France

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Chateau La Dominique

Chateau La Dominique Grand Cru Classe Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Bordeaux

Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Sleek ruby red, well judged extraction and use of oak, this is a great quality La Dominique, continuing a run of enjoyable vintages at this property under the team of Gwendeline Lucas and winemaker Yann Monties. Plenty of estate and appellation signature, sweet damson, black cherry, pomegranate and stone fruits, campfire smoke, clove spice and juicy lift, with a lingering, mouthwatering finish. Julien Viaud consultant. Tasted twice. 49hl/h yield. Harvest September 6 to 28, subdividing plots, including leaving the beginning and the ends of the rows for later harvesting. Aged in a mix of amphoras, wine globes, concrete eggs, 50% new oak.

Inside Bordeaux

La Dominique 2023 has a deep garnet-purple color. It jumps from the glass with notes of juicy plums, strawberry preserves, and wild thyme notes, plus hints of tar and licorice. The medium to full-bodied palate is velvety and generous, with bags of freshness and a mineral-laced finish.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Lukter av metall, og plommer.

Smak av plommer og skogsbær. Ikke den beste utgaven av La Dominique.

Expert

Medium intensity ruby, good quality, carefully measured cedar and sandalwood smoke on the nose, not overpowering but adding depth through the mid-palate, which is not always the case in 2024. Acidity kicks up a little high on the finish, but there is real charm here, and chewy tannins on the finish that suggest this can soften further over ageing. Gwendeline Lucas director. Tasted twice. 3.56 pH. 50% new oak. Harvest 18 to 30 September. 31hl/ha

Deep plum in colour, vibrant edging. Plenty of personality and depth to the fruit, this has a beautiful balance of power and lightness. They really have done a great job in recent years at La Dominique of bringing out the subtle complexities of the terroir, and this highlights brushed damson and cassis, cherry pit, nectarine pit, wtih restrained crushed crock and slate character that give relief and constrast to the sweet intensity of the fruit. An impressive La Dominique that retains juice and spice if not entirely escaping the hige intensity of the vintage. Gwendeline Lucas CEO, Yann Monties (ex Haut Bailly) winemaker, 60% first wine, 50% new oak, 38hl/h yield. Tasted twice.

Precise and perky, blueberry and raspberry fruits, well balanced and topped with grilled peppercorn spice and liqourice root. Tasted twice, this is a sculpted and enjoyable 2021. 38hl/h yield, 50% new oak, 10% amphoras and wine globes. Yann Monties technical director.

Sleek dark cocoa bean, liqourice, violet, cassis, damson and black cherry fruit, with succulent edges of grilled cedar and tobacco. This is a great wine in the vintage, one of the real stars of St Emilion. Tasted twice, thoroughly impressed with the quality, texture, weight and lift of this wine. Director Gwendaline Lucas, Julien Viaud consultant, 25ha estate. An upscore from En Primeur

If you don't think that there is a human element to terroir, taste this wine against the 2010 - both excellent vintages but only this one lives up to the potential of the year. Layered and complexity, with blueberry, raspberry and cassis, alongside bracken, liqourice and tobacco leaf notes. Plenty of depth and grip to the tannins, and a mouthwatering finish. Julien Viaud consultant. Yann Monties, ex-Haut-Bailly, arrived as technical director for this vintage and together with director Gwendeline Lucas, began to make a host of small changes that have made a big difference. The 50th vintage of the Fayat family at La Dominique. 47hl/h yield, 50% new oak.

One of the few 2018s that is clearly better than the 2016, something that highlights the step up in quality that is happening at La Dominique at this point. Supple blackcurrant and raspberry fruits, careful extraction that keeps the tannic hold caressing rather than drying, and nuanced smoked earth and cocoa bean dusting. 3.6ph, 50hl/h yield. Foral edge, black cherry, beatifully lilting acidities. Julien Viaud consultant (also Laboratoire Rolland), Gwendeline Lucas director.

This is extremely juicy, has a delicate and buoyant feel to the tannins that makes it a standout in the vertical, clear texture to the raspberry fruits, touch of raspberry leaf, and a saline kick on the finish. First vintage for Gwendeline Lucas as director where she was making all the decisions, and it is a good one. 40% new oak, 10% amphora and in vegetal polymer eggs. Just 16hl/h yield, and yet delivers a juicy feel overall.

Amatør

Rich and round through the mid palate, silky texture, this has power and handles it well. Chocolate and liqourice, blueberry fruit, enjoyable overall, trace of heat on the finish. 45hl/h yield, 60% new oak. This is the first vintage with Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, with grapes that had been planted in 2008, right opposite L'Evangile on a plot of gravel over clay soils.

Amateur

Touch of caramel on the nose, gently smoked, well handled and carefully expressed. This is soft through the mid palate, but they have not tried to overly push what was a difficult vintage, and the overall feel here is of unfussy fruit, gentle blackberries and raspberries, fading to tobacco leaf and campfire smoke. No need to wait. 31hl/h yield, 50% new oak, 3.6ph.

Dyp rubinrød farge. Lukter røde, modne plommer, kirsebær, eik, mørk sjokolade. 
Smaker av solbær, plumme, eik, lær og vanilje.
Bløt munnfølelse, lett, men fyldig. 

An excellent moment to begin drinking this wine, well-integrated with fine melted tannins, raspberry puree and plum fruits, a touch of crème de mure, and a restrained elegant feel overall, sappy and fresh lick of acidity on the finish. 50% new oak. Michel Rolland consultant, Yannick Evenou director.

The structure of 2010 allows the highly extracted fruit and oak a frame to build out around, and this has impact and character, but it struggles to really deliver a mouthwatering freshness. 50% new oak for ageing. Michel Rolland consultant, 37hl/h yield.

These were the years where I struggled with the over-concentration in La Dominique, and tasting it at 15 years old underlines the progress that has been made at this property by the recent team. Exuberant in style, with grilled blueberries, fig and raspberries, sandalwood and incense. 50% new oak for ageing. Yannick Evenou director, arriving in 2009 and staying until 2015. 48hl/h yield.

Fairly clear, medium garnet with a brown tint.
Clean and fresh. Medium intense with tertiary aroma characteristics. Smells of black currants, plums, blueberries, strawberries, liquorice, eucalyptus and oak spices. Developed nose. Tertiary taste characteristics. Tastes of mature blackcurrants, figs, herbs, cedar three, tobacco and leather. 

This wine is dry with a medium acidity. Polished, medium tannins. Medium alcohol. Medium body. Medium flavour intensity. Very nice balance. Good complexity, lacks a bit of concentration. Lacks some smoothness in the finish. Long finish.  

Ready to drink, will hold for another 5-7 years. 

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Chateau La Dominique
Vintages	2023
Country	France, Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	%
Acid	%
Sugar	g/l

Packaging
Cork type
Selection
Wholesaler
Carrier