Dominus Estate, the Napa Valley winery owned by Bordeaux’s Christian Moueix, has purchased the 86-acre Yountville Ranch Vineyard from Markham Vineyards, next door to Dominus' Napanook vineyard. Neither party disclosed a purchase price.
Moueix told Wine Spectator that despite the current challenges facing the wine industry, he believes strongly in Napa wine’s future. “Usually I’m not that optimistic for business, but I’m optimistic. First, we love the terroir of our vineyard. We know the terroir next door is about the same.”
The vineyard consists of two parcels located north of Napanook. Dominus will begin farming the vineyard after the 2025 harvest is complete, and Moueix expects to replant.
Started in 1983, Dominus makes three wines from its estate property in Yountville. There are currently 103 acres planted to vines at the Napanook vineyard. In 2008, Moueix purchased a 40-acre Oakville property from Clark Swanson, renaming it Ulysses. Yountville Ranch Vineyard lies between the two properties, giving Dominus more than 200 acres under vine in one stretch straddling the western side of Yountville and Oakville. Currently, Dominus makes 5,000 to 7,000 cases of wine per year.
Napanook vineyard is planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon, with 90 percent of the vineyard dedicated to the variety. About 5 percent each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot round out the remaining plantings. The new property is planted mostly to Merlot, and Moueix hopes to expand his Cabernet Franc plantings, though no decisions have been made yet.
“Slowly but surely we have gotten rid of [our] Merlot,” he told Wine Spectator. “We are inheriting Merlots from [Markham]. We would like to plant Cabernet Franc because we see more and more that Cabernet Franc brings a finesse.”
A Passion for Napa
Moueix is also president of his family’s Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix in Libourne, Bordeaux, and owns several châteaus including Trotanoy, La Fleur-Pétrus, Hosanna, Clos La Madeleine and Bélair-Monange. But Napa Valley has long been close to his heart. He came to California in 1968 to study at UC Davis, learning from renowned professor Maynard Amerine and meeting local vintners. He worked a harvest for Beaulieu Vineyards under the mentorship of André Tchelistcheff before returning to France to start his tenure at Pétrus.
Returning to Napa after 10 years, Moueix became serious about finding a vineyard. He partnered with Robin Lail and her sister Marcia Smith to produce wines from their family’s Napanook vineyard. Moueix later bought Napanook and Dominus outright in 1994. Dominus Estate Napa Valley 2018 was Wine Spectator’s 2021 Wine of the Year.
With another vineyard in his Napa portfolio, Moueix is thinking long term, as always. “We are not in a hurry,” he said. “We know we have great terroir. We are going to inherit great terroir.”
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