VERY Limited
Blend: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot.
96 Points James Suckling
Lots of blackberries, dark cherries and hints of orange peel and bark in the aromas.Medium- to full-bodied with fine creamy tannins that caress the palate. The tannic tension give this focus and brightness. 85% cabernet sauvignon, 9% cabernet franc and the rest petit verdot. Hard not to drink now, but better in two to three years.
93 Points Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 2021 Othello, is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it skips out of the glass with bright, cheery notes of fresh blackberries, juicy black plums, and redcurrant jelly followed by hints of graphite, black olives, menthol, and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is light on its feet and lively, with soft silt-like tannins and bright crunchy red and black fruit flavors, finishing with a minty lift. 1,000 cases were made.
Winemaker Notes
Produced from the historic Napanook vineyard in Yountville, California, Othello is a wine that expresses the singularity of its exceptional terroir and is accessible and enjoyable in its youth. A Bordeaux blend, the wine is forthcoming with lovely aromas of red fruit, round, silky tannins and an abounding brightness. It was at the famed Napanook vineyard that Christian Moueix established Dominus Estate in 1983. An historical site, it was the source of fruit for some of the finest Napa Valley wines in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Notably, the vineyard’s history can be traced back to Napa Valley’s beginnings, when in 1838 George Yount, for whom the town of Yountville was named, first planted grapevines there. Today, the vineyard produces three wines: Dominus, its flagship, Napanook, and Othello. A model for its sustainable farming practices, the Napanook vineyard has been hailed for its dry-farming, which shuns watering the vines, thus spurring them to draw deeply on the land’s unique geology. Meticulous viticultural and winemaking practices are undertaken with the objective of producing wines that are pure, balanced and complex. Minimal intervention and restraint throughout the process of grape berry selection, fermentation and aging preserve the character of the fruit. The resulting wines are an expression of this unique vineyard. In 2021, Dominus Estate received its CCOF («California Certified Organic Farmers») certification for organic farming practices.
Just a few words on a new(ish) Dominus Estate wine being released in the States this year. Othello is a “third label” made from the Napanook Vineyard. It has been made since 2005 but, thus far, has only been distributed overseas. The 2021 Othello is the first vintage to be distributed in the USA.
Tod Mostero explained where Othello comes from: “The top of our alluvial fan (the area closest to the Mayacamas) is composed of rocky/gravelly soils. The section below this is mainly silt and further down are clay-based soils. Dominus tends to come from the uppermost gravelly soils. Generally, Napanook comes from the lower parts, planted on silt and clay. Othello comes from the area beyond the alluvial fan—the part of our vineyard closer to Hopper Creek and Highway 29.”
The style of Othello is distinct from Dominus and Napanook. Light on its feet, soft, bright, and with crunchy red and black fruit, it has a far more easy-breezy feel than its bigger siblings. This makes for a fun, refreshing style to be enjoyed anytime while possessing the ethos and essence of Napanook Vineyard.
