So today we have a real treat who else Out there loves Dominus I do And today we have the 2009 that we're Gonna taste so this 2009 has been aged Properly perfectly for the last you know Uh decade Plus or so and super important For these dominance wines because they Really are made to age that's how They're produced so a little bit of History on on Dominus uh produced by Christian wax moax family owns Chateau Patrous Bordeaux among other Wineries And Christian got his uh his education At UC Davis so he was in California in The 60s fell in love with it and so After spending some time at Petrus came Back in the early 80s and Um found the The napanook Vineyard out In yonville and that was just sort of The start of his uh his passion for California wine and now uh along with Dominus Napa there's so many wines that He he produces that are just fabulous Expressions of the region and Dominus is A is a blend it's a cab Cabernet Sauvignon base blend usually about 80 85 Is I think it's 86 percent this vintage Um little cap Frank some petite verdeaux And these wines are you know really Opulent and big young but they are meant For development and meant for aging and That's one of the the beautiful things You know about
Really well made wines and um you know It's On the nose It's really pretty and it's really Um You know the tertiary Aromas are coming Out as much as that kind of dried fruit So you're getting that that beautiful Baked black cherry and those those Wonderful spices from the oak or that Clove and Nutmeg and that graphite you Know those pencil shavings you know Bordeaux sort of style which is you know How he he creates dominance is in that That Bordeaux Style There's a little bit of that licorice Kind of note comes up underneath a Little bit of that forest floor but um It's not all that intense uh right now I'm you know I'm digging for it a little Bit and it's it's an older wine so you Know probably needs a little bit of time But uh let's give it a taste Oh my Lord that is just so very soft and Supple and silky get expansive on the Palette those those fruits are all Coming out Again black food first Lots of really nice spices some some Crushed floral notes rose petals are Coming out some of that lavender some of That leathery kind of undertone is there The the tobacco almost like a like a Sweet pipe tobacco
Um again this is a a wine that's got 10 Plus years and these wines they they Need to open up they need some air so I Wanted to see how it was out of the Bottle but knowing that was probably Going to need a bit of a decant here so So let's do that let's let's throw this Into the decanter and uh let's come back To this and in a little bit and see how It opens up See if we can look and see all that Sediment that's left at the top of the Bottle there and that is really one of The main reasons that we decant to make Sure that we catch that sediment and it Doesn't end up in the Canter in the wine Okay so now we've had about 30 minutes Or so in uh the decanter on this Dominus And uh let's see how See how it's showing now so you know to Point out the color here is really a bit Garnet right so it's still kind of that Ruby core but those little brown hinges On the uh on the edge there which is Normal for a line of uh of age that's Sort of the color that you'd expect it To turn which Means it's mature you know Yeah and I mean the the Aromas are a way more Intense coming out of the glass and That's really one of the things remember About old wines is if you open it and It's you'd think it should be bigger and
More intense and it's a little bit muted Make sure you grab it to cancer and put It in a while So You know it's still those black fruits But it's it's almost like like Mulberry And and fruit cake like uh It's like those chocolate covered uh Candies like that sweet kind of note is Is really hopping out here there's that Little licorice kind of Pop going on Here uh Yeah floral notes are still there A little bit of a Crushed lavender And the oak notes are there but they are Obviously you know settling down it's Not these big powerful vanilla and uh You know new Oak notes it's sort of Nutty and it's sort of Baking spice and Nutmeg and certainly The undertones of that that sweet pipe Tobacco the mineral aspect that's coming Out that again that graphite that pencil Shaving is still Really prevalent here let's give it a Taste It's just amazing what you know half an Hour in decanter can do because It's so expansive on the pallet now it Just hits you know every note Acidity is is wonderful and and just Holding everything together There's a
The tannins are are softer they were Soft to begin with but they're they're Just silky and smooth this this Supple Uh mouth feel that this wine has that at This point of its life and and it's not Done so let's be clear this is 10 years In the bottle this can go another 10 Years it's just a matter of how you Enjoy your wines right now there's a Really nice balance of sort of dried red Cherry black cherry Um you know that fruitcake kind of Component really comes through beautiful Spice there's really nice mineral Dynamic that like I said the tannins are Soft it's drinking beautifully but it Doesn't mean that this won't evolve for Another 10 years and that's even longer And that's the beauty of Dominus and you Know these these Napa wines that are Made in this ageable style and you know Why Christian Lou Lexus is one of the Greatest winemakers of our time Um just because his ability to to make These kind of wine so newer vintages if You have Dominus enjoy them young if That's how you enjoy them but if you Have the time and the patience the way They evolve and age is is really a thing Of beauty and one of the wonderful Things about wine so I hope you enjoy Cheers