Chateau La Dominique, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe 2020

"Blend of 91% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Located in the northwest of Saint-Émilion, at the edge of the Pomerol appellation, Château La Dominique’s 29-hectare vineyard, owned by the Fayat family since 1969, benefits from a great terroir, whose plots adjoin the most famous vineyards of the region - Cheval Blanc, Figeac, La Conseillante, L'Evangile.

"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."

The Wine Advocate 92-94 pts

La Dominique produced compelling wines from time to time in the past, but this 29-hectare estate sandwiched between Cheval Blanc and Jean Faure was for a long time one of Saint-Émilion's more or less sleeping giants. As at Cheval Blanc, the vineyard's seemingly flat, uniform appearance belies remarkable complexity, and general manager Gwendeline Lucas and technical director Yann Monties are doing everything right to bring out the site's best: Merlot is pruned with one bud fewer to moderate yields and the size of bunches; deleafing is now less extreme and less systematic; and attentive parcel-by-parcel harvesting is delivering greater precision. In the winery, cooperage choices have been notably refined, and extraction is more judicious. All this means that La Dominique has been producing some of the best wines in its history in the last handful of vintages, and the 2021 shows that the team here can deliver terrific results even in challenging conditions."