Sometimes I have to pinch myself, to make sure that I am alive and not dreaming when I go to a tasting at my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  After a tasting of a group of sparkling wines by Roederer, the distributor also had a few other wines for us to taste as well.  The first wine was Dominus Estate Napanook Napa Valley 2015.  I once wrote that I never wanted to stop admiring the nose on a Dominus Estate wine. Christian Moueix has had part ownership since 1982 and ran the estate concurrently with his family business in Bordeaux until 2008. The estate is based on the Napanook vineyard, which was one of the first sites planted in grapes in Napa Valley.  George Yount (Yountville) began the vineyard in 1838 and the fifty-hectare site has had many owners and steward of the land.  Moueix went into partnership in 1982 and in 1995 became the sole owner; Dominus is Latin for Lord of the Estate.  Dominus Estate is the flagship of the winery, Napanook is the mid-level wine and the entry-level wine is Othello.  The vineyard is dry-farmed, both to conserve water and to control the yields and hence the quality of the fruit, the same practice that was started in the 1970’s at Petrus.  Another unique aspect is that about two weeks prior to harvest the vines are rinsed to eliminate dust, then when harvested by hand, they use small French shears, instead of knives to minimize bruising and damage to the grapes.   This vintage is a blend of ninety-three percent Cabernet Sauvignon, four percent Petite Verdot, and three percent Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged for about ten months in French Oak.  A beautiful deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of blackberry, black olives, pipe tobacco, a touch of smoke, and violets.  On the palate, a velvety texture with tones of blackberry, dark plums, with secondary tones of savory spices, florals wrapped around smooth tannins and an elegant finish.  The wine was more Pomerol than California and that is understandable.

We then had Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2017 and it has its fruit from the famed Finca Ygay vineyard of the winery and they are located in Rioja Alta.  There are three sub-regions of Rioja and Rioja Alta tends to be the region that is often named, and it refers to the elevation of this region compared to the other two sub-regions.  The winery was founded in 1852 by Luciano de Murrieta and since 1983 it has been owned by the Cebrian-Sagarriga family.  When the winery was being built it was found to be part of Rioja Baja (lower elevation), but it makes the region sound inferior and Rioja Baja is now Rioja Oriental; they had enough clout to have the boundary moved, so that the winery was in Rioja Alta and today it is in its own enclave of La Rioja Alta. The wine is a blend of eighty-two percent Tempranillo, nine percent Graciano, six percent Mazuelo, and two percent Garnacha.  The wine is aged for twenty months in a blend of new and used American Oak, and then an additional eighteen months in the bottle, before release.  A dark garnet color wine that offers notes of black cherry, blackberry, chocolate, leather, and baking spices.  On the palate there were rich tones of black cherry, blackberry, dark plum, and vanilla integrated with smooth tannins and a nice medium count finish of fruit and bright acidity.

The third wine was Marqués de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2011.  This wine is not made every vintage and the fruit comes the single vineyard La Plana, planted in 1950 and is on a plateau which is the highest point of the Finca Ygay vineyard on the estate.  This wine is a blend of eighty-four percent Tempranillo and sixteen percent Mazuelo.  After manual harvesting, destemming and gentle crushing the wine spends eleven days fermenting in Stainless Steel with constant attention during this period.  The wine is then aged for twenty-eight months in a mix of American and French Oak, then followed up with thirty-six months of aging in the bottle before release. This deep violet-red wine offered notes of red and blue fruits, incense, mocha, pipe tobacco, “Sous-bois”, anise, and cloves.  On the palate this full-bodied wine offered tones of black cherry, black berry, and dark plums with secondary tones of mocha, caramel, orange peel, and baking spices all blending with velvety tannins and a nice long finish of a cherry compote.  A delightful wine, that would be wonderful to experience around ten years from now.