Jamessuckling.com | JS 93
Published: May 22, 2017

This is a pretty third wine of Dominus, showing freshness and richness at the same time. Full-bodied, juicy and rich with plenty of blackberry and currant character. Delicious now but even better in 2019. 

Winemaker

Produced from the historic Napanook vineyard in Yountville, California, Othello is a wine that expresses the singularity of its exceptional terroir and is accessible and enjoyable in its youth.

A Bordeaux blend, the wine is forthcoming with lovely aromas of red fruit, round, silky tannins and an abounding brightness.

It was at the famed Napanook vineyard that Christian Moueix established Dominus Estate in 1983. An historical site, it was the source of fruit for some of the finest Napa Valley wines in the 1940?s and 1950?s. Notably, the vineyard?s history can be traced back to Napa Valley?s beginnings, when in 1838 George Yount, for whom the town of Yountville was named, first planted grapevines there. Today, the vineyard produces three wines: Dominus, its flagship, Napanook, and Othello.

A model for its sustainable farming practices, the Napanook vineyard has been hailed for its dry-farming, which shuns watering the vines, thus spurring them to draw deeply on the land?s unique geology. Meticulous viticultural and winemaking practices are undertaken with the objective of producing wines that are pure, balanced and complex. Minimal intervention and restraint throughout the process of grape berry selection, fermentation and aging preserve the character of the fruit. The resulting wines are an expression of this unique vineyard.

Appellation: Napa Valley
Director: Julia Levitan
Technical director: Tod Mostero

Vineyard size: 42 hectares (103 acres)
Soil types: Gravelly and clay loam

Vineyard grape varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon - Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
Viticulture: Dry-farming (no irrigation), Soil tillage (French plow), Vine growth management adapted to the climatic conditions
Harvest: Manual harvest: sunny side of the vines picked a few days before the shady side Manual and optical sorting
Winemaking: Gentle pump-overs and extraction
Aging: In French oak barrels