{{Short description|California wine estate}} {{Infobox Winery | winery_name = Dominus Estate | winery_logo = | location_city = Yountville, California | location_country = USA | appellation = Napa Valley AVA | former_name = Napanook Vineyards | other_labels= <!--if the winery makes more than one label--> | year_founded = 1836 | first_vintage = 1983 | key_people = Christian Moueix | parent_company = | cases_per_year = | signature_wine = Dominus <br/> Napanook | varietal1 = | varietal2 = | varietal3 = | varietal4 = | varietal5 = | varietal6 = | varietal7 = | varietal8 = | varietal9 = | varietal10 = | other_product1= | other_product2= | other_product3= | other_product4= | other_product5= | homepage= [http://www.dominusestate.com/ www.dominusestate.com] | distribution=<!--e.g. national, regional, limited, restaurants, wine club only, etc--> | tasting= <!--open to public, by appointment, special events, etc--> }} '''Dominus Estate''', is a California wine estate producing Bordeaux style blends, owned by Christian Moueix. The winery is located in Yountville within the Napa Valley AVA.
==History== George C. Yount, the founder of Yountville, planted in 1836 the first vines of the valley on the location of Napanook vineyard. In 1850 the property was bought by Charles Hopper, and owners since include Hugh La Rue, a pioneer in the use of rootstock and John Daniel Jr., the owner of Inglenook Winery who bought the estate in 1946.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last =Prial |first =Frank J. ''The New York Times'' |title =Wine Talk |work =The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/09/garden/wine-talk-703888.html?pagewanted=all |date =March 9, 1988 }}</ref>
Following Daniel's death in 1970, Napanook passed to his daughters Robin Lail and Marcia Smith who in 1982 began a partnership with Christian Moueix,<ref name=TS-SWE>{{cite book|last = Stevenson |first = Tom |title = The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia |edition = 4th |year = 2005 |publisher = Dorling Kindersley |location = London |isbn = 0-7566-1324-8 |pages = 490 }}</ref> acting on a recommendation by Robert Mondavi to establish production in Napa Valley.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=SAC>{{cite news|last =Murphy |first =Linda ''San Francisco Chronicle'' |title = MoueiX Files |url= https://www.sfgate.com/wine/article/MoueiX-Files-France-s-Mr-Merlot-makes-good-2733821.php |date =February 3, 2005 |work=The San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> Daniel Baron became general manager of Dominus in the 1980s.<ref name="SwinchattHowell2004">{{cite book|last1=Swinchatt|first1=Jonathan|last2=Howell|first2=David G.|title=The Winemaker's Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8JTA46LeNYC&pg=PA189|accessdate=11 March 2013|date=15 August 2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-92920-3|page=189}}</ref> Moueix, also in charge of production at Château Pétrus and president of Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, became the sole owner of Dominus Estate when Lail and Smith sold their shares in 1995.<ref name=SAC/> Napanook, the estate's second wine, was first released in 1996.
With the previous thirteen vintages crushed and aged at the nearby facility Rombauer Winery,<ref name=NYT/> a new winery was constructed by the Swiss architects Jaques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in 1996, a $5 million, {{convert|50000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} structure.<ref name=SAC/> The architects' first U.S. project, it was constructed from stone-filled gabions to provide protection from scorching heat by day and the cold at night.<ref>{{cite web |last= Franzoia |first= Elena, floornature.com |url= http://www.floornature.com/projects-commerce/project-herzog-de-meuron-dominus-winery-california-4025/ |title= Dominus Winery in Napa Valley, California, USA. |date= August 2002 |access-date= 2012-11-29 |archive-date= 2014-03-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140320220331/http://www.floornature.com/projects-commerce/project-herzog-de-meuron-dominus-winery-california-4025/ |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>Matthews, Kevin, ''ArchitectureWeek'' (June 20, 2007). [http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0620/index.html "Dominus in Depth"]</ref><ref name=mmusa>{{cite web |last= Maisons Marques & Domaines Usa Inc. |title= The Architecture of Dominus |url= http://www.mmdusa.net/BrandKit.php?Brand=12 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070702220238/http://www.mmdusa.net/BrandKit.php?Brand=12 |archivedate= 2007-07-02 }}</ref>
==Production== thumb|125px|A bottle of 2002 Dominus. From an estate of {{Convert|124|acre|ha}}, the vineyard area extends {{Convert|108|acre|ha}} in 14 blocks, with some presence of phylloxera-resistant St. George rootstock from the Inglenook period, the grape varieties are 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc.<ref name=SAC/>
The annual production is 7,500 to 12,000 cases which includes both Dominus and Napanook.<ref name=wro2>{{Cite web|last=Apstein|first=Michael, ''Wine Review Online''|title=A Conversation with Christian Moueix, Part II: Dominus Estate|url=http://www.winereviewonline.com/christian_moueix_part_2.cfm|date=September 27, 2005|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226012041/http://www.winereviewonline.com/christian_moueix_part_2.cfm|archivedate=February 26, 2008}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}}
{{Coord|38|24|18|N|122|22|26|W|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:Wineries in Napa Valley Category:Yountville, California