Served alongside beef short rib, xo sauce, pickled mustard seed, cumin stir-fried asparagus. Yes, the 2003 Dominus is big. However, it is also balanced and showing classic Napa typicity with beautifully ripe and some slightly wizened black and red fruit, tobacco, cocoa, some purple flowers and baking spices. I found this to be quite balanced after all the air it saw. Wonderful structure for continued aging as well. Drink now through 2043. — 19 days ago
Napa Cabs are good but this one didn’t do much to set itself apart. Excellent pairing with steak as expected. Notes paired with steak moved into menthol territory with just a little dark berry. More herbaceous. — 19 days ago
Huge pedigree on this one, being from the younger vines of Harlan… not a true second label. Rich Oakville flavors. For the price point you can do better. Also could have improved with a couple more years in the bottle I think. — 4 days ago
Delicious and full bodied. Excellent spice. Decanted and sat for half hour. Enjoyed it with a spicy pasta. — 3 days ago
Enjoyed alongside some other Napa legends from the 80’s and 90’s. The 1985 is lovely and came more than willing, with a mix of tart, ripe and desiccated red fruits, Montmorency cherries, red currants, graphite, toasted coconut, leather and nuts. There was a slightly sherried character early on the nose but the structure seemed to defy age. No need to cellar further as this is delicious now and well stored examples should continue to be through 2030+. — 19 days ago
Made a big family dinner last Sunday night, not often we get everyone around the table with travel and sports, so kicked it up another notch with a lovely wine — 6 days ago
Tom Garland
+1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A splendid dark ruby red color. On the nose: Intoxicating/intense nose of black fruit, dark currants, worn leather, forest floor, coffee grounds, minty dark chocolate. Taste: smooth, satiny, structured, balanced wine with chocolate covered brambly blackberry, tobacco, earth, cedar, black pepper, and a herbal licorice long finish. A medium body old world style wine that shows well right now and should continue to provide more years of enjoyable sipping. — 5 days ago