Dominus Estate 2006

96 Points James Suckling
Starting to take on the tertiary character of ripe fruit and savory components with dusty tannins. Full and round with a lovely texture and a light salty, meaty and tobacco character. Forest floor. Sweet and sour. Just opening.

96 Points – Wine Advocate
There are 6,500 cases of the superb 2006 Dominus (91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot). Its dark plum/purple color is accompanied by aromas and flavors of truffles, forest floor, black cherries, black currants, and Asian spices. One of the finest wines of the vintage, it is complete, full-bodied, and seamlessly built with beautiful ripe tannins, low acidity, and a luscious, layered mouthfeel. The aromatics are even more evolved and complex than the 2005's. (RP)

95 Points – The Wine Independent
A blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2006 Dominus is deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It sashays out of the glass with an alluring perfume of incense, cinnamon stick, clove oil, and potpourri, over a core of blackberry pie, dried mulberries, and plum pudding, plus a hint of tobacco leaf. The full-bodied palate delivers beautiful tension to the mineral, red and black fruit layers, supported by finely grained tannins, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. (LPB)

95 Points – Wine Spectator
Quite dark and with nice juiciness along the edges, this shows slightly warmed cassis and plum pâte de fruit accents that stretch out with a mix of sweet and savory details through the focused finish, where an iron note emerges steadily. Reveals some serious tannic grip at the very end. A very solidly built wine that seems likely to remain in this phase for a while. (JM)

94+ Points – Int'l Wine Cellar
Bright red-ruby. Lovely floral lift contributes precision to the aromas of raspberry, rose petal and licorice. Sweet, high-pitched and sharply delineated; velvety but not thick. There's a juicy quality to the ripe red fruit, mineral and graphite flavors, not to mention a firm underlying spine, that promises a long and positive evolution in bottle. Quite young but not austere, finishing with building tannins and lovely lift. The lingering perfume of red fruits, pepper, flowers and licorice is unusually complex. A really superb 2006, seemingly every bit as good as the sensational 2005. (ST)

93 Points – Decanter
It is one of the most savoury, earthy, and animalistic wines in the Dominus portfolio that I tasted during my visit in early 2024. It is full-bodied with a host of rich, brandied cherry, kirsch, and spearmint, along with toasty cedarwood and dark chocolate. The tannins are present and focused, and there's a good amount of grip here. The finish has cigar box and tobacco notes. (JC)

93 Points – Wine & Spirits
Youthfully floral and tight, this vintage of Dominus is a big wine that holds all of its weight behind a powerful structure. And it's the power of that structure that is front and center-red apple-skin acidity and walnut-skin tannin-needing a ribeye with plenty of fat to bring the fruit out of its cage. Stay with it and the wine's earthiness begins to meld with the blueberry and chocolate richness. But it's all completely primary. Put this away for ten years, and drink the Napanook while it matures.

93 Points – Wine Enthusiast
Unless you knew that this was Dominus and had tasted older vintages, you might not be impressed. In its youth the wine is tannic and dry and linear. However, it is Dominus and it does need cellaring. Right now it shows blackberry, black currant, cedar and baker’s chocolate flavors. Will slowly open and reach maturity after 2011, and could easily develop for far longer. Cellar Selection