (Zurich)): No decant needed. Still great structure balancing acidity, alcohol, smooth tannins and flavour intensity. Lots of earth and wet soil around a darkish fruit with light methonl scnets appearing over time. Still quite fresh on the palate but also just a tad light.
Over time the earthy barnyard charater fades and reveals more fruit which was pleasant. The fruit component continued to increase but ultimately ended up showing also very faint hints of cardboard which tainted the overall great impression.
The 1994, which I've had before and arrived at a similar conclusion, is at its peak but probably already facing a downward slope. I wouldn't cellar much longer and enjoy as long as it's this great. Over the first 1h or so easily 95, but ending up at low 90ies as glass time increases. Hence 94 probably fair.
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10/26/2018 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
Wine & Dine Vol. XI (Zürich): Wonderful aged Bordeaux blend full of seductive tertiary aromas and Pinot like noblesse. Everything you want from such a wine. The group of 10 had it blind and everybody guessed Bordeaux. Most liked it best in a group with Shafer Hillside Select 1994 and Mondavi Reserve 1994. This bottle was a bit more developed than the one I had back in May, anyway, this wine is at its peak giving lots of pleasure.
TN: Still quite intense, deep aromatic profile with lots of precision. Tobacco, barnyard, leather, wet forest floor, dark red fruit, some cassis underneath. Minerality is missing here. Very sexy and seductive. While the nose is all about the tertiary aromas the medium long finish is all about the fruit. Fully resolved tannins, good medium acidity, and very good balance and harmony.
Decanting: Do not decant it. Let it breath in the glass. It is at its peak but the bottle we had a few months ago deteriorated after three hours.
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9/15/2018 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
Very much old world Bordeaux warm vintage style. fresh and intense for its age.
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9/3/2018 - TexasBob wrote: 91 Points
Bright medium garnet, slightly cloudy at the edges. Strong alcohol on sweet vanillin and red berries on the nose. Sweet red berries, strong vanillin, a touch of citrus zest, and something approaching umami. Very tasty.
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8/24/2018 - mr_swirl Likes this wine: 89 Points
Overly jammy fruits, probably a tired bottle as I had very good tasting experiences recently from this vintage
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7/7/2018 - Jack wrote: 98 Points
Wow. Best yet!
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6/3/2018 - ShadowIII Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted at a dinner with a 13 year vertical of Dominus between 1985 and 2007. This was a great wine, young, fresh vibrant, lush dark fruits, cassis, solid structure, long finish.
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5/26/2018 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
The first sip gave me goosebumps. Beautiful mature Claret. On the nose leather, wet-forest floor, wood, barnyard as well as herbal aromas. On the palate intense graphite, pencil shavings, a strong dark fruit core, some mint and cola scents in addition to the above mentioned aromas. Fully mellowed tannins, good freshness, perfect balance, great elegance. A Napa wine disguised as a superb Bordeaux. I deduct some points due to the nose, which showed only medium intensity and was not overly spectacular. On the palate the wine impressed more and I guess, it will continue to do so for a few more years.
Pop and poured. Good from the start but improved with some air. Needs about 45 minutes in the decanter but be careful, the wine faded a bit after three hours in the decanter the last sips weren’t that memorable anymore.
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5/25/2018 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted blind. A mindboggling first impression with very herbal and intense nose, a bit tar and petrol from the age, hard to tell whether red or dark fruit, a bit of both probably; well balanced and fresh on the palate with soft, caressing tannins. Over time more and more minty; a lot of power, depth and breadth in flavours with this wine that appears at or near the peak. Now to drinking tactics: While the initial thought was this is easily a 97-98 pointer, the wine loses complexity and intensity over time in the glass. We didn‘t decant before the first glass we kept the bottle in a decanter for 3h or so over dinner which was a mistake. I think no need to decant, enjoy right from the bottle (via a glass, obviously).
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4/25/2018 - Lipsman wrote: 95 Points
Plum and cigar aroma and beguiling wood roses. Drinks soft and sexy. Complex wine with cherries, cola, anise, cedar, pepper. Wonderful. Decant for 30-60 minutes.
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3/25/2018 - Joe Picone wrote:
With FRANK and Ellen Mascaro along with their children Tony Anna Madeline and Ella for Frank's birthday at Salvatori's restaurant. FRANK brought a 99 Dominus which was phenomenal. I was there on an impromptu invitation when he posted the 99 Dominus as a text. And amazing evening. The 94 Dominus was incredible. smelled like an old Bordeaux from Pomerol. Tobacco, cedar, on the nose. Rich dark fruit, rounded tanins, long finish
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3/23/2018 - lovewine123 wrote: 96 Points
A good bottle. Like a great Bordeaux but it's sweeter and has some orange hint. Still log life ahead. If a great Napa is exactly like a Bordeaux, then why we need a great Napa? Let's say Dominus is like a great Bordeaux infused with California sunshine and has it's own personality.
I often found Dominus can match with some great Bordeaux and even better. This one I drank after 94 Mouton and did outshine it. IMO, Dominus is one of the most consistent fine wine in the world. Salut!
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3/5/2018 - mr_swirl Likes this wine: 92 Points
One of the best Dominus vintage. Bright sweet red fruits, vanilla, sweet spices and cola. Round, complex and silky. Long finish. Definitely on the elegant side for Napa, and one of the best Napa cabs to me
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2/22/2018 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 92 Points
Note most comparable to that on 6/19/16. Even as a Burgundy drinker who often hates on California wines, it can’t be denied that this is good. Nose has a lot of red berry juice, but the intricacies of damp earth, game meat, and leather are always such a pleasant surprise on these. Round and balanced palate. Strong with blackberry, cassis, and some tar.
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1/31/2018 - jbroich Likes this wine: 95 Points
Had two bottles which were both on the same level, prime drinking window for the next 3 to five years, maybe more. Color still very dark, on the nose more Pauillac than Cali, whiff of cedar, red and blue berries and a faint note of banana, which I like very much in great wines.
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1/18/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
WineBid Tasting Event (Mandarin Oriental): Second time with this wine in a week which is kindof funny. Again it's more funky than I expect, but good black and red fruits and a nice spiciness to it and overall a wine that if you don't know you'd easily guess was an old world style. Enjoyable. Poured from magnum.
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1/18/2018 - tomoem Likes this wine: 94 Points
Had at a spectacular WINEBID.com tasting event. Total of 39 wines tasted with an unbelievable lineup ! Bravo to Sterling Roig.
Tasted from a magnum.
What a huge wine. Herbs and vegetable flavors which give way to a fully resolved originally tannin driven wine with classic Bordeaux resolution. Oh so fun to just sniff. Tobacco, lead pencil and slight berries.
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1/13/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Winorama: A winter in Wineland II; 1/6/2018-1/14/2018 (Portland, Eureka, Napa): Not sure this bottle was 100%. There was a lot of funk that I don't really associate with these older cali cabs and the fruit a bit more muted. Still a tasty wine and it was maybe blowing off over time (perhaps we should have decanted?). Can tell the age for sure and so this bottle at least was prob not making it all the way to the 2022 drinking window, but could see how it might not have always had best storage. Fun to try next to a '92 Diamond Creek and an '06 Grace.
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1/3/2018 - BordeauxBoy wrote: 95 Points
Tasted Blind. Most got Cali but most thought a lot younger. Still big but nice balance at this point from a perfectly cellared bottle. Dominus always is one of my favorites, even in bad years, but especially from good years like this one. Probably won't improve beyond this point.
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11/3/2017 - Billigan Likes this wine: 96 Points
Brilliant combination of new world richness and Bordeaux aromatics. Dark, earthy, and herbaceous aromas; absolutely gorgeous, effusive, fun to swirl and sniff. Cashmere texture, with lovely touches of fresh herb and mineral flavors, marred only by a bit of heat on the finish. Tremendous wine and drinking beautifully right now.
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11/1/2017 - Collector1855 wrote: 94 Points
The Judgement of Paris - reloaded: Easy to identify as the Napa wine. Very intense, some heat on the palate too. Lots of dark fruit, high acidity. Too intense, lacks a bit of balance and elegance but still good, just not great.
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10/28/2017 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Exactly what it should be. Deep/dark, complex with a long finish. In a very good drink window right now. Opened for one and a half hours with no decant.
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10/22/2017 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 94 Points
Sundown in Hong Kong (Frind's House): Translucent black-red. Nose is very deep black coal, very small-berried black-fruited, tight-wound blueberry, dried star anise, nail polish remover, kumquat oil, metal shavings and grahite. Palate is immediately very harmonious, coal shards, anthracite, lots of black small-berried fruit. More dilute than I’d expected from the nose - the tannins are pretty much fully melted - but it actually fleshed out with time in the glass. All it lacked was significant length.I wanted to like this more but the palate or length didn't quite match the promise of the nose. It was a very tired label so maybe not a perfect bottle. Whatever, it was one hell of a bottle of wine.
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9/22/2017 - JulianSkeels wrote: 94 Points
I was a bit stingy with my last CT score - but this is noticably more four-square and Californian than the superb 1991 Dominus (which for me is a ringer for a 1982 Paulliac 1st growth). Good, but I’d rather have the 1991 in my glass all day long...
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9/12/2017 - RayOB wrote: 93 Points
Drank at 67
Still vibrant but more a Paulliac in style. Wonderful.
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8/18/2017 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 91 Points
Wines of Good Hope: Summer 2017; 7/29/2017-9/14/2017 (River's Inlet, British Columbia): A very good 750 of this. Comparable to the 1991 but with more juice. Whereas the '91 can really trick experienced claret drinkers as to Bordeaux or old school California, this '94 has distinctly ripe, round, and opulent red and blue berry fruit that says Napa. Albeit earth-influenced and balanced.
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6/23/2017 - JJB007 Likes this wine: 90 Points
this is a great wine
very dry
needs to decant at least two hours
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6/19/2017 - cultdrinker wrote: 92 Points
Popped the first of my last 2 mags of this wine over the weekend. A nice bottle of wine but not drinking as well as when I had a few other bottles 10 to 15 years ago. Still a lot of balanced graphite and jammy fruit mixed with tastes of some of your finer truffles, but not as pronounced as before. I'll pour the other magnum before the end of the year.
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6/12/2017 - MC wrote:
Dark, ripe fruit right out of the bottle. Opens with 30 minutes in the decanter and holds well over the evening. Very well made wine, but I think it is at its peak and would be drinking now. A-
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6/9/2017 - SimonG wrote: 94 Points
My first outing with the 94 Dominus and it's a cracker. Reminds me of an 89 last month, but the padding just a little richer and denser. Very graphite led. Cool and elegant but with padded depth. Dark red to black fruit with some licorice and then green olive. Dense and long. Really good. ****1/2
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6/4/2017 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 99 Points
Incredible dinner wines with friends (Screagle, Krug, Yquem, Bryant, +++) (Our home): This was the most divisive wine on the night. There is a fair amount of Barnyard stink to this which put some people off. I loved it. This seems like its at peak, but no hurry. It drinks like old Bordeaux IMO. Purple/ruby in color. The nose is awesome with cassis, barnyard, cigar box, a bit of damp earth and slight cedar. On the palate, this is so complex. Layers of cassis, dried currants, loam, with very slight tannins. A very long finish. Great with the food. I have had this a couple times many years ago and always thought it needed more time. Not any more.
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5/20/2017 - levinml wrote: 95 Points
Concur with Buckeye 76. Napa bordeaux classic, properly aged and drinking a plateau. Drank with massive grilled porterhouse, and was pretty awesome. Definite bordeaux funk/complexity, good flavor and finish. Drink anytime.
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5/3/2017 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Fabulous wine, and our score has inched up since our last bottle in 2008. This is truly a Napa Bordeaux. Elegant wine with perfect balance, full body, and a very smooth long finish. Black currants, plums, leather, and licorice. This wine will go another ten years easy.
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3/23/2017 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
By Coravin,125ml @ 67 Pall Mall.
A masterclass once again and blew the 1994 Montebello (Papies 92) out of the water.
Spice, dark fruits, cedar tobacco the nose is from a textbook bordeaux. And then it follows with a proper solid base of fruit which is ripe and rich but unlike the montebello its in check and adds depth to the wine with out upsetting the balance. We can go on and on here. Solid 95
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3/20/2017 - nm10 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted 75 minutes, but really started to hit its stride at two hours. Cassis, cherries, charcoal. The oak is again prominent, but it feels like this bottle has a bit more life in it compared to last time. Mouth-coating wine with a 45-second finish.
This gives me more confidence there's another 5-10 years left in the drinking window.
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1/29/2017 - aagrawal wrote: 97 Points
Dinner with Rich and Paul (Bella Trattoria): 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet franc, 12% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Double decanted for an hour; nose is flat out awesome, highly aromatic, bordeaux styled nose with bell pepper, lovely green from cab franc, blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, even some red fruit; palate is wonderfully complex with fully integrated tannin, fresh medium acidity, black fruits, slight forest floor; medium-long finish. Comparable to a top tier Bordeaux, world-class, incredible complexity on both the nose but also the palate (nose>palate), and lacking only just a tad in the length of the finish. Nevertheless a near-perfect wine drinking well now but with potential to still improve with additional age. One of my all-time favorite wines. 95-97
Day 2: Lost a bit of the complexity on the first day. Drink up when first opened.
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1/27/2017 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 96 Points
This was awesome. Soft, sexy, slightly musty, earthy. Very much like an older bordeaux. No decant needed. Opened within 10 min in the glass as we drank it. Disappeared fast.
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12/26/2016 - JEP007 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Everything you can expect from a solid aged cali-bordeaux. Still full of red fruit, well balanced, with pencil and cedar accents. I look forward to seeing how the famed 2013 vintage will size up 20 years from now.
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12/5/2016 - nywine68 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Gorgeous wine. Smooth as velvet. A perfect representation of Bordeaux in California. Elegant and refined, yet full flavored with great fruit purity. WOTN
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12/2/2016 - robertek wrote: 96 Points
Brilliant. So much in GC Bordeaux it is impossible to believe anything else blind. Did I say it was brilliant...
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11/17/2016 - nm10 Likes this wine: 93 Points
On the downswing, but the fruit is still holding up. Oak is prominent, and that didn't change after 90 minutes to two hours. A complex spiciness on a lingering 50 second finish. Still very nice.
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10/24/2016 - pmk wrote: 94 Points
at peak.
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10/10/2016 - philweird Likes this wine: 94 Points
Had a 6L magnum i've been waiting on for years and this was the 2-day big dinner opportunity to unleash it. I uncorked this sucker and it immediately tasted exactly like what I imagined an aged California would: a little fruit forward with a bordeaux-like subtleness of saddle and led pencil but not ripe. Opened for 4 hours in individual decanters and re-corked half the bottle for day two. The wine was slower to open up than I thought and finished the first night wondering what another two hours of decant might have brought. On day two, it was opened it up for about 2 hours before serving and it was reached that elusive 94 rating thats posted. I would say that I was slightly disappointed with night one...my guests were not, but they didn't pay for this bottle! This wine for me came into its own on second day. I would suggest that perhaps a 6 plus hour decant might bring the best out of this wine...but then again it was out of a 6L bottle.
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10/4/2016 - wa2ofd Likes this wine: 95 Points
This was a real treat. Absolutely sublime. Makes me really wonder what people talk about when they say Cali cabs, one dimensional.
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7/31/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 92 Points
Wines of Good Hope: Summer 2016; 7/9/2016-8/31/2016 (River's Inlet, British Columbia): [Magnum] Terrific nose very indicative of the estate. Plenty of ripe red berry fruit on top of farmy soil and rustic earth. Still big and concentrated on the palate but with pleasant balance all around. Good.
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6/25/2016 - starkravingmad wrote: 99 Points
Group wine tasting - outstanding example of CA's best. Full, smooth
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6/19/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 93 Points
Fantastic bouquet of damp earth and wet leather above rich and ripe red and blue berry fruit. Deep and rich on the palate with generous but nicely developing fruit. Great texture and minerality. Lots of red cedar and drinks like a mid '90s St. Julien. Made the '96, also a great bottle, seem muted and austere in side by side comparison. In a great place for drinking right now.
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6/17/2016 - Amerique wrote: 95 Points
Rich, delicious, full-bodied black cherry fruit with graphite and slight leathery flavors, very round and integrated, great breathe and depth, long finish
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6/17/2016 - galewskj wrote: 92 Points
Big-Time Reds (Tilia): A big cabernet. Tannic and large. As nice as this was, it didn't come close to living up to the expectaion set by other people's notes.
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5/27/2016 - acheng wrote: 96 Points
Absolutely stunning nose of leather, cedar, touch of gamy and barnyard with dark plum. Tannin is mellow harmonized with the acidity. A beautiful wine now and will continue to drink well for years to come. This wine never ceases to amaze and remains a reference standard for Dominus.
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5/13/2016 - Eros Coniglio Does not like this wine: flawed
Corked mag = major disappointment.
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5/12/2016 - Lord Rayas wrote: 96 Points
Alex's MNSC (The Pawn): decanted for 1.5hrs. never fails to impress. lovely aromas with great intensity. as usual everyone guessed bordeaux.
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4/22/2016 - Stefan and Ingrid wrote: 97 Points
Drunk with my wife and my brother in law to celebrate the top law exam of his son. Magnificent. Without rough edges. Best wine tasted for a long time. Nearly to perfection in his way. One hour decanted and always improving in the glass during the dinner. Will keep the quality at least for 5 years.
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4/12/2016 - oncocyte Likes this wine: 96 Points
A group of seasoned Bordeaux and Cali cab tasters took this on blindly.
To a man, the decision was French. Not even any equivocation. I thought it had a little gunpowder on the nose. I speculated 96 Cos. Another pointed out the dense black cherry, big mouth feel. One thought LaTour-ish, 1986-1990? Then a vote for 86 Talbot, and described as fading with brett being present. Then someone pointed out the crushed olives and minerals. Scores were 95. 96, 98 with the one low score.
This was followed by a 96 Dom. There was not a single French guess for the 96 bottle.
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1/11/2016 - Francois Le Mouel Likes this wine: 93 Points
Probably a little past its prime...but still beautiful. Very intense and complex on the nose. Long finish. Beautiful wine...that was beaten by the Beychevelle 1985 :)
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12/31/2015 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for about 30 minutes then back into the bottle to consumed over the next 4 hours. A little watery, musty, and sour the first few hours. As it began to pick up addition heft freshness and tannins returned. Stewed cherry, leather, tobacco, wet wood, anise, and a slight medicinal undercurrent. The nose kept smelling younger and younger as the wine sat.
http://www.maxsatisfactionwine.com/post/136395702394
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12/22/2015 - rlove wrote: 94 Points
(From magnum) Youthful ruby color. Hugely reductive nose with significant sulphurous, rotten egg notes (I believe the "funk" other notes mention is reduction not brett). As the reduction fades, notes of graphite, red currant, and tobacco. Red fruit and earth in the mouth, with nice acidity and soft but still present tannins. A gorgeous, structured Napa Cab, but needs air to blow off the extreme reduction.
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11/22/2015 - Naplesgolfer Likes this wine: 95 Points
see previous note
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11/20/2015 - d'Artagnan wrote: 92 Points
Verticale Dominus: Un nez de mine de crayon, discret. Une belle bouche droite, de style classique, plus léger, dans un style plutôt austère pour la région. Bel équilibre et finesse, dans un style bordelais classique, séreux. 92 pts
Je croyais avoir trouvé le 1996. Petite déception au dévoilement vu la réputation du millésime.
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11/19/2015 - Geoff Likes this wine: 97 Points
spectacular wine. 'nuff said.
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11/19/2015 - Naplesgolfer Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wonderful Wine. Blind I would pick as a Paulliac. Lead pencil graphite and iron on the nose. Lush fruit with dusty minerals with again a graphite over tone. This showed the most Bordeaux character of any bottle of this wine i have tasted yet. In it's plateau and will drink well for 5-10 years at least. Always hard to guess when they are in such a good place, like right now. I decanted for 1 1/2 hours and then poured back into the bottle and brought to a resturant. Drank over 2 hours.
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10/2/2015 - GTFreek wrote:
Spectacular and in a great place. Exactly what you want aged Napa Cab to be, or any aged wine for that matter. Drink up.
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9/10/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Wine Tasted at Acker Auction (Riverpark - New York, NY): Tasting, brief note. Black cherry with great spice. Great balance of structure, fruit and evolved flavors. Moderate length. Very good for now, but should drink nicely for close to another decade.
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8/6/2015 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine: 92 Points
Mostly Napas and white Burgundies with Washington Winos (Ripple Restaurant in Washington D.C.): This came across as more Bordeaux like: touches of leather, leafy wet earth, but fresh and flavorful. Red and black fruit. Tasty, medium bodied with medium plus finish. Thanks to Howard Cooper for bringing the bottle. Howard actually tried this on day 2, taking the still partially filled bottle home, and he said it showed better. Very good point! Some of these wines - not the oldest ones no doubt - may well have shown better the next day...
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8/1/2015 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Reinterpreted Paris Tasting 'Best Bottle Circle' Style (Emmen, Switzerland): Clear red showing some first bricking at the edges. Nose shows ripe plums, chocolate and coffee. Nice depth and enormous power. Very long. This is a stunning wine to drink now over the next 10-15 years. After some weaker Dominos 1994 I was happy to taste a good bottle once again.
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7/4/2015 - AlanM68 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stunning. Two hours in the decanter. Still a beautiful deep red. Spicy on the mouth, leather and cedar. Phenomenal length. Drink and you won't be disappointed. Keep for a few more years and it will get even better if well stored.
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7/3/2015 - starkravingmad Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted for two hours; Deep ruby; Berries on the nose. Group of six picked this over comparable Bordeaux
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6/5/2015 - Tim Heaton wrote:
Fell short of the great performance from last October's bottle; perhaps a storage provenance issue, and/or just a less than perfect cork seal. Either way, it was good and certainly had its moments where it was very good, but just not enough of them.
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4/10/2015 - europat55 wrote: 96 Points
Gorgeous, young fruity nose (A). Gorgeous palate (A).
My #1, Group's #2 (61 pts). Tasted blind.
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2/24/2015 - conviction buy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep garnet, nose of classic paulliac, leather, cedar, hint of floral note too. Elegantly balanced in mouth, good acidity and fine tannin yield a very good structure. Black fruit and leather with tobacco aroma, lovely blend and the best US wine I adore, 1991 is just as fine too, but more plush. Should age well.
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2/2/2015 - mike l. Likes this wine: 96 Points
ran it up against a 2000 sassicaia and i think this was favored by the whole group. the nuance and aging on this bottle is just perfect right now and i suspect it will hold in this excellent state for the better part of a decade.
we gave it only a two hour decant and it was very expressive. tons of fruit still there with all sorts of intriguing lean vegetal things peeking through.
really everything you would hope a napa cab would become.
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12/31/2014 - stealthman_1 Likes this wine: 96 Points
From perfect storage since release. While its starting to show some crimson, this wine is still an adolescent brute. First time I've had this in several years, it's a typical Dominus clove and tobacco nose. In the mouth it's black and brutal big fruit, slightly closed, thick and long. Just not quite ready. Drink the '87, '90, '91 and '92 now...let this set another 5-7 years.
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12/29/2014 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
Canlis: Offered a taste from Jackson on a tour of the cellars--very nice, rich, still brooding IMHO with black dark fruits, tobacco, silky but present tannins.
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12/25/2014 - blakehastings wrote: 91 Points
A little disappointing. Given reputation and other scores, was expecting more from this wine. Seemed past its prime. Drank along side 2003 Hermitage Blanc and 1990 Lagrange. While it was better than the Lagrange, the Hermitage Blanc stole the show. This wine was week, a little spice notes and some length. Based on length and spicy notes, gave it this score. Otherwise, it would not have even given it a 90.
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12/25/2014 - rcg62 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nice color but some minor signs of age in the edges. Big nose of plum and cherry, and some tobacco. Palate has some cedar, spice, and cherry. Tastes like a Paullaic of similar vintage. Not as big as I'd expected. A little short on the finish possibly, but a very solid bottle. Drinking fine, but on the downslope in my view.
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12/24/2014 - levinml wrote: 92 Points
Drank with family at Phoenix gathering. One of 3 '94 Cal Cabs drank over several evenings (Beringer PR and Mondavi Reserve). Mixed emotions, especially in light of almost 95 point community rating. Concur with earlier note about "funk" at first. This seems to be what the experts call "complexity" and nose. Not unpleasant, but not positive descriptors either. Thought the "complexity" dominated the fruit over the course of drinking. Definitely blew off over time, but never had the "wow" moment I associate with 95+ point wines. Certainly good, but not that level. Purchased upon release and stored perfectly.
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12/23/2014 - Edclr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Last bottle. Still drinking great. Now have to start on the case of 91's. Should be ready now.
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11/27/2014 - jdesimone4 wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for thirty minutes. Wonderful balance in this blend, a classic bordeaux. Great nose
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11/15/2014 - robmatic wrote: 94 Points
This bottle had a lot of funk that took a few hours to blow off, and unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to decant ahead of time, which I'd highly recommend. In spite of that, the wine showed very powerful, still with significant unresolved tannins. A lot of earthy/herbal flavors riding the backbone of dark fruit, a long finish, and overall matched extremely well with a huge ribeye steak and mushrooms fried with bacon.
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10/18/2014 - VoteferPedro wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding and complete wine.
Double decanted with a moderate amount of sediment. Still full of life. Nose is bordelais but with depth of fruit and complexity on the palate. I wish there was more but it seems to be the last. If you have one, share with friends....
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10/16/2014 - phenricsson wrote: 97 Points
Great wine. Perfect fill. Still interesting and great, but starting to fade after 30 minutes. Big, rich and with. A bit of the old exotic flavors but still clean. Plums, cedar, sage, mint. Exquisite wine. Huge aftertaste. 97 p.
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10/15/2014 - chablis28 wrote: 92 Points
Nice stuff but didn't rock me. Enjoyable but over shadowed by stable mates. That said I was pretty distracted and may have missed something. Just wasn't the head turner I expected.
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10/11/2014 - pointrob wrote: 95 Points
just lovely. chocolate and spice, very soft tannins, mouthfilling
fully integrated and probably my favourite Napa wine and vintage yet
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10/10/2014 - Naplesgolfer Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted 2 hrs and drank over 3 at the resturant. With the air the wine showed really really Well. Dark Cherry fruit infused with a vibrant chocolate cola, underbrush background. This will only get better. the decanting is a must at this time. If if ever developed more layers of tertiary notes I would raise the score
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10/8/2014 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
Wow, this is a special bottle. I admit to knowing nothing about this bottling/vintage prior to last night, though the impression this left will be with me for years to come. When others talk about, or pour, some of their favorite California powerhouses, I usually sigh, and try to keep a open mind. The reason is because this wine, with the promise of even greater heights of expression yet to come, manages to precisely pack volumes of dense, focused red and black fruits with a concoction of spice, soil and floral top notes that render the taster motionless, or at least greatly humbled; whereas modern/recent efforts are kind of the opposite. If a King or Queen walks into a room, it's common (courtesy? obligation?) to stand, acknowledging their presence, even if you don't particularly care for them, their politics, whatever. However, if this wine enters the room, I'm happy to stand, knowing full well I'm in the presence of (actual) greatness. Full-bodied, seamless, artfully lifted and detailed. 14,1% abv. (fully resolved), thru 2029, very highly recommended
Aerated to decanter one hour, returned to bottle, and served non-blind several hours later.
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10/4/2014 - swade wrote:
My mental note on this wine is so far off from the others here that I will not score it. Pristine cork. From a 55 degree cellar. Slight bricking on the edge. I tracked this from popping the cork. It took a couple of hours before some leather poked out. There was no fruit to speak of. Flat entry. All structure. No charm or generosity. Three winos tried this, one of whom had had lots of past Dominus. This was the low bottle of four tasted this evening with first place going to a 2001 Pichon Baron.
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9/28/2014 - wurzel68 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deftige Nase mit einem spannenden Aromenspiel von Kirsch- und Beerenfrucht, v.a. Johannis- und Brombeere, Paprika, Zeder, Brettanomyces; am Gaumen so perfekt weich, elegant und geschmeidig mit spürbarem, aber feinem Tannin, rauchiger Note und erdigen Aromen; sehr variabel mit veränderter Temperatur und Sauerstoffkontakt, extrem vielschichtig, aber vor allem extrem lecker!
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9/21/2014 - bonedoc wrote: 97 Points
This is a glorious wine, one of my all time favorites. It's the perfect mix of napa (ripe, sweet fruit) and bordeaux (balanced, structured, secondaries). There's a perfume on the nose that is beguiling, and may be related to the cab franc in this wine. The wine is deftly balanced. Drank well after popping the cork 2 hrs ahead of time (no decant). I would say this will go another 5, but the fruit may fade a little. So long, sadly my last bottle!
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9/20/2014 - jkoenen wrote: 98 Points
94 Napa: a 20-year retrospective @ my place (Netherlands): Nose of incredible beauty and complexity... A rock-star of a wine, ultimate, impressive and layered. Wonderful spice and sausage and blood. A real delight. Perfect mix of styles, best of both worlds (modern/classic). Top-drawer. 98/100 (group scores 97-100)
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9/20/2014 - Zweder wrote: 98 Points
Napa 1994 (@ JK): This is a truly great wine in a beautiful drinking stage now. The bouquet is a feast with luxurious smells and still beautifully ripe red and dark forest fruits and a lot of sweet spices. You can keep on sniffing and discover something new every time. Same on the palate, beautiful acidity and soft tannin with still a good bite. This wine can easily last another 5 years, but no real reason to wait. It is at its peak now.
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7/5/2014 - edub7 wrote:
Tried from two pristine bottles with different results. One thing for sure, this wine was produced with a bit too much brett. First bottle was decanted for several hours. A fair presence of brett out of the gate, but after 4+ hours, the brett blew off and the wine started to strut it's stuff, with beautiful texture, seamless, good acidity and freshness, excellent 96 points. Second pristine bottle had a lot of brett both on the nose and entry and it did not go away. Several hours later it was still there, very strong. Not corked, but heavy handed on the brett. 88 points. If you own this wine, make sure to decant at least 4+ hours in advance.
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6/26/2014 - Lord Rayas wrote: 98 Points
MNSC - Peter (The Principal (Tom Aikens as guest chef)): probably the best bottle I've had ever. double-decanted 3hrs prior to drinking and that's what it took for to show its true colours. still fresh and youthful, it's packed with intense aromas of smoke, leather, forest fruits and spices. stunning.
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6/22/2014 - dtrall wrote: 98 Points
2nd bottle if the night
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6/13/2014 - aagrawal wrote: 96 Points
Coravin 6/13/14: Deep ruby color with very minor bricking, young appearing; nose floats out of the decanter, blackcurrant fruit, blackberry, superbly intense, very complex dusty minerality, flinty gunpowder, some complex secondary characteristics of tobacco, cedar, some delightful green like eucalyptus; palate is still very youthful with initial tannin that moderates through the palate, silky texture, full body, brooding black fruit throughout gives it a core of fruit without being overripe or flashy, nice tart acidity in the midpalate that persists through the medium-long finish. A lovely wine and an example of the best that California can offer, comparable to a first growth bordeaux. Still has many years ahead (at least a decade or two). 95-96+
6/24/14: Opened the remainder. There was a bit of wine collecting at the Coravin entry site. A substantial drop-off from when this wine was first opened, and I'm not pleased. (Bitterness on palate is the main change). This is why I generally try to avoid using Coravin on my best bottles...
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6/7/2014 - alittle wrote: 95 Points
Super Tasting 3 of 5; Going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali (Maciej and Steve host a 1994 California Horizontal) (George, Toronto, ON): Served blind. Popped and poured. Garnet in colour, with a light brick. An expressive nose of red currant, graphite, earth, undergrowth, moss, cedar, spent coffee grinds, cured meat, dried tobacco, celery leaf and a touch of horse stable. On the palate, showing tremendous balance; medium acidity, fine grained tannin, with a long finish rounded out with notes of cassis, dried tobacco, blood, earth and pyrazine. This was quite impressive and one of the finest wines of the evening. On reveal, no surprise here. Relatively consistent with previous showings.
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6/7/2014 - Dave Canada wrote: 94 Points
Year 2 - Super Tasting 3 of 5 - Maciej and Steve do 1994 Napa Cabernet (George Restaurant, Toronto, ON): Popped and poured, served blind
Sweet pipe tobacco, moss, soil, earth, herbs, eucalyptus, cherry, plum and cassis.
Great texture on the palate....coffee bean, menthol, tobacco, moss, soil, cured meat, iron, cherry and cassis dominate.
The finish is long, fresh and so lifted. Almost 95 points.
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6/7/2014 - Wine Canuck wrote: 95 Points
1994 California Cabernet Horizontal (Super Tasting Year 2, 3 of 5) (George Restaurant, Toronto, ON): (tasted single blind) I was a big fan of this from the first pop. Nose has a lovely dirty side showing modeling clay, bandaid, farm, coffee bean, celery salt, leather, tobacco, lush dark cherry, plum, sweet cassis and cured meats. Palate has good acid and some good sweet but firm tannin. Another wine reminiscent of Bordeaux, though with slightly more lush fruit. It was a bit tricky to peg this as the Dominus with a few other rustic wines in the line-up, but it certainly was a candidate. I initially had this down as a 94++, but I came to like it more as it sat in the glass.
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6/7/2014 - Nothung Likes this wine:
Not as complex or awe inspiring as I expected. Maybe a flat bottle or opened for too long (about an hour or so before consumption).
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5/1/2014 - Eric wrote:
Outrageous wine. Smoke and gunpowder. Leather and Brett. Deep, DARK, brooding black fruit. Soft, silky, sumptuous, long, complex. Lovely freshness and acidity to complement the depth and still ample fruit.
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4/26/2014 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
French Laundry (Napa): Another great bottle. Very forward and sweet nose of black fruit, maybe caramel, earth, mushrooms and a hint of iron. The palate matches and I am surprised at how youthful and forward this is. Long, smooth finish. Big finish with nice grip.
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4/14/2014 - Brett wrote: 93 Points
Great wine, but a bit past prime.
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3/29/2014 - walkerjfw wrote: 98 Points
At Rat's Restaurant for our 20th anniversary. Hadn't been there in quite a while, food, service and ambiance were all first rate....brought the 94 to commemorate our anniversary.
Decanted for about 30 minutes. Deep color, no real signs of aging. On the nose its a dead ringer for a Bordeaux with pencil/graphite, lavender, cedar, farmyard/brett. Palate has dark fruits, cherry, black currants, earth, cedar, spices, truffles. Incredibly smooth mouth feel and long, layered finish. Perfect combination of old world elegance and restraint with California fruit in the mid palate.
Wine is fully mature with a good arc in front of it. This is a really special bottle.
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3/11/2014 - Edclr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Not going downhill at all yet, still gorgeous fruit, good acidity, very long finish. An extremely well balanced wine.
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3/11/2014 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
Dinner with Friends - Dominus, Trimbach, Coutet (Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand): Still not entirely resolved. This is a brilliant Pomerol lookalike which will continue to evolve in a positive manner. More defined and concentrated than the 1992 tasted at the same time. This came across as less nuanced but more powerful. It also felt less animal than the 1992. I have always had a soft spot for the countenance of the 1992 and have had misgibings about the 1994 due to its bretty aspects, but tonight the 1994 felt less ferrel (although I still love the soft and complete nature of the 1992). Based on tonight I would say 96+ points. This will continue to grow in stature , although I do not see this ever reaching the heights of the 1991.
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3/3/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Truffle, floral, licorice and baked cherry pie and Asian spice create the compelling aromatics. Silky, sexy, soft and polished, the fruit is clean, pure and persistent. Fully mature, this wine delivers a lot of pleasure. This was from a pristine bottled bought on release and stored in a cold cellar.
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2/15/2014 - dtrall wrote: 95 Points
- Brick color.
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1/18/2014 - LWI wrote: 94 Points
Saturday night wines: Tasted at 4 AM at 13 degrees Celsius in the cellar. Giving little initially, remembered as very Bordeaux-like, at least with some warming, structure, yet a hint of sweetness.
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12/25/2013 - rlafreni wrote: 95 Points
Took at least one hour to open up. Unbelievable smell of caramel and toast with a long finish. Worth the wait
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12/14/2013 - la turque wrote: 95 Points
From magnum. Drank this with a rack of lamb persille. A great match. The wine has evolved beautifully. Gorgeous cedary, undergrowthy nose, with lots of great balance and length. A fantastic wine - drinking now.
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12/13/2013 - bestdamncab Likes this wine:
At Dinner with a 20 ounce Fleming's steak and sautéed mushrooms, nose of cedar, tobacco, currants, dark fruit, and leather, more of the same on the palate, rich, almost mouth filling, elegant, tasty, medium body, and long finish. Great food pairing!!!
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11/30/2013 - Wine Canuck wrote: 95 Points
The Twelveth Annual Stonefields Dinner (Guelph, ON): Very classically styled bordeaux nose with just the right amount of brett for my palate. Nose of cedar, leather, farmyard, violets, dark cherries and black currants. Palate is lovely and showing fairly integrated with low tannins and fairly prevalent acid on the long finish. Consistent with a magnum consumed earlier this year, if a touch more advanced, integrated, and with a bit more brett (fine by me).
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11/30/2013 - Dave Canada wrote: 96 Points
The Twelfth Annual Stonefields Dinner (Guelph, ON, Canada): Wow…..this is so complex…..leather, cedar, blackcurrants, earth, forrest floor and sweet cherry
The palate is equally stunning……sweet pipe tobacco, cedar, leather, earth, black currants, black cherries, sweet cassis and a definite Brett presence (which I love)
The finish is long, layered, integrated.
1994 Dominus does it again.
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11/29/2013 - Lord Rayas wrote: 94 Points
Marc's dinner (Butcher's Club): popped and poured. classy juice, but lacking a bit of excitement for me.
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11/23/2013 - bonedoc wrote:
1994 Napa Tasting (Bin 54): (+++) minerals, wonderfully Bordeaux-like, my 2nd fav of the night. 96-98
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11/12/2013 - Wine_lvr wrote: 90 Points
American Belle 2nd Edition (Switzerland): Tasted blind: Intensive dark color. Nose of leather, red berries and chocolate. This specific bottle felt unbalanced, dry tannins and too acidic. Despite the nice vanilla, berry and coffee notes quite a bit of green flavors. Again an off bottle like the 1991 in the glass next to it?
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10/18/2013 - alittle wrote: 95 Points
Friday Night in Toronto (10tation Catering): One of my most anticipated wines of the night. At first, the nose was a bit musty, but it blew off as it sat in the glass. From magnum, I expected this to be quite youthful, but the bouquet was nicely developed; red currants, earth, undergrowth, mushroom, fresh picked herbs, blood, leather and cedar. On the palate, a bit of plushness, but complimented really nicely by some brisk acidity. Finishes long. Exceptional, and should certainly get even better in this format
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10/18/2013 - Wine Canuck wrote: 95 Points
A Friday Night Toronto Wine Dinner: Poured from magnum. Second Dominus of the night and a similarly beautiful Bordeaux styled nose. Nose blasts sweet toasted cedar, loads of violets, black currants, barnyard. Palate is a bit more plush and primary feeling than the 1992 poured from 750 earlier in the evening, likely due to the format. Kind of a round plum flesh texture. Again finishes long and should go a while longer yet, especially in this format.
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10/4/2013 - Old Vino Likes this wine: 95 Points
Pulled 6 oz (Coravin) from a magnum. I see why so many others flunked blind tastings guessing old world. Incredible wine perhaps a tad behind the 1991 Dominus. Nose and palate of a 25 year old Pauillac. Depth, complexity, and enjoyment in a glass!
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8/20/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Quite a wine. Drank over 2 hours. Very forward and sweet nose of black fruit, maybe caramel, earth, mushrooms and a hint of iron. The palate matches and I am surprised at how youthful and forward this is. Long, smooth finish. Big finish with nice grip.
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8/5/2013 - William Kelley Likes this wine:
Still a youthful, deep, ruby-black, the 1994 Dominus explodes with blackberry, cassis and truffle notes, along with some rustic sous bois (and arguably a slight hint of brett). This Bordeaux-styled wine is rich and intense but classically proportioned; though it is somewhat more rustic and heady than the almost perfect 1991 Dominus. Edouard Moeiux remarks advises serving this wine at a relatively cool temperature.
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7/10/2013 - Pearls_b4Swine wrote: 97 Points
Brilliant as always. Hard to say if it is the best bottle of Dominus I have had -- and I have had pretty much every vintage since '84 -- but it really couldn't have been better. One could have given it 100, but I've never gone above 97 before, save for the '01 y'quem, and prefer to keep that realm hallowed for the freakishly good.
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6/27/2013 - UTPK wrote:
Lifted nose of bright fruit, including top notes of cinnamon, pepper and dust. Very Bordeaux like with high acidity, albeit heavier on the palate. Very nice to drink to now!
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5/23/2013 - EdMcBride wrote:
Fantastic, really comes alive, vibrant flavor!
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3/31/2013 - Edclr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful vino, now in secondary stages after initial bright fruit on nose.
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3/31/2013 - thalver wrote: 96 Points
Slowed oxyed for a coupe hours, then double decanted back into the bottle, started drinking about 45 minutes later. From popping the cork, the nose was quite expressive, with cedar, leather, and some dark fruit on the nose. In the mouth, it had a nice, round feel...not big...just balanced. Paired tremendously with herb crusted lamb chops
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3/30/2013 - cellar designer Likes this wine: 92 Points
Good on opening and Great after an hour, We have been tasting this periodically since early 2000 and it still holds up well. The beautiful floral fruity nose was mesmerizing and the structure held up perfectly to my Veal Chop dinner with a friend.
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3/20/2013 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
Served during a tasting session. Fully mature. Served along side high end Bdx. Did very well. Detectable as California from the fruit and tannin profile. Very good freshness and balance. Complex and long. A great Cabernet indeed. Popular with the group too.
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3/9/2013 - Dave Canada wrote: flawed
Super Tasting 3 of 6 - Dave's Epic Dinner (Kitchener, Ontario): Corked.... :(
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3/9/2013 - Wine Canuck wrote: flawed
Dave's Super Tasting (3 of 6) (Dave's House): Sadly Corked.
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3/9/2013 - alittle wrote: flawed
Super Tasting 3 of 6; Dave Does a Mixed Bag (Dave's House): From magnum. Musty cardboard nose, astringent/bitter palate. Corked.
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2/16/2013 - Marc wrote: 94 Points
Mature wine of stunning quality and complexity. Marmite (bottle aged toasted oak), flint, plums (of course) but on this showin the wine felt more like a blackcurrant dominant wine. the mercaptans are still there but they are completely incorporated into the wine and make themselves known mainly in the palate. Meaty in the mouth This wine impresses on its balance of flavor. It is rich but gentle and has a beautiful texture that is perfectly judged. This is classic Dominus stylistically and this is in both a good and perhaps obvious way - while it could be mistaken for a French wine, it ultimately is a unique new world style, in my experience. As the wine opens in the glass the farmyard aspects become more obvious. A slight lack of fruit intensity and body at the very end of the palate precludes a higher score, in my opinion. It is great wine but is not in the same class as the 1991. This wine is a point but will certainly last until 2024....
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2/9/2013 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 96 Points
Truly amazing. Great fruit with a good amount of leather on the nose. Still bright and youthful. It drank great from the opening and even tried a glass two days later from the vacuum pumped bottle. Really good. This wine continues to impress and feels like it is at it's peak but does not show signs of losing its' loftiness. Great fruit, great producer and in top form. Stay thirsty my friends.
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1/24/2013 - Lipsman wrote: 96 Points
Same as my July note, incredible nose of spices and roses, deep and long flavors—an amazing wine drinking at the height of perfection. Drink now, this will not get better. It is in the window of perfection.
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1/20/2013 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 95 Points
sampled at the WFFT tasting...not as monumental as the Quilceda Creek 2003, but a lovely balance of plum, currant, and sage.
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1/12/2013 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
David White comes to town (Domaine Wine Storage and Sun-Wah BBQ, Chicago IL): Nose: This is holding back a bit on the nose, but has well balanced and refined tones of cedar, mint, dark red cherries, and cassis tones.
Taste: Full bodied with some firm tannins and medium acidity. Well balanced with tones of cedar, dark red cherries, cassis, and some herb tones as well.
Overall: This felt like it needed longer in the decanter to fully show. It is hard when there are a lot of people as well. While this was a really good wine, it didn't get the chance to kick into the next gear.
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1/4/2013 - yukoner wrote: 94 Points
A New Years Eve treat! Decanted for four hours, perhaps needed more. Silky smooth, delicious. Still some tannins present. Would guess it could age another five years. Certainly one of the best I have every had.
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12/31/2012 - Edclr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Ditto last note. Beautiful bottle.
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12/30/2012 - dtrall wrote: 95 Points
Part of the Sierra mar experience and continues to shine as one of my all time favorites. Out drank the 85 Petrus!
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12/29/2012 - Jack wrote: 96 Points
Brilliant again.
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12/8/2012 - Grinner Likes this wine: 96 Points
PHMG WAG: #100 (Chez Lyon in Eugene, OR): This was a great bottle, best Dominus I've had. Aged to perfection with 5-7+ yrs left. Cassis, blackberry, earth, and stone/mineral notes. Great balance and length. No cigar box or pencil, but still notably Bordeaux like.
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11/20/2012 - dream wrote: 89 Points
Smooth as silk with lovely flavors of cassis and black fruits. The tannins are totally ameliorated and the wine is supple but lacks any real complexity on the finish. A nice drink but maybe sliding past it's best at this point. I've noticed that most vintages of Dominus start to decline by age 20.
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10/18/2012 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Served double blind. Ripe, red fruited, herbal, quite deep on the palate but with a slightly roasted element that I associate with a lot of supertuscans and that doesn't really appeal to me. Picked as cali cab.
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9/27/2012 - clayfu wrote:
Holy majorley this was incredible. Within 20 minutes in the glass the wine just explodes. Huge firm body that contains a rich dark red fruit with undertones of cool eucalyptus and soft acidity. The finish lasts forever and it's just so perfectly balanced together right now. It still needs to shed a touch of baby fat but it's drinking great now... I can imagine in 5-10 years it'll be an all star. Easily top 10 Cali Cab experience for me.
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9/16/2012 - texaswinelover wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding.
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9/15/2012 - macker100 wrote: 93 Points
At sendoff, no notes. Every Dominus I have had from the 1990s has been stellar. Wonderfully complex.
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9/15/2012 - Nutty08 wrote: 96 Points
The Big Sendoff; 9/15/2012-9/16/2012 (The Home of Dave L): Utterly fantastic wine. Similar in profile to the ’92 but more flamboyant. Nose of min,t currants, and a hint of blood. Red ripe fruit on the palate, with a strong herbal and minty edge, prominent acidity and freshness. Lengthy finish that repeats and really hangs on the palate. Great wine, with fantastic complexity and poise. Just a hair behind the Lynch Bages for WOTN. Has the ripe forward fruit that I associate with good Cali cabs, though restrained and "bdx like".
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8/26/2012 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
Athens Wine Event, August 2012; 8/25/2012-8/26/2012 (Athens, Greece): Decanted for 1 hour and this is needed. The wine on open is tight and the aromatics are unbalanced and needs a bit of time in a decanter to settle down. Post the there is no keeping this wine down!
The nose is of classic well aged Pauillac. A 1990 theatrical Pauillac in our mind. Big nose ,cedar, spice, light floral and earthy beautifly vibrant and did not waiver over the 1 hour( well 2 if u add the decanting) that we monitored it. On the palate it is very much alive although reaching the maturity plateau and again if this was blind we would have guessed 1990 Pauillac. Mid palate is its weak point but this is a wonderful wine great to enjoy now but with a good few years ahead. 96
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8/8/2012 - robmatic wrote: 97 Points
Great juice, and not fully mature yet. Just the slightest hint of a funk that was huge several years ago, but is now just part of the wine's character. Deeply flavored and structured, one of the best California wines I've ever had.
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7/17/2012 - Lipsman wrote: 96 Points
Deeply complex nose. One of those rare wines you could just happily smell and never drink. Multidemsional taste, lots going on as it evolves from tongue, to palate, to throat. Anise, cedar, mocha, black cherries, all in a deep and dark symphony.
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6/30/2012 - Old Vino wrote: 94 Points
Can't get enough of the nose. Wonderful - thick and viscous, loaded with black fruit, some toasted oak and tar. Finish medium plus. Much better with long decanting, preferably overnight.
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6/17/2012 - Edclr wrote: 96 Points
First bottle out of OWC. Unbelievable nose, still a very big wine. Needed almost 2 hours to blossom, but when it did, what a mouthful. These wines age beautifully...
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6/6/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Few modern Napa Cabernet Sauvignon wines are truly better with age. Most do not add complexities, they just lose their exuberance. That is not the case with Dominus Estate. I remember buying this on release for $35. Those were the good old days. From a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, the wine pops with its floral, truffle, black cherry, tobacco, earth and licorice scented perfume. Rich, supple textured and long, this is drinking perfectly today. I'm not sure it's going to improve, but if you have a bottle or two, this is showing great today.
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5/31/2012 - kenv wrote: flawed
WCC 1994 California Cabernet Blind Tasting (Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY): Dirty, nasty nose. Clearly corked. Sad.
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5/10/2012 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Very nice
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4/18/2012 - davidwhitedc wrote: 93 Points
Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): An old-school Napa cab that could easily pass for Bordeaux. Stuffed with blackberry, black currant, sweet tobacco, and pencil lead underneath, the wine shows a hint of antiseptic brett and alcohol -- but very few notice. Mouth-watering acid on the palate. This would be an exceptional food wine.
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4/6/2012 - la turque wrote: 96 Points
Drank this with a fantastic dry aged prime rib steak done on the gas grill. What a fantastic match. The wine is evolving beautifully. We made the mistake of not allowing it enough time in the decanter at first, with the result that it tasted less fruit forward than it really is - but with a couple of hours of breathing this evolved and opened up beautifully. Gorgeous cedary, undergrowthy nose, with lots of great balance and length. A fantastic wine - drinking now.
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2/28/2012 - tarheel17 wrote: 94 Points
STG does California Cabernet (Seattle): served blind
this was my favorite of the flight. It was very green, with intense tannin, bordeaux-like and oh so elegant. Loved it.
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2/8/2012 - pdemaio wrote: 96 Points
Wow. This wine is really coming into its own! Tererfic nose of oak, spice and anise. Powerful stuff on the palate as well. Definite cab backbone with a new/old world blending of style that is really rewarding. Evolved over the hours it was open. Complmexity and balance abound. Long finish. PDQ96 (might be too low!) Love that specator gave it a 91 :-)
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1/24/2012 - sayward wrote: 95 Points
Kingston Dinner (Fairfield, CT): brown bagged and tasted blind by everyone except me. Everyone guessed that it was French. I would have made the same guess if I were in their shoes. This wine tastes distinctly French. The nose has all sorts of stuff going on, but most importantly was that this wine was made to endure the test of time. Very impressive.
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12/31/2011 - KeyMaster Likes this wine: 97 Points
Réveillon du jour de l'an 2011 (St-Nicolas, Québec): One of the best wine we're ever had. Decanted for more than 3 hours, ready to drink. Wonderful complex nose, fills the mouth, very long finish.
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12/29/2011 - DonWinspear wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 2 hours before drinking. Nose of dark fruit, tobacco. This wine is drinking very well right now. Complex palate of casis, tobacco, cherry, old world terroir, spice. Perhaps a hint of mocha. A gorgeous cali cab that is drinking like a bordeaux. Extended finish.
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12/25/2011 - Invinoverytas wrote: 99 Points
Continues to amaze. decanted for about 3 hours. This one made a 1998 Lafite seem pedestrian. And even made the 2000 Hosanna seem ho hum (same wine maker!).
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12/17/2011 - Dave Canada wrote: 98 Points
My last single bottle of this :(
Nose shows very pretty cherry, leather, cassis, blackcurrants, cedar, pyrazene, earth and sweet tobacco
The palate has very suave texture and great balance with no edges whatsoever. Pencil lead, graphite, glycerine, leather, cherry, cedar, cigar box and a potpourri of dark fruit all come together with stunning complexity.
The finish is very, very long! 2 minutes after my last sip I still taste it. Such pure fruit and secondary notes....wow, really special.
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12/16/2011 - km5 wrote:
Very complex wine...tasted some funk barn and raisins...full of flavors, long finish...dust and mud and some dried fruits, very smooth though. Definitely old world.
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12/11/2011 - danielk168 wrote: 94 Points
From a double magnum bottle, cork was hard to open cleanly, had to do some surgical extraction but succeeded. Poured about half into decanter and drank about an hour later. very classic Bordeaux left bank impression, well balanced, soft tannins but with a well structired undertone. This and the 91 vintage definitely shows Dominus at its best, cannot say I prefer which, loved both. The oak showed much later, surprising, lots of varietion and fun to enjoy slowly, towards the end of 3 hours, it became more Nappa like and shed the left Bank image. Excellent。
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12/4/2011 - salcorn wrote: 97 Points
Fruity, chewy, good acid balance, coffee, rivaled the 1991
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11/20/2011 - DSo wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 2 hours before drinking, impressive nose with strong ripen currants, on plate it is rich, sweet and fruity, medium to full bodied, well balanced, smooth tannin perfectly integrated with the acidity, 30+ seconds aftertastes, very elegant and everything is just perfect, fully matured and possibly at the peak, and plenty of life ahead, awesome!
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11/9/2011 - JulianSkeels wrote: 93 Points
Robert Parker - up close & personal dinner (Petrus, Hong Kong): Only 91pts after decant, but improved after 2hrs in glass - adding mineral taste to cherry and earth. Whilst good, was interesting to see this outclassed tonight by 82 La Mission
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10/16/2011 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 93 Points
Charlie's 65th - Lots of wines! (Charlie's Home): Very nice. For my tastes (at this point), I would wait a few more years on this. It is mature at this point, so why not let it unwind. Nice cassis fruit still there though the nose is more about barnyard/funk and some damp leaves (tobacco?). Complex and layered although slightly thinner than I was expecting. Nice wine and probably one hurt in this setting.
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9/26/2011 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Dominus with Edouard Moueix (The Ledbury, London): A bit of pong on this too, but fine, lifted and on the palate very elegant. Lovely wine
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8/12/2011 - pjaines wrote:
A very very fine wine indeed - and a classic example of "less is more". A cool complexity to the fruit here that has a lightness of touch to it - minty entry then very fine grained tannins. Muted plums, chocolate, dusty earth and some tobacco. Very decent stuff. I have to say, I wish they still made Cali Cabs like this rather than the rather brutish beasts of modern times.
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7/12/2011 - saturnaisland wrote: 94 Points
Flavours and aromas of mushrooms, muted cigar box, and earth. Smooth and mellow. Subdued fruit lurks in the background. Overall a nice wine but fading a bit. I have always liked this wine; this is the last bottle and it has been great to enjoy it over the years. Very distinctive and unlike other California wines; old world styled - an indication that California wines could have followed a different path (in a good way).
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7/4/2011 - vespasian wrote: 98 Points
Garnet colour here; Intense menthol tinged fruit on nose. Dark ripe Morello cherries, spice, earth. Complex and evolved. Really enticing perfume. Lovely texture and mouthfeel and superb, complex flavours on the palate. Rich and intense - opulent like a fine Pomerol. Outstanding.
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6/25/2011 - VoteferPedro wrote:
Excellent. A lot of life left in it
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6/20/2011 - grayfont wrote: 89 Points
from magnum, decanted and consumed over the next 90 minutes. This wine is fully mature, and very much in an old world style, with plenty of subtle earthy/brown notes much more prominent than the subdued fruit. There was some serious brett-like or bottle funk nose on this wine which faded a little over the course of 90 minutes but never quite went away.
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6/20/2011 - il_diavolo wrote: 93 Points
Another great dominus 1994. Finish was perhaps shorter than ideal for such a touted wine (or maybe it was being compared to the overlong opus 1996) so on balance most people expecting the 99pts RP wine were left disappointed but I wasnt, as I thoroughly enjoyed this again. Still quite intense ruby colour. Nose of leather, tobacco with a slight minty/green element to it. On palate the fruit is still strong, with tertiary characteristics of leather and cedar, and again a slight green/herbal (in a good way) undertone. medium/long finish.
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5/23/2011 - aagrawal wrote: 94 Points
Consistent with previous note. Some bricking, but otherwise quite a ruby red; nose is the real strength here with some blackberry, black currant, some red fruits, some smoke, some green including eucalyptus, hint of mint, some old world earth, just a lovely nose; palate has good structure with acidic balance and well integrated tannins that don't take over the palate, good red fruit in the midpalate, finish is a bit shorter than expected given the reputation of this wine. Overall the nose is spectacular, bordeaux-like, and the wine overall is very enjoyable. Drank over the course of 3 hours, improved over at least the first 2 hours with air. I think this wine has peaked but will last. 94-95 for me.
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1/28/2011 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
HDH auction tasting at Tru; 1/28/2011-1/29/2011 (Chicago, IL): From a magnum. A much brighter colour than the '91 Dominus that was poured before lunch. A more pungent and primary nose with blueberries and red fruits, and clearly much younger than the '91. On the palate, this is slightly bitter with notes of coffee, and again much more primary than its 3-year-older brother. Not much fruit, but instead a lot of earthiness. It's difficult to write an objective tasting note with the '91 sitting next to this. There are similar characteristics in the two wines though; a great vein of acidity but a finish that leaves one wanting. The one thing that I will appreciate here is that this is very Bordeaux-like, and doesn't have the overripe black and red fruits that plague Napa cabs. Tannins are well-rounded and lovely. Paired with "potato espresso" -- mashed potato with ground coffee beans with potato foam.
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1/15/2011 - Cellar Fiend wrote: 95 Points
This was decanted in my glass for just over an hour. A nose of cigar box, tobacco, and delicious ripe dark fruits. On the palate the perfectly ripened black fruits (READ- not over ripe), prodigal proportioned acidity to balance the cedar and earth followed by more scrumptious fruit. Leather and spiciness are revealed with more time in the glass. The transition from start to finish is lengthy throughout all components (first taste, mid-palate, finish) this wine ends with perfectly integrated (but still present) round tannin. The finish sits in my mouth, begging for more wine, crying for at least 15 seconds. WOW! This is only the second time I have had this wine and each time it has blown me away. An excellent pairing with everything Chinese BBQ (Pork / Duck/ Sausage / Ribs), I will buy more despite the current auction value; it is worth every penny!!!
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1/13/2011 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 95 Points
A good encounter with the Dominus 1994. Massive wine with plenty of live left. To be honest the wine was almost too young. Drink 2015-2030. Legend in the making
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12/31/2010 - brl75 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Ate with a strip steak at Compass on the upper west side. Amazingly fresh on the palate and kept unfolding as the evening went on. Awesome.
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12/30/2010 - Jack wrote: 97 Points
I was a little concerned with the last two poor showings of this but this one was amazing. A beautiful blend of Bdx and Napa. Charcoal and chocolate. Wow!
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12/27/2010 - cstir wrote: 93 Points
Smooth on opening; layered dark fruit flavor with good complexity; soft tannins that are not powerful so this bottle had probably peaked in its drinkability; sustained finish.
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12/6/2010 - Dbrane wrote: 87 Points
Some Fine Wines (Imperial Treasure, Great World City): When first poured this had the classic tobacco leaf nose of an aged Cabernet but in the glass this evolved into an extremely pungent barnyardy nose of a young CDP! Still very young in terms of acidity and tannin structure. On the palate it is full-bodied and extremely rich but not cloying or alcoholic. This aspect is what I admire about Dominus. Admitedly this is a very respectable wine and I wouldn't doubt it is one of the best vintages produced but for my taste I would prefer a younger Dominus.
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12/6/2010 - Sleepy Dave wrote:
Alcohol :: 14.1%
Very dark ruby core and lightly brownish on the rim. First sniff, heavy barnyard and game dominant the aromatic profile with graphite, underlying sweet plum, mineral, tobacco and damp earth. Very rich and intense palate with layer and layer of ripe dark fruits, plum, Chinese herb, leathery, barnyard and lots of gaminess and graphite. The heavy barnyard note immediately fill up the mouth and palate with good grip of spiciness and hint of sweet plum, very charming in it's own way. Very structure, med-high level of silky tannin with very good balance and harmonious that flow on to the long long finish with vanilla oak and herbs after taste. This still very young and has lots of structure to shed. Very good, however, this lack of the class and finesse that the 1991 offer, and I wonder if the bottle is under perfect condition as the barnyard just dominant the aromatic and flavor profile, which unlike a Cabernet based wine instead of a Rhone CDP. Buy - Re-taste is needed.
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11/19/2010 - Jack wrote: 92 Points
Better when first opened than 4 hours later. Great up front fruit that is very smooth. Still great but pop and pour next time. Brick color.
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11/11/2010 - soyhead wrote: 91 Points
nose - i get red fruits, and roses
mouth - delineated currant then licorice, with lots of green notes interspersed. this has none of the fruit bomb attributes seen in napa cabs. more bordeauxesque, and in fact paired remarkably well with the steak, faring better with it than on its own. a fine wine and a food wine makes a fine food wine (?)
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11/11/2010 - rnellans wrote: 95 Points
Similar to notes when last tasted 1 1/2 years ago. Dark with slight browning of rim. Notes of lead pencil and currants on nose. BIg rich middle palate that is very balanced with long finish. This wine still has a lot of life left.
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11/10/2010 - Tramb Likes this wine: 92 Points
Intense on the nose with spice box and cedar prevailing. Somewhat tannic, earthy, slightly spicy forest floor. Impressive but not overwhelmed given pedigree and price point.
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11/5/2010 - jorgerunfast wrote: 96 Points
This is what the mean by a wine at its absolute peak. Opened, let breath for about 90 minutes (not decanted), and poured. This wine is in its absolute perfect drinking window. On the nose, I can't imagine ANYONE picking this out as a Napa Cab, it's purely Bordeaux. The black fruit is there, but this is all leather, some forest floor, bark, and just a touch of eucalyptus or some other leaf. It was the only characteristic that hinted at Cali Cab, and it was very subtle. I've never had a wine with such perfectly integrated tannin. The wine was pure silk, more leather on the palate, with a touch of fig and a fantastic finish that must have gone on for over a minute. Truly a classic Cali Cab.
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10/14/2010 - vinojones wrote: 93 Points
Brick red; very rich leather, tobacco shop nose; dried black cherry, black berry fruits; portabello mushroom at the back end; full body enuf to be stand alone Cab or dinner wine. has light, acid more than unctous style, typical of Bdx will not fatigue the palate; finish kind of fast. generic, otherwise would have scored higher
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9/23/2010 - il_diavolo wrote: 93 Points
this wine was very old world in style. The nose is erring towards mature bordeaux (leather, cedar, earth, spices) but to the taste I would say it is surprising youthful and even slightly unevolved (certainly tasted next to the 1994 opus). Leather, cedar (lots) and spices on the palate. Quite long finish. My gut reaction was that this could go (if not improve) for another 10 years at least.
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8/26/2010 - Velvet wrote: 95 Points
Easily one of the best Napa reds I have ever had. It is unsurprising that this was made by a Frenchman - very Bordeaux-like indeed! I would have guessed though that it contains a higher proportion of Merlot than it actually does. In any event, what a wine.
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8/17/2010 - oncocyte wrote: 95 Points
Tar on wheels. Massive, dense and probably peaking.
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7/31/2010 - suttonri wrote:
Wonderful wine with this velvety mouthfeel that just coats the palate and refuses to end. Youthful for its age. Tasted twice, and both times outshone by an 82 Bordeaux, Gruaud Larose on this night, and a Lynch Bages 2-3 years ago. The older Bordeuax's tertiary flavors just made them more interesting, though the Dominus does what it does very well. If this does get some of that old claret quality over the next decade it will become truly special.
Had this for a 3rd time on 5/21/11 and this time it was outdone by a 1988 Haut Brion. Don't get me wrong, it's a splendid wine, and 1/3 of the tasters gave this wine of the night. For me, however, the Haut Brion's cigarbox notes simply won out. That being said, it is hands down the best American wine I've had.
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7/20/2010 - JScott wrote: flawed
corked
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7/9/2010 - aagrawal wrote: 95 Points
Great nose with lots of spice, flavor. Some fruit, some mint/green, some truffle. Palate is very dark and smooth. Good tannic structure, some cassis and just a hint of something licorice-like. It is excellent, but not quite the 99 points awarded by RP. Very balanced, subtle. I think it has the tannic structure and acidity to age for a decade, but perhaps the fruit will have disappeared by then.
Update: I think this wine was overshadowed by the subtlety of some of the excellent bordeaux tonight. In the future, perhaps consider placing this with more California wines or drink by itself...
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7/6/2010 - phenricsson wrote: 93 Points
84;68 Fairly light and starting to look quite mature but it is very thick still. Tastes much younger than it looks. Fresh and well balanced. Not like the funky 94's that we sometimes get (and that I love) but very solid and impressive.
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6/30/2010 - DonWinspear wrote: 95 Points
Wonderful showing of a great vintage for this wine. Nose exhibited old world characteristics. Spice, terroir, oak. The wine is extremely balanced drinking very much like a Bordeaux. Not nearly as fruit forward as more recent Dominus wines, in part to the aging and partly to the 12% merlot in the blend. Previous reviewer may be thinking of more recent Dominus which have no merlot. Blackberry, cassis, truffle, earthiness characterize this wine. Wonderful.
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6/21/2010 - Samantha wrote: flawed
quite a bit of brett
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5/12/2010 - phenricsson wrote: 93 Points
89;56. Very mature looking. Dense in the middle but lightening/browning to the rim. Nose is exceptional, could swear it is an old Bdx. Sweet plum, prunes, cedar, cigarbox, a definite ten on this nose. Palate is very good, but lacking the explosiveness and funky notes we've had on other bottles. Clean and well balanced. Could swear it was a right bank Bdx even though I know it has no Merlot at all. 93p.
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5/9/2010 - vinojones wrote: 93 Points
Deep red; rich coffee, earthy nose, mushrooms sauteed in butter; very " tight" bal body of red cherry fruit and darker earthy notes. Impression of a wine on the cusp of adulthood.
Bigger and more friendly than Bdx tasted at the same time. Has the ability to stand alone or go w food better than Bdx does.
Very balanced fruit, wood, and tannin. not near top, many yrs to go. very SMOOTH finish.
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5/5/2010 - rdsboca wrote:
This was not in line with the 100 point theme as was our starter. Pretty nice showing, although I remember this wine better about 5 years ago. For me, at its peak. It is holding up nicely with some cedar and oak. Earth and dirt with mature cherries. Great minerality on finish. Like visting an old friend. Want to hang with them for a while but then get bored.
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4/24/2010 - godx wrote: 92 Points
Roy Hersh Offline - Dominus and Shafer HSS (Vancouver, BC): Slightly darker in colour than the ‘91. The nose doesn’t jump out like that of the ’91, but it shows more Napa sweet fruit. On the palate riper black fruits with some black liquorice. Overall this is blacker, riper, darker and sweeter than the ‘91. Younger on palate and nose with more structure, more acid and a longer finish than its older sibling. Showing a little bit of heat. Getting better as it sits in glass developing some cedar and leathery notes. This is a few years away from peak and will coast for a long time after that. Excellent. 92+
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4/4/2010 - normanhebert wrote: 96 Points
Wonderful wine. Very Bordeaux. Still fresh with a beautiful nose and a long finish.
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4/3/2010 - mmasterson wrote: flawed
Not corked, but a varnish-like quality that I haven't experienced on 94 Dominus before...VA?
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3/29/2010 - taipanli wrote: 98 Points
Another great showing. Consistent notes with last one consumed;
Powerful, lush, seamless. Had forgotten how good this is. Coats the entire palate with wonderful notes of dark fruit. Smooth as silk with a backbone to suggest many years of life ahead.
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3/28/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
The spicy, mushroom, smoke, tobacco, cassis and earthy nose, reminded me of a good Pauillac. Concentrated and full bodied with ample depth, this elegantly styled wine ends with a long mouth filled with ripe cassis
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3/21/2010 - Jack wrote: 89 Points
Not a great showing tonight. A little green and thinner than normal.
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3/13/2010 - PortFanatic wrote: 97 Points
Wow! I had no expection of this being as good as it is. I gave this a two hour decant. Wonderful, complex nose. Seems older right off the bat. Very suave and semless in the mouth. Amazingly complex. Has a lot of secondary developemt, but also has a firm core of fruit still there. This is like a cross of the best of Napa and the best of Bordeaux. Truly a great wine.
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3/7/2010 - oncocyte wrote: 99 Points
Praising this wine is bringing coal to Newcastle. There is nothing to add.
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3/4/2010 - acheng wrote: 92 Points
well, this is completely different from all the other vintages tonight. It is hard to imagine a more distinctive nose vis a vis 1991, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Musty, fur, gamy and barnyard. Black fruit, herbs and concentrated with less minerality than the 1991 and more complexity. I think I like the 1996 more. Nevertheless, I am banking my taste will change and enjoy this monster more 5 years down the road. Buy.
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2/28/2010 - randyjc wrote: 97 Points
An extraordinary wine, very old world in character. Balanced and integrated, with a gorgeous nose of tobacco and an earthy loam smell that was remarkable. In the mouth, cassis and leather dominate. I am very sorry this was my last bottle of this wine.
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2/8/2010 - LeatherPalate wrote: 93 Points
Pop and pour. Rich dark fruit on the nose with a bit more obvious oak than the 91,mint,dark chocolate,leather.
Big and young mouthfeel- felt a bit primary yet. Loads of dark fruit,vanilla,some tobacco,leather. Wish this could
have been decanted as it was just a snap shot of what should get much much better down the road.
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1/3/2010 - jasonh wrote:
EWG - Church & State - Cabs - Jan 3, 2009: I think it had been years since I had tasted a Dominus, now I have had the 94 twice in a month. I will give Dominus props for creating distinct wines. They have a musky earthiness like no other. Such a contrast to most of the other cabs that leaned heavily toward ripe fruit. Not to say this wine doesn't have ripe fruit. This is not a lean wine. I did think the bottle I tasted a few weeks ago showed better purity.
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1/1/2010 - Dave Canada wrote: 99 Points
From Magnum, decanted 30 minutes
Wow...hello bordeaux....I had this side by side with the 1995 Cos d'estournel and blind I would have gotten these wine mixed up.
So complex, notes of cherry, cassis, saddle, leather, earth, barnyard. The fruit was so pure but had such gorgeous tertiary flavours
Finish was long and endless with layers.
Unreal.
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12/20/2009 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
Huge opulence. But huge mercatptins. Next to the La Fleur Petrus 1989 - it was easy to see its cabernet dominance and also its massive fruit and ripeness. It is multi layered but the mercaptins tend to dominate the wine. This wine is not yet ready - needs more time to settle into full maturity. I hope this wine will lose some of the leathery mercaptin stink in time.
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12/6/2009 - steffenpelz wrote:
20 Years of Dominus - Part 2 - The Teaser Flight: This was just silly good. Still very young. Pure velvet, very high in tannins, somewhat primary blackberry/cassis fruit. Medium to full bodied. Impeccable balance, elegance, finesse, and Bordeaux-likeness. Definitely shows off some Brett, but in a very good way. Dead ringer for 1990 Montrose on the nose. One of my favorite wines of the night.
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11/30/2009 - Paul S wrote: 96 Points
Dominus Masterclass with Edouard Moueix (St. Regis Hotel, Singapore): Amazingly good - this was just sweet seduction. Absolutely haunting nose. Clear, ringingly high-toned notes of leather, loamy earth, tobacco, scented sweet cherries, elegant plums and flowery hints. Almost orgasmic. Palate was showing beautifully as well, with wonderfully ringing flavours of truffles, earth, leather, smoke, sweet cherries, cassis wrapped in the sheerest of silky robes. Lacking maybe in sheer power, but with super clean, clear tones of great purity, all singing with joy. Long, long finish too. The mid-palate feints to dip slightly, before flooding back in gentle layers of smoke and tobacco just filling the mouth. Supreme elegance. Superb drinkability. Sweet seduction. Bordeaux class blended with Californian sass. A brilliant wine, and easily the best wine out of Napa I have yet had the pleasure of tasting.
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11/24/2009 - taipanli wrote: 98 Points
Powerful, lush, seamless. Had forgotten how good this is. Coats the entire palate with wonderful notes of dark fruit. Smooth as silk with a backbone to suggest many years of life ahead.
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11/14/2009 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 81 Points
Paris Tasting in Zwolle (De Librije - Zwolle): 1994 Dominus Napanook Red (USA, California, Napa Valley) Kleur: Diepe, robijnrode kleur met oranje verkleuring aan de rand. Aroma / bouquet: Donker en wat gebrand aroma, rokerig, teer en caramel. Vleugje jodium. Gedroogd fruit. Iets te eendimensionaal. Smaak / Afdronk: Iets te rijpe, gebrande en oxidatieve neus. Ook in mond veel donkere en rijpe tonen. Metalige en storend drogende afdronk. Algemeen / potentieel: Te eendimensionaal. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 10 + Smaak / Afdronk: 9 + Algemeen / potentieel: 7 = 81/100
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10/28/2009 - J @ y H @ c k wrote: 94 Points
Generously donated by Uncle Jack's Restaurant to our event. Tasted blind. I immediately focused on an obvious left bank Bordeaux profile with red fruit, tobacco, smooth saddle leather, a bit of chocolate, and earthiness. The sommelier said the wine was within our theme, which was wines from the USA, so after a lot of thoough I came to 1994 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red. But I've had that wine a few times, even owned a few bottles, and this was cleaner with more precise flavors, so I dsicarded that and gave up. Well, I got the year right.
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9/4/2009 - BradE wrote:
Light Lumber in Minneapolis: My memory of the final flight has faded - 89 Trot and 94 Dominus. Good but no notes.
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9/3/2009 - Siggy wrote:
Lumber Comes To Minneapolis (La Belle Vie Lounge, Minneapolis): My palate was shot by this point. Showed great, but no detailed notes.
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8/28/2009 - mjerome wrote: 94 Points
Deep ruby, garnet color. I decanted about 1 hour. The full range of flavors and tannins are still present. Age has integrated and subdued the individual elements. Very impressive.
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8/22/2009 - Topper wrote: 93 Points
Like walking through your grandmother's kitchen. Fabulous comforting aromas and complex but softening and mellow flavors but just a touch less vibrant than it once was. You definitely want to be drinking these up now.
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8/8/2009 - tomandlu wrote: 95 Points
No notes. I recall silk in a glass and an incredible, integrated perfume.
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7/20/2009 - Zweder wrote:
Very special bouquet which I unfortunately did not describe in more detail. Full bodied, dark cherries, oak. Long finish. A bit drying. Off bottle??? No score
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7/19/2009 - CMz wrote: 98 Points
Opened and poured. Deep purple to the edge; Nose of black cherry, berries and spice. On the palate this is an amazing wine; black cherry, blackberry, plum, peppery-spice and a very pleasant earthy note. Still showing good acidity and well integrated with smooth tannins - the balance approaches perfection. Very silky mouth-feel with a long smooth finish. This remains one of my favorite Cali wines and still worth chasing at auction.
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6/19/2009 - grapemaven wrote: 95 Points
Tasted along side the '91 Dominus. Tthe 94 is at it's prime with big fruit and almost imperceptible tannins.It's possible the 91 is the 94 three years down the road. It was sophisticated and elegant but fruit has dissipated.
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6/18/2009 - Charlie Carnes wrote:
This was the first of these bottles that had too much farm/stall aromas. I still really liked the wine and by the next day- today- the horse-like aromas had blown off, but I was left with a cologned cali cab that reminded me of a very good wine from say Napa in 1998. I like it, and would give it around a 93 rating if it were a different wine, but I have had enough 1994 Dominus to call this an off bottle.
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5/30/2009 - taipanli wrote: 95 Points
Still well balanced and good expression of fruit. However it deteriorates in glass. Drink up now.
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5/23/2009 - taipanli wrote: 96 Points
Predominance of earth and leather on the nose. Fruit comes through on the palate. Well balanced Bordeaux blend with a hint of Napa sweetness but not too much so. Very good value imo.
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5/5/2009 - Invinoverytas wrote: 98 Points
I love this wine. It's distinctly bordeaux on the nose and incredibly well made from start to finish. Tannins are nice and round now but still has time to go.
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4/28/2009 - psmith wrote:
1994 and 1997 California Cabernet Retrospective (Chicago, IL): From Magnum. Deep red fruit and earthy mint and tobacco type notes. A Bordeaux sensibility but distinctly Californian. Somewhat out of whack at first, with a somewhat hollow middle and hot finish, but rounds out really well fairly quickly. Firm, fine tannins. A lot of time left. Rated 19/20.
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4/3/2009 - vanpe003 wrote: 97 Points
Drank with Mike and Sharon. This wine is in a great place right now, aromatic on the nose, fully resolved on the palate. The fruit is showing strong. Based on this bottle, there is still more life left for this one.
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3/27/2009 - beezer6 wrote: 93 Points
Dominus Vertical Tasting (Binny's South Loop - Chicago, IL): Some medium ruby color. Not opaque. Aromas of barnyard, funk, rustic cherries and raspberries, with a little blackberry too.
Palate is softer than others in the tasting showing excellent age. Beautiful finesse and elegance here with excellently integrated tannins.
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3/3/2009 - la turque wrote: 96 Points
Winos event chez moi on March 3, 2009. Impressive line-up of wines - theme was Bordeaux style wines rated 95 or better by Robert Parker. In order of favourite to least favourite: 1990 Chateau L'Angelus (my rating - 99), 1990 Chateau Montrose (my rating - 98), 1994 Dominus (my rating - 96), 2003 Chateau Leoville Poyferre (my rating - 95), 1995 Chateau Latour (my rating - 93), 1986 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild (my rating - 91).
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2/28/2009 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 97 Points
Blind tasting of five 1994 Cabernet Sauvignons. First place. Lovely, rich, intense flavors of cedar and leather on the nose, more of the same on the palate, full bodied and rich with sublety like a Pomerol, lovely long finish and aftertaste. Fabulous wine, at its peak and drinking well, enjoyed four pours.
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2/28/2009 - mmasterson wrote: 97 Points
Amazing cabernet... a great Bordeaux from California
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2/6/2009 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 95 Points
US 1994 at its best... (Zurich): Tasted blind: Nose of leather, herbs, dark chocolate and berries. Wonderful sweetness, elegance and length. Still very youthful...superb wine
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2/6/2009 - rnellans wrote: 93 Points
Very bordeaux like. Lead pencil and currant aromas. Still lots of fruit and life left. Well balanced. No hurry to open my last one.
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1/29/2009 - jmd60611 wrote: 95 Points
Fantastic, rich complex brew. Still very youthful. Layers upon layers of flavors and oh such a finish
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1/14/2009 - PeterH wrote: 93 Points
Same as before, but this bottle a little bretty...
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1/11/2009 - BeavisCC wrote: 96 Points
Always great - gorgeous fruit; stacked mid-palate and amazing finish. Strutting its stuff now, but has plenty left in the tank.
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1/8/2009 - Aegis1 wrote: 95 Points
Served at holiday dinner 3 weeks ago, but I wanted to get a note in on my recollections. Decanted for 1 hour before pouring, which clearly was not enough. The earth aromas and notes were strong, almost overpowering, but I took my cue from previous tasters and waited for it to blow off, which it began to, revealing what was to my palate a mature, balanced, pretty, but not exceptional wine. Nevertheless, the Tasters-Who-Know in the group pronounced it an exemplary expression of a California Cab. For me, it didn't blow me away until the next morning (11 a.m. on a Saturday, decanter covered with plate), when I decided to have a taste to see how it held up. Phenomenal nose now, everything well-integrated, still bright, I called the guys back and we finished it off! The moral of this story is to pull the cork on this one well in advance.
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1/8/2009 - Opossum wrote: 98 Points
definitly a very very good wine. thought that this is a bordeaux. found some similar notes like top mouton vintages have.
highly recommendable
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1/1/2009 - MeMyself&I wrote: 96 Points
Courtesy of my neighbor's on NYE 2008. Awesome stuff. great fruit, beautifully integrated wine. probably would keep for years but it is really nice right now....
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12/26/2008 - Flemboy wrote: 95 Points
Christmas Dinner - Decanted for 2+ hours. Oak aroma when I first pored into the decanter, but disipated after an hour. Incredibly balanced flavors of cherry, blackberries and vanilla. In a word; SILKY! I wish I had purchased more so I would have it. I would drink over the next 2 years.
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12/17/2008 - brynmair wrote: 92 Points
A nice bottle with a complete tasting profile. The nose was earthy initially but some floral aspects were noted later. The taste of dark fruits was balanced throughout.
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12/14/2008 - mappleton wrote:
Deep, dark color not showing 14 years of age in any way. Luscious, powerful nose with dark fruits and lots of cedar/tobacco. Very very long finish. In beautiful shape but still young to me.
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12/2/2008 - carnyc wrote: 95 Points
BYO Dinner at Tribeca Grill (Organized by Acker Merrall): Hello Delicious! This was dark and brooding and oh so smooth on the palate; balanced and long; superb!
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10/31/2008 - Cellar Fiend wrote: 95 Points
Excellent - previous descriptions sum it up.
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10/16/2008 - phenricsson wrote: 96 Points
Out of magnum. Lots of exotic, flamboyant flavors, like we normally find in the 750 ml but not the magnums. Delicious.
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9/26/2008 - Brett wrote: 95 Points
Simply fantastic!!
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9/16/2008 - steffenpelz wrote:
Rick's Birthday Dinner (Wink Wine Bar): The star of the evening for me. Just incredibly supple fruit with great earthiness, texture, balance, acid. One of the best red wines I've ever had. Finish goes on and on. Although this shows some signs of California fruit, it is more like Bordeaux than some more modern styled Bordeaux. An amazing achievement in wine making and the poster child wine to prove that all California Cab doesn't have to be uber-ripe to be good.
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9/9/2008 - BordeauxNut wrote: 92 Points
Bud Starr's September Tasting (Bud Starr's Clayton, MO): Explosive nose -- very ripe and a bit bretty. I thought Bordeaux at first, then I tied myself into a knot trying to figure out what vintage it could be. Typical Dominus so far. It would have had to have been a 1990 Bordeaux or a California wine. On the palate, it was a bit simple and not up to its usual self. A disappointing showing for this bottle.
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8/3/2008 - PeterH wrote: 92 Points
A little thinner than I remember from my last tasting...
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7/22/2008 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 98 Points
This was yet another incredible Dominus. At first I was take aback by the barnyard aromas of this wine, because, quite frankly I have not detected it this in this wine. Then, I noticed rose petals and dried flowers, and the farm aromas blew off quite nicely. There was also a nice dry earth and mineral component to this wine that I have not encountered before, and as always a beautiful pure cassis and aged mellow cigar tobacco, with a sweet earth note. And finally a sweet paprika and cardamon note that is just overwhelming. This is the most advanced and most primary bottle of this wine that I have encountered. There is dry aged mellowness to this wine; Julie just loves it. In fact she was a little upset when I followed it with a Shafer Hillside 1996. That says alot because it was really good as well. Is this the best wine to come from California?... ever!
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7/9/2008 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 98 Points
Quite possibly the best representation of this wine yet... and that's saying something. I believe that well stored bottles are still getting better in the cellar, and that at its height it will flirt with perfection.
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6/25/2008 - CMCLR wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding. Only "complaint" is that it is very-Bordeaux like for a Napa wine.
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6/24/2008 - jmd60611 wrote: 98 Points
Yummy, double decanted, drinking like a velvet glove, rich oppulent perfectly balanced elixir...This is great juice drinking very well...Plenty of life left though I have no clue how it can get much more evolved
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6/21/2008 - VoteferPedro wrote: 94 Points
I opened a la Audouze x4 hours and then decanted before dinner and enjoyed over another 2 hours. This is extremely complex with many layers aromas and fruit that integrate well on the palate. Agree with most other evaluations. Well store this will likely last another 5 years.
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5/4/2008 - buckeye76 wrote: 97 Points
DRINKING FANTASTIC BUT WITH THE TANNINS AND BALANCE TO LAST MANY MORE YEARS. JAMMY FRUIT, BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS, AND LICORICE IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR, NICE COMPLEXITY AND A LONG FINISH.
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4/15/2008 - brynmair wrote: 94 Points
This was a complex, multi-layered wine that was brought to a tasting of mostly Bordeaux offerings. The Dominus was decanted for about 2 hours before being passed around the table. The nose reminded me more of Bordeaux with the earthiness and the taste was full of minerals and very elegant. It was close to being WOTN but was edged out by a younger Kistler.
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4/5/2008 - dbg wrote:
Tar, leather, earth, cassis, great body, balance, finish.
Outstanding.
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2/14/2008 - dccc wrote: 94 Points
Defnitely could tell the influence of Bordeaux in this wine in the taste while the nose was all California. Delicous but a bit short on finish.
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2/9/2008 - mdefreitas wrote: 96 Points
CT Group Revisits 1994 Cabernets @ Home (Milford): I kept going back and forth between the Araujo and Dominus as the WOTF... the Dominus eventually won out. While not as lush as the Araujo, this had a bit more complexity, with flavors of coffee, earth, metal shavings and leather weaving in and out between the solid block of black fruit. A wine that impresses in a subtle way.
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1/26/2008 - BradE wrote:
Good not great. Others liked it better than I did. Lacked focus for me.
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12/25/2007 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 98 Points
This wine once again blew me away. I took no notes, but remember a huge nose of saddle, dark fruits, and earthiness. And it was awesome in the mouth. Incredible
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12/14/2007 - Jack wrote: 94 Points
Similar to last bottle. Opens with a big time funky nose that blows off after an hour. Really nice fruit and very complex when opened but seems to close up a little with time?? very enjoyable. The 2002 Insignia was just a little better though very young.
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11/6/2007 - CorkSniffer wrote: 95 Points
Yummy wine drinking very well right now. solid fruit but not too jammy, still solid structure. Very Bordeaux-like for a Cali wine - earthy gravitas with explosive cassis fruit. Ordering more of this stuff!
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11/1/2007 - Blair Curtis wrote: 95 Points
Well, it looks like this was my last bottle. Opened following the final out of the 2007 World Series in honor of the Red Sox dominating performance. I think I've said most of my comments before. First glass went to my girlfriend, who said: "Did you say this is from California? Tastes like top Bordeaux to me." Couldn't agree more. This bottle had none of the edge found in the last one I tried. Sure, there's acid, but it is healthy and nicely integrated. An excellent wine drinking very well now!
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10/13/2007 - dant wrote: 75 Points
second bottle that was green/vegetal. while the first was drunk (7 months ago), this was not even drinkable
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10/13/2007 - the godfather wrote: 95 Points
definitely a 100 point nose, as complex as any Cali wine I have had, leather, tar, earth, complex dark fruit. very elegant in the mouth like a first growth bourdeaux. Lacking that superlong finish to warrant a higher score
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10/10/2007 - daCrusher wrote: 90 Points
Pulled this wine out for a 50th birthday celebration, this wine has very little "fruitiness"...but has loads of mineral and eucalyptus components...very bordeauxesque. While I can't find any fault with the wine, it really isn't my cup of tea. My favorite bordeauxs offer the complexity of this wine, but with the fruit to compensate. I will look to sell or trade my remaining 2 bottles.
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9/28/2007 - cfe wrote: 93 Points
Still purplish with a hint of red. Beautiful nose of dark currants, with lovely barnyard funkiness, very complex. Emphasis here - the aromatics are quite beguiling. Palate is medium to full bodies, with excellent extract, and quite concentrated flavors of currents, plums, perhaps some olives thrown in, and a note of mulberry. Fine grained tannins give an impression of density but aren't obtrusive. Bice balance, with enough acidity to carry the wine through a very pleasant and long finish. I think the wine has room for further improvement, but as CA cabs go, this is the best I've tasted in a long time. Bravo! Where is Chris Pheolps now?
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9/28/2007 - dream wrote: 94 Points
Good dark color. Gorgeous nose of Napa dirt with hints of sweet earth, chocolate, eucalyptus and blackberries. This is now quite well aged and has a beautiful soft and plush texture. It possesses wonderful flavors of dark berries, chocolate and perfumed earth and the finish is quite smooth and moderately concentrated. A great example of how well a Cali cab can age but I think I liked it better a few years ago when it had a bit more power and concentration. At Veritas - NYC
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9/24/2007 - burgbob wrote: 95 Points
Very complete wine, with a lot of concentration and stature, similar to a first growth Bordeaux. More obvious fruit than most Bordeaux, but not like the fruitiness of many other high end Cali Cabs. Had it with the 1991 Opus One, and it was hard to call which was better. Similar concentration and length, jsut different flavor profiles. Drinking well now.
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9/14/2007 - Serge Birbrair wrote: 90 Points
The bottle happened to be tired and flabby.
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9/2/2007 - nob8dnkr wrote: 96 Points
Delicious. Still very young (I keep my wine at 55 degrees in the cellar). Lots of dark fruits, no bricking...just great stuff.
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8/31/2007 - Serge Birbrair wrote: 97 Points
One of the best Napa Cabs I ever had.
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8/28/2007 - jmd60611 wrote: 93 Points
Subtle and elegant, not a big fruit wine this has balance and complexity with beautiful notes of florals and cherries..
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7/10/2007 - PeterH wrote: 97 Points
What can I say about this wine that hasn't already been said. I really think it's improved over the years and may be at it's tastiest moment, right now.
This still has the appearance of a young wine. But if I had tasted it blind, I'd have guessed a '90 Graves (dare I say HB or LMHB?). It has lots of the tobacco flavors that I associate with Graves and none of the plummy, cassis flavors that I associate with Calif Cab. Blind taste this with a bunch of Bordeaux and no one will catch the 'ringer'. Anyway, tannins have really integrated, the secondary fruit flavors are perfectly framed, length is really good. Just a great bottle of wine and really shows how great the '94 vintage was in Calif...
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7/2/2007 - MARATHON MAN wrote: 95 Points
DECANTED FOR 1 HOUR OPENED TO A FULL BODIED BUT EASY DRINK. COMPLEMENTED VEAL DINNER
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6/22/2007 - winemaker wrote: 97 Points
Wonderful wine! Tasted in a vertical of Dominus including 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004 and a 1986 Montelena. The 1994 was WOTN. Of this lineup, the 1990 was over the hill (NR), the 1996 (88 pts.) was the weakest of the remainging wines, the 1995 was the brightest with more acidity than the others (93 pts). The 1992 (94 pts) split the difference between the 1991 (96 pts) and 1994 in that the '92 was a fleshy, lower acid wine. The '91 was very structured, higher in acidity and less round than either the '92 or '94. The '94 was lower in acid than the '91, but still had structure, and was deeper and richer. The 1997 (95 pts) was also very good. The '01 (91 pts) tasted very young compared to the others and needs time. The '04 (NR) may be in a clumsy period or there was a huge shift in winemaking. It tasted more Foleyesque with an enormous amount of new oak.
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6/10/2007 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 97 Points
Another near perfect bottle. Had with Julie, Chuck, Pam, and Robin
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5/21/2007 - LPskeleton wrote: 98 Points
Am I in Bordeaux? What an amazing wine, I would absolutely miss this if it were blind.Beautiful dark color a little brick going on. On the nose green pepper, earth, asparagus, currant black cherry, cinammon and licqourice. On the palate incredible texture, tannins are perfect, soft and structuring the fruit perfectly. Meaty aspects, cherry, currant and mineral aspects go into a LONG finish. What a wine. The best I have had all year. This is tasting amazing right now, get one out if you have it!
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5/1/2007 - dant wrote: 84 Points
Drank in a 94 califormia meritage horizontal with Insignia and Harlan. worst of the night. definite green pepper on the nose and palate. Wine is in serious decline.
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4/13/2007 - tonyo123 wrote: 94 Points
Bordeaux-like. Musty, lead pencil, leather, & tabacco. Lots of dark berries. Good complexity. Still has plenty of life.
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4/7/2007 - Eric wrote: 89 Points
Dumbfounded by Dominus (Kirkland, WA): Dill and chocolate on the oaky nose. Really young and horsey, lots of harsh and somewhat bitter tannins. Chocolate, meaty, leafy, very stylistically distinct. Somewhat bitter though.
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4/1/2007 - wineismylife wrote: 95 Points
DAWGS Offline with Randy Sloan of Match Vineyards (Nick & Sam's, Dallas, Texas): WIML95+,WA99,WS91
Tasted April 1, 2007 at an offline. Opened and decanted about 30 minutes to an hour before serving. Dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of plums, blackberries and black cherries with a very light and pleasant floral undertone of acacia flowers. Flavors of mixed cherries and berries with a hint of bitters on the long finish. Silky smooth on the palate with medium acidity, integrated tannins and medium body. Last tasted in 2005 and this tasting was no comparison to that one. This wine seems to be emerging for its’ shell and promises greater things to come.
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3/22/2007 - winefool wrote: 95 Points
Dominus Vertical Dinner (onesixtyblue): Full deep red color with some lightening. Mmmnn, wonderful round bright red fruit and spice on the nose. Lovely rich round chocolate black fruit with cedar and tobacco with round ripe tannins on the finish. A great wine, drinking at its peak - my WOTN.
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3/22/2007 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
DOMINUS VERTICAL DINNER (160 Blue - Chicago, IL): Aromatic nose of currants and smoke is so dense it smells 'textured'. Big and brawny. A prodigious amount of fruit and unmistakably California on the palate. Savoury tannins add complexity. But this hasn't developed the secondary notes of the older wines in tonight's vertical. (4+14+18+9=95).
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12/25/2006 - Jack wrote: 94 Points
Dominus v. 94 Mondavi Resv. The Dominus is better when first opened but the Mondavi continues to improve with air time. Both excellent. By the end of the night I think the Mondavi is just a little better. Decant the Dominus an hour ahead and give the Mondavi three hours.
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10/28/2006 - Melli wrote: 96 Points
The wine was highlight of game 5 Cards win in WS. The group consensus was clearly Bordeaux, both in taste and nose. Beautiful wine fully evolved and ready to drink.
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10/24/2006 - phenricsson wrote: 93 Points
1994 Dominus (Magnum) This wine had very clean taste, not at all the funky, exotic flavors that this wine normally has. It was good, but not as exciting as we normally find it. After two days in the bottle (just the cork put back in) it developed much more very dark secondary notes like tar, black olives, toast and mushrooms. Extremely sweet. In magnum this wine needs more time. 93p
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9/25/2006 - JPF16 wrote: 96 Points
drinking perfectly, fabulous nose, slightly dry finish but in near perfect balance.
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8/16/2006 - The Wine Bum wrote:
Magnificent bottle, drank at Butch and Grill. Deep, complex mouthful of Pauillacian flavours, earth, cigar, pencil shaving, with a lovely streak of ripe Californian blackcurrant fruit. Hands down best Californian I've had, but maybe because it tastes so French. Outstanding.
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7/15/2006 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Blind tasting. Leathery aromas with dried black cherry and black currant. Same dark fruit on palate with equal amounts of earthy character. Tasted blind, I thought this at least 3 or 4 years older, so time to drink up if this bottle is representative. But this seemed far more advanced than I remember from when last tasted, perhaps two years ago.
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4/8/2006 - LarryF wrote: 96 Points
Quite yummy, sorry to see it was my last!
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3/27/2006 - Tubbs wrote: 95 Points
ESTG Does '94 - '97 California Cab's (Roy's Place): Wow! I thought we were doing Cali' cab's! This has\d a classic Bordeaux nose - pencil, cigar box, wet earth, tobacco. The balance on this was fantastic - a very smooth, nicely integrated wine. The finish was super long.
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12/25/2005 - Dteng wrote: 95 Points
This is a dead ringer for Left Bank Bordeaux. Still quite youthful, this wine displays scents of cedar, ripe berries, violets, cassis liqueur. Full bodied and extremely silky. Not decanted, this showed well right from bottle and lasted well past 2 hours. I am not convinced this will reach the 98-99 point mark, but it is an incredible wine that shows what heights can be reached in Napa. It is both complex and elegant. This bottle was bought by my Dad years ago and I have kept it for a nice occasion to open with him. (He didn't believe it was the same bottle...)
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12/23/2005 - pkwoods wrote:
Decided to open this with Evan, Brandy, and Christine. Cork was pristine on this well-stored bottle. Color was beautiful and deep. The nose on this wine blew us all away. We sat around just smelling this for about 20 minutes. We found everything from the expected tobacco and black cherry, to the less expected ginger and green peppers. Very complex. Unfortunately, in the mouth this was not at all the wine I was expecting. It seemed thin and had a relatively short finish. Almost all oak on the palate (a little spicy) not a trace of fruit. Based on others descriptions...we were drinking a different wine. Perhaps the bottle was stored too cold and was in a different developmental stage than others who have had this recently. Maybe an off bottle. Or maybe it needed way more air or way less air (decanted for about 1 and a half hours and enjoyed over the next 2). Nose-great wine. Palate-great disappointment. It would have rated about 90 points...but I'll write this off to one of the above problems
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12/13/2005 - CharlesM wrote: 97 Points
Typical intoxicating Dominus nose, a palate of rich ripe fruit and lead pencil, still a touch hard but drinking extremely well.
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12/3/2005 - DougLee wrote: 94 Points
My one and only bottle. Purple hue with some lightening at the edges. Nose immediate and powerful, with cedar in spades plus pencil shavings, pine needles, and forest floor. Also a little tobacco, which blew off. The palate had a lot going on, revealing cassis, plums, blueberry, and licorice. The most amazing aspect of this wine was the presence of deliciously sweet, fine-grained tannins. The sweetness lasted into the long, silky finish. Wow, what a lovely wine.
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11/26/2005 - Blair Curtis wrote: 95 Points
Effusive nose of red fruit and damp earth. At first, very tight and tannic - sharp and angular in the mouth. After a couple hours of decanting, the wine softened considerably and rounded out in the mouth. Still one of the most "French" wines I've encountered from California. This had some nice barnyard, earthy complexity, smokiness and ample fruit (after the wine opened).
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11/20/2005 - CharlesM wrote: 99 Points
That trade mark, intoxicating Dominus nose - St Peter's basilica after high mass meets St Julien in California. Rich, ripe, beautiful minerality, a big wine but entirely balanced and certainly not a bruiser, this is still young, and drinking tremendously. One of the great cabs.
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11/4/2005 - pmesq wrote: 97 Points
Another great showing for this wine. I have had this several times since release and only once did it slightly disappoint, showing a little too much barnyard for my taste. This bottle's bouquet filled the room as soon as it was decanted. Dark ruby colored, full bodied, oak fully integrated. Pure dark fruits, very complex with a very long finish.
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10/30/2005 - josh wrote: 96 Points
Tastes like a first growth Bordeaux. Smoke and truffles on the nose, with hint of lead pencil. Just the right amount of sweetness. Still lots of tannin, but smooth and not bitter at all.
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10/29/2005 - ERoss wrote: 95 Points
Bottle of Angst, Volume I (Older Bordeaux and More) (Chateau Guerette): [Decanted 2+ hours] Showing an ever so slight bricking at the rim, this was every bit as good as I remember it from a few years back. Probably drinking at peak right now, the nose was rich with blackberry, menthol, eucalyptus, and spice. Rich without being heavy, this more than held its own among the Bordeaux bruisers served alongside.
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10/22/2005 - DesMarteau wrote: 97 Points
Boy...I'm I glad that I got this. Great wine. Raiseny fruits...saddle leather, pencil, complexity. A first growth Bordeaux from Cali.
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8/1/2005 - cassetta wrote: 96 Points
A mirror but younger image of the ’91 with maybe a little bit more fruit and tannins. Not as rounded as the ’91 but still a great pleasure to drink. Herb’s bottle was pristine and obviously properly cellared – could use a few more years.
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6/14/2005 - BordeauxNut wrote:
I brought this, and I was pleased to go six for six in fooling the other very experienced tasters at the table who all thought this was Bordeaux (even though it followed several Bordeaux before it). Plums, lead pencil, some bretty funk, and a bit of green tobacco / pepper on the nose. Ripe and spicy mouthfeel. Great balance and a super finish -- the best 1994 Dominus in a couple of years.
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5/6/2005 - Jason wrote: 91 Points
STG does 1994 Cal Cab (Michael and Claire's house): I have had this wine once before, and this showing was not nearly as good. It was a fine wine but it lacked greatness. The nose showed spearmint and chocolate. The palate was very lush with good balance. The fruit was balanced by the tannins, but I found little to no complexity. I was surprised when the bag was removed.
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5/6/2005 - Eric wrote: 91 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does 1994 California Cabernet (Bellevue, WA): This was a solid yet disappointing showing for a legendary wine. Everyone liked it with 7 of 8 tasters rating it between 90 and 92 points. However, no one thought it had the fireworks of a truly great wine. The reticent nose shows horse and graphite. The palate shows licorice, black olive, and leather, a really, really nice old-world twist clearly reminiscent of Dominus. However, this was a little simple on the attack, lightly candied and just somewhat underwhelming. The wine did receive significant decanting, perhaps over-decanting?
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4/27/2005 - BradA wrote: 97 Points
Wow! This was my WOTN:
Spiced fruit and nose, no rough edges. Just an amazing nose--probably the most exotic I have experienced. Years of life left if you are fortunate enough to have some, but very pleasing now. After three pours I was quite satified!
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4/16/2005 - Jack wrote: 95 Points
Wow. Balanced, complex, great!
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2/26/2005 - wineismylife wrote:
Tasted February 26, 2005 at an offline at Quails Inn Dinner House in San Marcos, CA so brief comments only. Opened and decanted about 2 hours before serving in Lenox Tuscany Bordeaux glasses. Color not noted. Nose reminds me of a left bank Bordeaux such as a Paulliac. Nose is still tight, only giving up some cedar, graphite and spice. Palate did not show as expected: mostly primary flavors of anise, cherries and herbs. This is still a good wine, potentially great but as a potentially great wine I wasn’t impressed with how this wine is showing right now. No recommendation on when to open the next one or decanting advice...I’m simply confused at this point.
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2/26/2005 - Greg W wrote: 88 Points
The OC Tasting Group does California Cab (Pinot Provence Restaurant - Costa Mesa): Very funky nose - rubber, cedar, - not pleasant at all. On the palate, very disjointed - fruit is there, hiding underneath, but overshadowed by bitter tannins. Long finish - shows some promise if the fruit can come out, but not showing well tonight. After sitting in the glass for a while, came back at the end of the night to re-taste. Some of the funk has blown off, but the tart, acidic side is still dominating the wine. Maybe a bad bottle.
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1/2/2005 - DrDave wrote: 95 Points
Birthday wine. Opaque and dark - very youthful. Nose of casis and cedar. Soft like velvet but tremendously concentrated. Cassis, jammy blackberry, caramel, mocha, vanilla and cedar tumble over the taster's palate. There is a subbtle hint of tobacco, forest floor and barnyard. The finish goes on and on revealing new layers of complexity as every second goes by. I suppose it could be mistaken for bordeaux but for me (unblinded) this was Napa all the way. My first 94 and it's a cut above the 97 and 99 but the latter aren't too far behind.
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12/30/2004 - CSteefel wrote: 96 Points
I have been fortunate enough to have had a string of outstanding and even great wines lately as the year closes out, including the 1990 Pegau Reservee, the 1990 Montrose, and a 1986 Climens, so I figured I would give it one more try with the 1994 Dominus. One almost hesitates to post on this wine, but this is certainly the best California wine I have ever tasted (not that my experience in this department is particularly wide). Very dark ruby red, with a slightly restrained nose of purest tobacco and cassis, with some spice notes peeking through. In the mouth, the descriptors seem to fall short--what does one use to convey an order of magnitude beyond delicious? Perfectly balanced in every way, this seems to be one of the most complete wines I have ever had--suave, beautifully delineated, with great delicacy and power at the same time. Seems very dominated by the Cabernet component at this stage, despite the apparent goodly portion of Merlot in it. The flavors on the palate have intensified and sharpened to the point where it was only by my great restraint that the other tasters got anything to drink. The ripe Cabernet notes finish long, maintaining that perfect balance that was apparent on the initial attack. A great wine!
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11/14/2004 - Herb Blair wrote: flawed
Corked
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10/20/2004 - Blair Curtis wrote: 96 Points
In honour of the Red Sox domination of the Yankees over the final four games of the ALCS, I thought a bottle of '94 Dominus was appropriate. Opened at the start of the game and consumed over the course of a splendid evening. This was a perfect bottle with a solid cork stained only 1/2 inch. Pristine nose with violets, plums and cassis. On the palate, silky smooth with mostly resolved tannin and freshening acids. Lots of cool fruit, loam and vinous grip. Mouthfilling and spreading flavours - a spherical wine with a very long finish. With time in the glass a hint of leather and shoe polish emerges. Perfect mouthfeel with the paradox of great intensity combined with a perceived weightlessness. As the wine opens further, the mildest hint of barnyard emerges on the nose, adding complexity (this essence is not strong enough to describe the wine as bretty at all). A touch of Vicks cherry cough drop emerges on the finish. Complex and Bordeaux-esque. Bags of life left (just like the Bosox!)
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9/21/2004 - CharlesM wrote: 97 Points
Superb tasting of Ch. Montelena and Dominus 87, 90, 91, 94 & 97 (London, UK): Mature red brick. Superb nose of ripe cassis, cedar, lead pencil, and much riper green pepper. This was altogether riper and more together than the 91. On the palate still a lot of structure underlying the really ripe, rich fruit. Very refreshing, long, ripe and multi-layered. Years of life left and a stunning wine. 97+ points.
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5/30/2004 - bdenuyl wrote: 96 Points
Drank one 5/04 Wonderful wine drinking beautifully. Elegant, perfect structure. Like a great Bordeaux. Will drink well for some time.
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3/21/2004 - Jason wrote: 96 Points
Wow. Nose of cocoa, blackberry cobbler, and layers of fruit. Palate shows great depth and structure and tremendous lenght. Perfect balance.
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2/1/2004 - DChan wrote: 95 Points
This followed the '99 Kistler Vine Hill for an all-American Super Bowl Sunday. Gorgeous Bordeaux-like nose of super-ripe black fruits and a touch of mushrooms and green pepper, enough to add complexity and depth without becoming vegetal. This was breathtaking but I still prefer the '91 for its purer fruit, as this (with its hint of iodine) comes across as touch more medicinal. Nevertheless it is a superlative wine - I'm being ridiculously picky here - that is drinking beautifully right now.
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8/6/2002 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 95 Points
It's always referred to as the Californian wine that can be mistaken for right-bank Bordeaux. Again, ruby red colour. Very dense at the core. Vanilla-buttery-oaky nose. IMO the oak was showing a bit too much on the nose. Sweet and well-defined, but lacking in complexity. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing in this wine. Only after the previous wine it was a bit one-dimensional. I liked it a lot though. The aftertaste was a tad short.
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6/21/2002 - dbg wrote:
excellent, complex nose of fruits, forest floor, funk, good depth but
not as full bodied as expected, travel shock?, prior bottles better
but still great length, bit of harsh tannins overtake fruit on finish
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12/11/1999 - dbg wrote: flawed
cooked, maderized!
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9/25/1999 - mdefreitas wrote: 94 Points
Great Cult Tasting: Strong, Bordeaux-like wine. Earth, and dusty cassis. Strong palate presence, and very complex finish. Excellent.
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5/22/1999 - mdefreitas wrote: 95 Points
Pre Auction Wine Tasting w/ Aubert de Villaine (DRC) (NYC): Beautiful, dusty cassis and earth. Complex minerals and underbrush. Very Bordeaux-like in style.
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3/1/1999 - sdr wrote: 86 Points
Tight young oaky nose. Not too burly. Still tough and hard. Doesn’t evolve in the glass. Needs at least 5 more years.
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2/9/1999 - dbg wrote:
young, tight, but great concentration & depth, nice creamy complex
nose for its youth, opened slowly and was awesome the next day
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10/1/1998 - sdr wrote: 88 Points
Somewhat anonymous but seems to have hidden reserves. Structured. More to come in the years ahead. Could be excellent if it outgrows its structure.
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5/1/1998 - dbg wrote:
deep, dark, Bordeaux-like with forest floor, funk, mushrooms, oak,
fruit underneath, very complex but not up-front fruity like '94
Insignia same night, not as forward as '95 Leonetti Merlot that Dave
brought, but opened & kept getting better through the n
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7/27/1997 - mdefreitas wrote: 89 Points
One word -- OAK!! Maybe it is too young? Has good fruit/mineral components, but the wood is totally out of control.
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