1 | Wine | California, 91 to 95, 1997

"A dark, dense, richly flavored wine, with tiers of currant, mint, blackberry, sage and mineral. Packs in lots of stuffing while maintaining a sense of fine balance and elegance. Long and persistent flavors on the finish, with firm yet well-integrated tannins. Could be a long-ager. Honoring its late winemaker and founder Joe Heitz, this is a fairly dramatic youngster made from young vines. No shyness on the price; longtime collectors would do well to check this one out."

"This wine is a fleshy, silky-textured, opulent wine with a gorgeous nose of roasted herbs, coffee, jammy black cherry and plum-like fruit.... Asian spice, licorice, and blackberry and cherry notes with tobacco spice all add to this complex, very involved, yet gorgeously symmetrical Dominus. The wine is medium to full-bodied, very concentrated, and silky-textured. It is gorgeous to drink now, but should age easily for 10-15 years." Reviewed by Robert Parker, Dec 2000.