VinoCritic.com
                                                                                        The web's leading source for free unbiased wine reviews.

                  Archives (and Reader Blogs):  Your turn to rate the wines

Please also click here to visit our main web site for in-depth analysis of our recent wines of the week, special events,  and wine-scene news from San Diego and  beyond.

Chateau La Dominique (St. Emilion Grand Cru) 1990

Print the article

This entry was posted on 12/23/2006 11:14 PM and is filed under French Bourdeaux.

Chateau La Dominique is an interesting right bank Bordeaux producer.  Personally, I have been a fan of their wines for some time.  Fortunately for those of us who like La Dominique, the two most influential American critics of Bordeaux have been luke-warm to this estate.  They typically score the wine in the mid 80's to low 90's.  Their moderate scores thankfully keep the price of this wine in check.  I would agree that in poor vintages this producer makes decent but forgettable wine.  But in good vintages they can really score a winner.  The 1990 is a perfect example.

I had the pleasure of trying the 1990 La Dominique in December 2006.  Sixteen years post vintage and the wine was holding up exquisitely.  Modest amber color on the edge, tobacco, saddle leather and licorice on the nose, but still enough fruit on the palate to give the wine a youthful burst.  Sort of like an aging Hollywood starlet after a trip to the plastic surgeon, I would never have guessed this wine's age if I did not know it.

4 solid stars.

Those interested in this wine should check out the 1998 and 2000 vintages, which looks to be outstanding for La Dominique.
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this entry
  • No trackbacks exist for this post.
Comments
    Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

    • 2/26/2007 4:08 PM R, Lyons wrote:
      This is my fav chateau. I would appreciate your opinion on the 1981 Chateau La Dominique and the "going price" for 2007. Please email me your thoughts.
      Thank you!
      Reply to this
      1. 3/1/2007 4:47 PM VinoCritic wrote:
        I have not had the 1981 La Dominique.  I would suspect, however, that  that it may be past it's prime.  It will be hard to find a bottle of it still in the marketplace.  A quick search with my wine search services revealed only one retailer in the nation who has it.  They are called  SoHo Wine and Spirits, In New York City.  I have never done business with them, so I can not speak to their reliability.  They have a website http://www.sohowines.com .  They state that they do not ship out of state, but perhaps they make exceptions from time to time if you plead your case with them hard enough.

        SoHo wines is selling the 1981 La Dominique for $65 per bottle.  I think you would be better off getting a 1982 Dominique, as the 1982's seem to be holding up better than the 1981's.  If 1981 is a special year for you for sentimental reasons, you should look at the first growths from 1981, which seem to be holding up o.k.  I had a 1981 Chateau Margaux not long ago and it was very nice.

        Good Luck, and if you try it, please post a tasting note here on the site for the rest of us!

        VC
        Reply to this
    Leave a comment

    Submitted comments are subject to moderation before being displayed.

     Enter the above security code (required)

     Name

     Email (will not be published)

     Website

    Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.



      
    Copyright 2005 http://BLOG.VINOCRITIC.COM. All rights reserved.