Dominus Debuts : Long-Awaited Napa-French Collaboration Arrives

The John Daniel Society’s Dominus debuted on “Leap Day,” Feb. 29, at the Four Seasons in Manhattan, March 2 in Chicago and the following Friday in San Francisco. By now, all the enophiles in the country are critiquing this first release of Dominus 1984.

What makes Dominus so special? Once more, it’s the man before the grape. Christian Moueix, 42--the managing partner in the family that owns many splendid vineyards in Pomerol and St. Emilion, including the regal Chateau Petrus and Chateau Magdelaine--spent his youth in Libourne and earned his degree in agriculture in Paris, doing postgraduate studies in viticulture and enology at UC Davis in 1968 and 1969.

When Moueix came to California in 1981 to talk about a wine venture in the Golden State, Robert Mondavi suggested that he talk with his own executive assistant, Robin Lail, Moueix’s contemporary and the daughter of Inglenook’s late owner, John Daniel Jr. In May, 1982, the John Daniel Society was formed for the venture joining these two leading families of the wine world. (When Inglenook Vineyard was sold by John Daniel to United Vintners in 1964, the sale did not include all of the Inglenook vineyards, nor the choice Napanook Vineyard near Yountville, the heart and source of the grapes for Dominus.)

On a glorious sunny morning in July of last year, I eagerly accepted Moueix and Lail’s invitation to visit them at Napanook, tour the vineyards and taste all the extant vintages of Dominus--1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986--while the clusters for the good 1987 were still hanging beneath their leaf canopies. The initial debut, the “flagship” wine of the John Daniel Society, would be the second wine, the 1984, is already delightful ($38). The 1985 is quite different but with the same elegance; the 1986 shows its heritage and style. All will benefit from further aging.