Dominus Estate 2018

An old vineyard in an amphitheater

Dominus is made from the Napanook vineyard, which sits in a natural amphitheater at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains on the west side of Napa Valley, just outside Yountville. The estate says underground springs fed by winter rain run through ancient riverbeds beneath it, giving the vines a natural water supply and encouraging deep roots. Cool breezes off San Pablo Bay moderate the Yountville climate.

The estate and several writers say George Yount planted some of Napa Valley's very first vines here in 1838. Not every account agrees: one local history describes the land as part of the Hopper Ranch, first planted in the 1850s. Either way, the site has been growing grapes for well over a century and a half.

In 1946 John Daniel Jr., the owner of the celebrated Inglenook winery, bought Napanook from Louis Stralla, who had helped establish the Napa Valley Vintners association in 1943 and later served as mayor of St. Helena. From 1946 to 1964 Napanook fruit went into Inglenook's wines. The vineyard stayed with the Daniel family, and after his death in 1970 it passed to his daughters, Robin Lail and Marcia Smith.

Today the vineyard covers 134 acres, 102 of them planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, on gravelly clay loam that slopes gently, 3 to 10 percent, for natural drainage. It has been dry farmed since the estate began, meaning the vines are never irrigated.

A Pomerol family comes to Napa

Christian Moueix was born in Libourne, on Bordeaux's Right Bank, in 1946. In 1970 he took over responsibility for his family's chateaux, including Petrus, which he managed for 38 years. Since 1991 he has been president of Etablissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, the Bordeaux merchant house his father founded in 1937. His estate biography credits him with introducing crop thinning in 1973, a practice now common around the world.

In 1982 he formed a partnership with Robin Lail and Marcia Smith to develop Napanook, a venture called the John Daniel Society. The 1982 harvest was sold off in bulk; the first Dominus was the 1983. That wine was made and aged at another Napa winery, labeled simply 'Red Table Wine,' and marked 'Produced & Bottled by John Daniel Society, St. Helena, CA.' A newsletter writer who tasted it from barrel in July 1985 reported that it was expected to retail for about $30 a bottle; he later recorded 6,200 cases of the 1986 at $46.50.

Moueix later told the same writer that mistakes were made with the early vintages and corrected as the team learned the vineyard. In 1995 the Daniel sisters sold their interest and Moueix became sole owner. Winemakers and managers who have worked at Dominus include Daniel Baron, Chris Phelps, David Ramey and Philippe Melka; today the wines are made by Tod Mostero. Moueix's children, Edouard and Charlotte, work alongside him, and in 2008 he added a 40-acre Oakville vineyard whose wine, Ulysses, debuted with the 2012 vintage.

A building made of stone cages

In 1997 the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron completed the Dominus winery. It was their first project outside Europe. Its walls are gabions, wire cages filled with local basalt, which the estate says had never before been used in building construction; the stones insulate the winery against Napa's temperature extremes, and from a distance the long, low structure nearly disappears into the vineyard.

The architects went on to design the Tate Modern in London, the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and won the Pritzker Prize in 2001. Their partnership with Moueix continued: a new winery for his Saint-Emilion estate, Chateau Belair-Monange, completed in 2023, was their sixth collaboration.

Inside, the approach is deliberately restrained. According to the 2018 technical notes, grapes are rinsed 10 to 15 days before harvest to remove dust, the sunny side of each row is picked a few days before the shady side, and every lot is fermented separately after hand sorting and optical berry sorting. Wines are pressed in a vertical press at low pressure and racked barrel to barrel in French oak.

2018: late, even and unhurried

A rainy winter of 2017 replenished the soils heading into 2018. The season itself started late. Rainfall was light, 22 inches against an annual average of 31, and early summer stayed consistently warm. In late summer temperatures fell below normal, with morning fog through August and September, and the fruit ripened slowly with no heat spikes. Mostero described 'warm but very steady temperatures' and 'no stress, no rush to do anything.'

Harvest began with Cabernet Franc on October 1, about 12 days later than the estate's historical average. A storm brought 1.2 inches of rain on October 2 and 3 and interrupted the picking. Hot, very dry weather returned on October 5, Cabernet Sauvignon was picked from October 9, followed by Petit Verdot, and 94 percent of the fruit came in between October 9 and 15.

The final blend was 89 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Petit Verdot, aged in 40 percent new French oak. The estate made 4,000 nine-liter cases.

Two perfect scores and a Wine of the Year

James Suckling scored the 2018 Dominus 100 points, calling it 'a magic-carpet wine' and 'one of the reference points for the vintage.' Jeb Dunnuck also gave it 100, describing 'a magical, flawless wine' that would take a decade to reach maturity and could evolve for 40 to 50 years in cold cellars.

In 2021 Wine Spectator scored it 97 and named it No. 1 in its annual Top 100, its Wine of the Year. James Molesworth's note described 'sleek, pure, driven notes of cassis, plum reduction and blackberry puree' with 'an iron spine,' and the magazine called it 'a benchmark for the region and the vintage,' recommending cellaring through 2040. The listing gave a price of $269 and production of 4,000 cases. The Robb Report later placed the 2018 in the top ten of its list of the 50 greatest Napa Valley Cabernets of the 21st century.

On the resale market, a single bottle sold at an online auction on September 20, 2026, for $325. Multi-bottle lots also trade: a three-bottle lot sold online in June 2025 for $740.

The numbers

Napanook vineyard

134 acres, 102 planted

Production

4,000 nine-liter cases (48,000 750 ml bottle equivalents)

Blend

89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot

New oak

40%

James Suckling

100

Jeb Dunnuck

100

Wine Spectator (James Molesworth)

97; Wine of the Year 2021

Timeline

1. 1838

   George Yount is said to plant some of Napa Valley's first vines on the Napanook site; one local history instead dates the first planting to the 1850s.

2. 1946

   John Daniel Jr. of Inglenook buys the Napanook vineyard from Louis Stralla.

3. 1964

   The last year of an 18-year run in which Napanook fruit went into Inglenook's wines.

4. 1970

   John Daniel Jr. dies; the vineyard passes to his daughters, Robin Lail and Marcia Smith.

5. 1982

   Christian Moueix forms a partnership with the Daniel sisters to develop Napanook; that year's crop is sold in bulk.

6. 1983

   The first vintage of Dominus is made.

7. Jul 1985

   The first published tasting note on Dominus appears, written from a barrel sample of the 1983.

8. 1995

   Moueix buys out the Daniel sisters and becomes sole owner.

9. 1997

   Herzog & de Meuron complete the gabion-walled Dominus winery, their first building outside Europe.

10. 2008

    Moueix acquires a 40-acre Oakville vineyard, later released as Ulysses.

11. Oct 1, 2018

    Harvest of the 2018 begins with Cabernet Franc.

12. Oct 15, 2018

    Picking ends; 94% of the fruit came in between October 9 and 15.

13. 2021

    Dominus Estate receives organic certification.

14. 2021

    Wine Spectator names the 2018 Dominus its No. 1 Wine of the Year, with 97 points.

15. 2025

    Dominus buys the 86-acre Yountville Ranch vineyard from Markham Vineyards.

16. Jun 25, 2025

    A three-bottle lot of the 2018 sells online for $740.

17. Sep 20, 2026

    A single bottle sells at online auction for $325.

The world in 2018

• May 19, 2018

  Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marry at St George's Chapel, Windsor.

• Jun 12, 2018

  The first summit between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader is held in Singapore.

• Jul 10, 2018

  Twelve boys and their soccer coach are rescued from the flooded Tham Luang cave in Thailand.

• Jul 15, 2018

  France wins the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

• Nov 8, 2018

  The Camp Fire ignites in Butte County, California, becoming the state's deadliest and most destructive wildfire, with 88 deaths.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Dominus Estate 2018 is number 84 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (60 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The first Dominus, the 1983, was labeled simply 'Red Table Wine' and bottled under the name John Daniel Society.
• The partnership's 1982 harvest was never bottled as Dominus; it was sold off in bulk.
• The Dominus winery was Herzog & de Meuron's first building outside Europe, years before the Tate Modern or Beijing's Bird's Nest.
• Its gabion walls, wire cages of local basalt, had never before been used in building construction, according to the estate.
• Pickers at Dominus harvest the sunny side of each row a few days before the shady side.
• In 2018 rain fell on October 2 and 3, in the middle of harvest, and picking stopped until hot, dry weather returned.
• Christian Moueix's estate biography credits him with introducing crop thinning in 1973.