Tasting notes: The 2006 offers aromas of black cherry and a long finish of cedar, brown spice, and toasted vanilla bean. Worth knowing: Dominus is the brainchild of Christian Moueix, whose family owns (among other properties) Châteaux Pétrus in Pomerol. Moueix—together with the daughters of Napa winemaker John Daniel, the great-nephew of Gustave Niebaum and heir to Inglenook Winery—chose as the site of the new project a parcel that at one time belonged to George Yount, who is believed to have planted the valley’s first vineyard there in the mid-19th century. Named Napanook Vineyard, these 124 acres west of downtown Yountville contain volcanic gravel, hard clay, and loam that lend the wines their structural complexity.
