Collector Wines

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A brilliant showing for Christian Moueix’s well-known Napanook Vineyard, the 2001 Dominus is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. A classic in the making, this is a flawless, seamless example of elegant, complex Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that possesses a Bordeaux-like personality. This gorgeous, sexy, opulent, dense ruby/purple-colored wine reveals sweet caramel, mocha, creme de cassis and kirsch notes intermixed with a hint of espresso roast as well as underbrush. Ripe, long and full-bodied with well-integrated tannin, acidity, alcohol and wood, this prodigious 2001 is drinkable now and over the next 25+ years given this estate’s longevity track record. A virtually perfect wine, it is one of the most complex 2001s at present.Robert Parker | 98 RPAs good as the 2001 Napanook is, this wine is more intense. The fruit is lusher, the oak newer, the control more complete, but the kicker is the tannins. They’re powerful and dusty, and conceal the flamboyance, for now. Needs time.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEGood ruby-red. Superripe aromas of plum, cherry, licorice, mocha, smoke and minerals. At once sweet and gripping, with very intense, nuanced flavors of cherry, plum, currant, tobacco, minerals and currant leaf. Despite the very high pH of 4.01, this shows no shortage of energy in the mouth. A muscular, firmly tannic, serious wine for aging. (A second sample that had been decanted for four hours prior to my visit was sweeter and more seamless, but still showed solid tannic spine.)Vinous Media | 93+ VM(Dominus Estate, Napa Valley, California, USA, Red) A mature and somewhat torrefied bouquet of ripe plum, dark berries, scorched earth, licorice, grilled meat and coffee is the prelude to a fleshy, richly savoury wine that is surprisingly mature for such a large-scaled, structured vintage. (Drink between 2016-2021)Decanter | 92 DECThis is very precise and focused with red fruits with polished and round tannins. One note to it. But beautiful and delicious. Drink now.James Suckling | 91 JS

Conterno’s 2001 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a towering, gigantic wine. Layers of sweet perfumed fruit flow across the palate in this gracious, refined yet powerful Monfortino. Hints of sweet red berries, roses, licorice and spices wrap around the deeply resonant finish. This is another wine that begs for patience. Today it is an infant. Anticipated maturity: 2021-2041.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2001 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a wine that appears to be going through an adolescent, unsettled phase. Several recent bottles have been quite stubborn, but this magnum is a bit better. Elegant and silky in feel, the 2001 gives the impression that it will mature earlier than some of the surrounding vintages. I know that will surprises more than a few Vinous readers – it surprises me too – but that’s just the way things look right now.Vinous Media | 96 VMThe 2001 Monfortino will be a magical wine, but it is very, very young today and still very shut down and in need of several more years of cellaring before it is even open enough for proper inspection. What struck me most poignantly about this vintage of Monfortino is how pure and red fruity it is out of the blocks, which is fairly rare for this normally quite black fruity interpretation of Barolo greatness. The bouquet is deep, hauntingly pure and transparent, as it soars from the glass in a very primary mélange of red cherries, orange zest, woodsmoke, herbs, coffee, a great base of soil and plenty of roses in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very pure and absolutely rock solid at the core, with brisk acids, ripe, well-integrated and substantial tannins, brilliant focus and balance and stunning length and grip on the very young, refined finish. A great Monfortino in the works. (Drink between 2020 - 2075)John Gilman | 96+ JGOffers sweet plum and sultana aromas, with hints of citrus fruit on the nose. Full-bodied, with soft, sweet tannins and cedar, cappuccino and sweet fruit flavors. Long and gorgeous. Hard not to drink now. Best after 2012. 855 cases made, 170 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WS