Dominus Napanook Vineyard 2006

Professional Ratings

• 94 Wine & Spirits
  Here's the challenge of blind tasting. The 2006 Napanook, the wine from younger vines and lesser soils at the Dominus Estate, is transparent, its beauty easy to see. It may, in fact, be the best vintage of Napanook we've tasted on release-all black currants and peppercorn spice, lifted, savory, dark and intense. A great Napa wine for rack of lamb. Meanwhile, the '06 Dominus (recommended below) is all restraint, closed off behind the wall of its structure. If Dominus catches up and surpasses Napanook, which it should, it will be an astonishing wine.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2006 Napanook (a 3,500-case blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest small amounts of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot) is made in a riper, more California style than usual, displaying more exuberant, up-front notes of kirsch, black currants, and plums. Deep and full-bodied with low acidity, sweet tannin, and a fleshy, succulent personality, it tastes like a classic Napa Cabernet. Consume it over the next 10-15 years.
• 91 Wine Enthusiast
  It’s tempting to think of Napanook as a second wine of Dominus, but this Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend has been trying to stand on its own. It doesn’t always succeed, but the ’06 represents a step forward, and is the best release since 2003. Dry and well-structured, it offers complex flavors of black currants and sweet grilled oak. Good now and beyond 2012.