Chateau La Dominique 2020
- Decanter
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Dunnuck
Jeb - Vinous
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Chateau La Dominique 2020 offers black fruit and floral aromas. There is a nice balance between fruits and freshness and tight and harmonious tannins. There is a nice length on the palate.
Blend: 85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Another successful vintage for La Dominique, ruby colour with violet reflections, this has the measured delivery of succulent damson and black cherry fruit, clearly gong for a gourmet-feel with grilled butterscotch and cocoa beans. It totally works - has firm tannins, cooling blue fruits and freshness through the middle, no dip in the mid palate and waves of secondary aromatics. Serious, and a clear progression of the past few vintages.
Barrel Sample: 95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the northwest region of the appellation, not far from Cheval Blanc, and L'L' just across the road, the 2020 Château La Dominique is another round, supple, incredibly impressive wine from this estate, which has clearly been on an upward trajectory. A blend of 85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon that spent 14 months in 50% new barrels (17% was in amphora), its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by a Pomerol-like array of cassis, darker cherries, chocolate, truffly earth, and spring flowers. With medium to full-bodied richness, a round, supple, sexy mouthfeel, and beautiful tannins, it's another remarkable effort that readers will love to have in the cellar.
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Vinous
The 2020 La Dominique presents a nose of red and black fruit, subtle hints of fireside ash, and even a faint hint of Christmas cake in the background, all well defined and focused. The medium-bodied palate offers a sapid entry, crisp acidity and flavors of blackberry plus touches of tobacco and smoke, maintaining fine delineation all the way through to the finish. This is a step up from recent vintages, a testament to the changes that have been implemented at the estate. La Dominique is back!
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
James Suckling
A very fine La Dominique with curated and polished tannins that spread across the palate. together with plenty of berry, slate, wet-earth and spice character. Bright finish. Fine-grained. Needs time to open and come together.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is marked by freshness with bright blackberry flavors that are lifted over the firm tannins. While this gives the wine a deceptively open character, in fact the wine's structure is all there, ready to allow it to age over many years.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Displaying an opaque purple-black color, the 2020 La Dominique needs a fair bit of swirling and coaxing to unlock enticing scents of crushed black cherries, black raspberries and ripe plums, plus beguiling nuances of violets, aniseed and cedar chest, with a waft of cardamom. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound with loads of bright, crunchy red and black fruit layers, supported by finely grained tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long with a gorgeous array of energetic mineral sparks. A property on the upward swing, this delicately crafted, beautifully restrained expression of the vintage comes highly recommended. Barrel Sample : (92-94)+
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Wine Spectator
Forward and succulent, with friendly blackberry cobbler and plum sauce mixed with black licorice, while a hint of baker's chocolate checks in on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Respect for the soil in order to bring out its potential at its best, disciplined and careful work in the vines throughout their life-cycle, greatest care for the grapes from their ripening until the crucial period of fermentation, and finally the closest attention that is paid during the ageing process and the bottling. The winery has 23 hectares and the soils are 25% deep gravel, 75% old sand mixes with gravel over a clay sub-layer. The vines average 30 years of age.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.