A boutique, family-owned winery that handcrafts limited-production sparkling and still wines of extraordinary quality
Founded in 1987, Domaine Carneros reflects the hallmark of its founder, Champagne Taittinger, in tastefully melding a vision of the future with careful conservation of the past. The winery’s architecture and interior design are inspired by the Chateau de la Marquetterie, the Taittinger family residence, while the production of its wines combines centuries-old tradition with state-of-the-art technology. Poised between Napa and Sonoma in the heart of the Carneros, the chateau has become a landmark and symbol of the Carneros appellation.
Carneros enjoys a cool maritime climate and long growing season that favors the cultivation of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the traditional and primary grapes used in Champagne and Burgundy. The region is so well-suited for sparkling wine and Pinot Noir that Domaine Carneros wines are made exclusively from Carneros grapes. To preserve freshness, all grapes are hand picked in the early morning hours. The wines are made in the méthode champenoise and are slowly aged in cellars carved into the hillside that provide a cool and even temperature year-round.
The melding of vision and conservation is evident too in Domaine Carneros’ dedication to sustainability. Domaine Carneros is the industry leader in the application of solar energy and in 2003 installed what was then the largest solar array on any winery in the world. Following decades of sustainable farming practices, April 2008 saw the organic certification of all estate vineyards by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). Domaine Carneros is the first and only sparkling wine facility in the US to achieve this distinction.
From the beginning of the venture, Eileen Crane, CEO and Founding Winemaker, has directed Domaine Carneros. A highly respected professional enologist with extensive experience in all aspects of premium sparkling wine production in California, she is past President of the Carneros Quality Alliance, an organization which successfully promotes the appellation identity of Carneros, and past President of Classic Methods/Classic Varietals, California's méthode champenoise society. Ms. Crane now shares responsibility for production with Domaine Carneros’ Pinot Noir Winemaker TJ Evans.
History
The inspiration for Domaine Carneros took shape in 1947 when Claude Taittinger discovered the alluring natural beauty of northern California during his extended travels as a young student. Champagne Taittinger is a long-established grande marque with roots dating back to 1734 and is today one of the last remaining privately-held Champagne firms. As President of the Syndicat des Grandes Marques de Champagne, Claude Taittinger was well aware that increasing worldwide demand for superior quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines would eventually exceed those supplied by Champagne alone. The region's maximum potential 90,000 acres of vineyards were then nearing full development, without further possibility of expansion.
Champagne Taittinger had already proven its acumen outside the Champagne region through the success of its Loire Valley sparkling wine subsidiary, Bouvet-Ladubay. Claude Taittinger recognized that the Carneros appellation would yield grapes of outstanding character, suitable for producing world-class sparkling wines.
The inaugural release of Domaine Carneros was a non-vintage brut cuvée bottled and released in 1988. These first 3,000 cases met with extraordinarily positive response. In 1991 it was decided that the wines were consistently excellent year after year and worthy of aging, and therefore should be vintage dated. The first vintage release was 1991.
The winery's second cuvée, Domaine Carneros Blanc de Blancs, was first produced in 1988 as a prototype for what would eventually become Le Rêve. A Blanc de Blancs was conceived from the outset as a natural extension of Champagne Taittinger's traditional reliance on the Chardonnay grape for the distinctive style of its wines, notably the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs. Today Domaine Carneros’ premium cuvée Le Rêve is produced exclusively from estate-grown Chardonnay grapes with a small addition of Pinot Blanc in some years. Aged six years in the Chateau before release, it is consistently rated America’s finest sparkling wine.
Traditionally, fine Rosé sparkling wines and champagnes were made in very small quantities and the Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé is no exception. Often they are produced for a specific customer group or a small number of restaurants that have a fondness for the salmon-hued wine. In fact, one of the early winery visitors to Domaine Carneros was the impetus for the non-vintage Rosé, which was only sold in the Salon tasting room prior to the Fall of 2007, when small quantities were released nationally.
Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir was first produced in the 1992 vintage following four years' experience with the estate's sparkling wines. It was evident that the superb quality of the fruit produced from the estate's Pinot Noir vines was worthy of its own recognition. The thousand-year history of this variety's cultivation in the Champagne region long precedes the advent of sparkling wines. From the 11th through the 18th centuries, red Pinot Noir wines produced in Champagne rivaled those from Burgundy. Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir represents Champagne Taittinger's return to this distinguished champenoise tradition as well as a tribute to the exceptional quality of the Carneros appellation.
Vineyards
Domaine Carneros’ four estate vineyards are situated in the Carneros appellation of northern California, a 36,900-acre viticultural area which straddles the border between Napa and Sonoma counties at their southern extremity. The Carneros is the first American viticultural zone to be defined according to microclimate rather than along political lines. Located between the Mayacama Mountains and the San Pablo Bay, the appellation is known for its unique soil and climatic conditions. Temperatures in Carneros average 10 to 15 degrees below those in the Napa Valley, slightly warmer than temperatures in Champagne yet cooler than those in Burgundy, allowing the fruit to achieve an optimum balance of ripeness, acidity, and complexity.
The Domaine Carneros Estate Vineyard, first planted in 1981, extends up a slope rising to a crest overlooking San Francisco and the San Pablo Bay, with an elevation of 120 to 260 feet above sea level. Its superb microclimate, characterized by a long, cool growing season tempered by the maritime breezes and persistent fogs of the coast, is the perfect environment for the classic Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties of Champagne in which the vineyards are planted. The Estate Vineyard primarily contributes to the sparkling wine cuvées.
An important development in the source of Domaine Carneros' fruit came in 1991 with the acquisition of the Pompadour vineyard, situated on the western side of the Carneros appellation. This vineyard comprises 58 acres of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines first planted in 1991 on dense clay, clay loam, and sandy soils with a gently sloping topography. The Pompadour vineyard contributes both to the blend of the sparkling and still wine cuvées.
In 1996, Domaine Carneros made a major investment in the 28-acre Perez Ranch vineyard, now renamed "La Rocaille." Located on the eastern Napa side of Carneros in a very cool microclimate, La Rocaille is characterized by sandy loam soils lying on a gentle slope of predominantly southeast exposure. This vineyard was planted in 1997 with several clones of Pinot Noir and supplements the Domaine Carneros Estate's fruit primarily for the Pinot Noir cuvée.
Domaine Carneros’ newest vineyard, Stornetta, was planted beginning in 2002. Its 117 acres are planted 80% to Pinot Noir and 20% to Chardonnay. Stornetta possesses the steepest vineyard slopes and most varied exposures of the four estate vineyards. Its fruit contributes both to the blend of the sparkling and still wine cuvées.
Commitment to Sustainability
Domaine Carneros places a high value on preserving the environment and is committed to organic farming, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it results in the highest quality wines.
As early as 1992, Domaine Carneros began using organic methods of farming, reducing the use of pesticides and replacing inorganic fertilizers with compost in the vineyard. During the next several years, individual blocks within vineyards were test-farmed organically. By 2004, all estate vineyards were managed organically, and after completing the three-year farming mandate Domaine Carneros received organic certification by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) after a successful review in December 2007. No other sparkling winery in America can claim this distinction.
In addition to organic farming practices, Domaine Carneros also strives to reduce its footprint in the winery. Its rooftop solar array produces one-third of Domaine Carneros’ total energy needs, and efforts to reduce these needs include lighting by skylights, night cooling systems to maintain cellar temperature, and building into the earth for natural insulation. Good stewardship of the land is so important that Domaine Carneros will continue to pursue new methods to increase sustainability and carry on farming organically in the years to come.
