2021 Dominus, Napa Valley, California, USA

The 2021 Dominus is a powerful, tightly-coiled wine that is holding back quite a bit of reserve. There's real depth and resonance waiting to emerge as the wine matures. Floral overtones and bright acids confer energy to a core of red/bluish fruits. Readers will find a Dominus built more on linear precision rather than opulence. It is hugely impressive in this tasting, with a long chalky finish.

Drink 2031 - 2046

The purity of the cabernet fruit is so enticing, with blackcurrant, rose petals, nettles and subtle graphite. Touches of terra cotta and licorice. Full-bodied with super integrated tannins that are wonderfully polished, giving a cashmere texture that is really luxurious to taste at this early stage. It is quenching and so delicious already. 95% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc. Needs three to four years to come around but already a joy to taste.

Drink 2027

95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc.

Tasted blind. Dark, lustrous purplish crimson. Slightly raw fruit on the nose that seems less ripe than most others in this tasting of top 2021 Napa Cabs. Sweet and satin-textured initially on the palate and a very drying finish. At the moment this is a collection of unrelated elements. Very youthful. But it grew in the glass to be much more impressive. Long.

Drink 2026 - 2036

One of the legendary Dominus, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably in the same league as the 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010, and 1991, and to my mind, wine simply doesn't get any better. Sporting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of blackcurrants, crushed stone, cedar pencil, smoke tobacco, and baking spices, it is rich, full-bodied, and voluptuously textured, with ripe yet building tannins. It reminds me slightly of the 2010 maybe the 2013), and I suspect it will have a similar evolution. Hide bottles for 7-8 years, and it will evolve gracefully for 30 years. Hats off to the team of Christian Moueix and director Tod Mostero.

Drink 2031 - 2061

Superbly aromatic, polished, and balanced. Tannins are plump, pliant, and extremely long, with a beautiful velvety quality. Ripe blackberry, spiced plums, and black cherry fruits are super-expressive and imbued with this spicebush note, which is a shrub bush that grows near the vineyard and, when crushed in the palm of your hand in the thick of summer, reveals a high-toned minty-citrusy note, which is very present on the palate. The minerality is perfectly expressed as iron and stone, and the finish is exceedingly long, nuanced by mocha, loamy earth, and wildflowers, and resolves with tremendous freshness. Just splendid.

Drink 2024 - 2050

The 2021 Dominus, 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, is opaque purple-black in color. It needs a lot of coaxing to lure out scents of freshly crushed blackcurrants, blackberry preserves, stewed plums, and boysenberries giving way to subtle nuances of violets, licorice, and tar plus a touch of cedar in the background. The full-bodied palate is taut with densely laden, muscular black fruits framed by a firm grainy texture and well-played tension, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. A stunning vinous record of time and place, this is a 50-year Napa Cabernet to be experienced across generations. 3,700 cases were made.

Drink 2026 - 2075