Le Dome | FINE+RARE

About the producer

The man behind highly regarded Saint-Émilion wine Le Dôme is a Nigerian-born Brit who sold his engineering firm in 1992 to move to Cahors and restore a pile of ruins. After meeting a local vineyard owner at a dinner party, he made a few calls and ended up selling his production to Oddbins and was caught by the wine bug.

Within two years Jonathan Maltus had bought Château Teyssier and went on to purchase a vineyard bordering Angélus. He became one of the original garagistes of Saint-Émilion - making quantities of wine so small that they could feasibly have been made in your own garage. Le Dôme attracted international acclaim and while the so-called garage movement has since fizzled out, Le Dôme and a couple of other wine labels like La Mondotte and Valandraud have joined the establishment on the other side.

In the vineyard

Le Dôme is a tiny vineyard that has its feet predominantly in sandy soils with iron deposits on a south-facing slope adjacent to Château Angélus. The vines were originally planted in 1956 and 1970. While Saint-Émilion is a Merlot-focused appellation, Le Dôme’s wines are 80% Cabernet Franc / 20% Merlot, reflecting the Cabernet Franc-dominant vineyards.

Yields are kept very low (30hl/ha) through strict pruning and green harvesting increasing the concentration of the remaining bunches. It also means that annual production rarely exceeds 1,000 cases.

In the winery

The rigorous selection in the vineyard continues in the winery where fruit is selected berry by berry. The team undertakes a lengthy period of cold maceration before fermentation to extract colour and aromatics, prior to fermentation in wooden vats. The malolactic conversion takes place in French oak barrels, where the wine matures before bottling. Oak use was typically lavish in the first decade of Le Dôme but has since been capped at a maximum of 80% new oak. The resulting wine style is dense, rich and perfumed.

A new winery and tasting room designed by celebrated architect Norman Foster was finally given the go ahead in 2019 after a lengthy approval process, and the cellar will receive its first grapes in 2020.

The 2019 Vintage

A few words from the team at Le Dôme, on the 2019 vintage.

Olivier Darcy, Head of Viniculture:

Can you tell us what was most unusual about the 2019 growing season?

Budburst was relatively early (two weeks earlier than in 2018). Growth was irregular to say the least. There were small steps in May, when it was cold, but then things really sped up in June when the temperatures started to rise. Then, in the extremely warm month of July, flowering was fast and grouped towards the bunch closure. August rainfall helped unlock a lot of the veraison, and the perfect conditions leading up to mid-October enabled us to pick each grape exactly when we needed.  

How did you cope with the drought and heat spikes in 2019?

We did a couple of things. One was some light ploughing of the grass between the vines, the idea being to limit water evaporation when the weather was particularly dry. The other involved the leaf canopy – we trimmed slightly less than usual to offer a bit more protection from the sun.  

The rainfall was actually helpful. It unlocked the veraison process which – to a limited extent – shut down during the warmest episodes.  

Neil Whyte, Head Winemaker:

How did each grape variety respond to the conditions of the season? 

Cropping was lower than usual due to several light frosts in the spring. The Merlot recovered well and despite a relatively dry year the water reserves were sufficient, and they did not suffer from lack of water. A temperate autumn allowed good phenolic ripeness while maintaining a nice acidity. Ripening slightly later, the Cabernet Franc had exactly the kind of season it loves: long, warm autumnal days.  

Can you tell us about the style of the wine this year?

The vintage has good acidity, which means the wines retain a freshness to the blend. Even though ripe, the Merlot is not too jammy, and the Cabernet Franc shows extremely well this year.  We are very positive.

Jonathan Maltus, Founder:

For you, what continues to make top Bordeaux wine so unique and so relevant in today’s fine wine market?

 The Bordeaux model (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc) has to be the most copied model worldwide. People are not doing that for no reason. It’s a great privilege to be a part of what I believe to be Formula One of the wine world. 

Read the full report: Bordeaux 2019 A Vintage Preview

About the producer

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Case format

2019 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

95.9

£305.00

6x37.5cl

6xMags

0 Immediate | 6 Marketplace

£1,187.00

6xMags

£1,187.00

0 Immediate | 6 Marketplace

6x75cl

0 Immediate | 43 Marketplace

£593.00

6x75cl

£593.00

0 Immediate | 43 Marketplace

6x37.5cl

0 Immediate | 12 Marketplace

£305.00

6x37.5cl

£305.00

0 Immediate | 12 Marketplace

2018 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

94.8

£156.00

Bts

12x75cl

0 Immediate | 6 Marketplace

£1,846.00

12x75cl

£1,846.00

0 Immediate | 6 Marketplace

6xMags

0 Immediate | 4 Marketplace

£1,846.00

6xMags

£1,846.00

0 Immediate | 4 Marketplace

6x75cl

14 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

£924.00

6x75cl

£924.00

14 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

3xMags

2 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

£924.00

3xMags

£924.00

2 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

1 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

£631.00

1 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

Bts

0 Immediate | 5 Marketplace

£156.00

Bts

£156.00

0 Immediate | 5 Marketplace

2017 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

94.1

£625.00

6x75cl

4 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

£625.00

6x75cl

£625.00

4 Immediate | 0 Marketplace

2016 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

94.8

£169.00

Bts

12x75cl

0 Immediate | 4 Marketplace

£2,008.00

12x75cl

£2,008.00

0 Immediate | 4 Marketplace

6x75cl

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

£1,005.00

6x75cl

£1,005.00

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

Bts

0 Immediate | 8 Marketplace

£169.00

Bts

£169.00

0 Immediate | 8 Marketplace

2014 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

92.0

£102.00

Bts

0 Immediate | 3 Marketplace

£102.00

Bts

£102.00

0 Immediate | 3 Marketplace

2010 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

100.0

£1,538.00

6x75cl

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

£1,538.00

6x75cl

£1,538.00

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

2008 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

94.0

£469.00

6xMags

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

£1,373.00

6xMags

£1,373.00

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

0 Immediate | 6 Marketplace

£469.00

0 Immediate | 6 Marketplace

2006 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

94.0

£1,010.00

6xMags

24x37.5cl

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

£1,036.00

24x37.5cl

£1,036.00

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

3x3L

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

£1,036.00

3x3L

£1,036.00

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

6xMags

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

£1,010.00

6xMags

£1,010.00

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

12x75cl

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

£1,010.00

12x75cl

£1,010.00

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

2005 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

98.0

£1,347.00

6xMags

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

£1,347.00

6xMags

£1,347.00

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

2004 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

91.0

£73.00

Bts

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

£73.00

Bts

£73.00

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

2000 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

£1,413.00

12x75cl

0 Immediate | 3 Marketplace

£1,413.00

12x75cl

£1,413.00

0 Immediate | 3 Marketplace

1996 Le Dome

Le Dome

Bordeaux

91.0

£953.00

12x75cl

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

Duty Paid

£953.00

12x75cl

£953.00

0 Immediate | 1 Marketplace

Duty Paid

12x75cl

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

£953.00

12x75cl

£953.00

0 Immediate | 2 Marketplace

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