Best Sparkling Wine: Domaine Carneros

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The chateua at Domaine Carneros.
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The chateua at Domaine Carneros.

“We’re very grateful to NorthBay biz magazine’s readership for voting Domaine Carneros as best sparkling wine. We hope the readers join us this summer for a glass of bubbly on the chateau terrace overlooking the beautiful scenery of Carneros. Cheers to NorthBay biz readers!”—Remi Cohen, CEO

Domaine Carneros in Napa Valley is known for a few things. The impeccable grounds at their French-inspired chateau and breathtaking views of the rolling hills of the Carneros region are one, but what sets them apart from the rest—making them the best—are their exquisite sparkling wines. “Beautiful, elegant and timeless,” says Zak Miller, sparkling winemaker at the estate of its award-winning bubbles. “We use a proprietary technique that gives our sparkling wines a very fine and delicate ‘bead’ or bubble, which makes for a really nice mouth-feel,” he adds.

Zak Miller, sparkling winemaker

Founded by one of the most prestigious sparkling wine producers known around the world, Taittinger family from Champagne Taittinger, there’s no doubt Domaine Carneros is delivering some of the world’s finest.

The standards are set at the highest level, producing wines using their proprietary technique. But even before that, greatness begins in the vineyard. “Any great bottle of wine starts in the vineyard,” says Miller. “We grow all of our fruit in one region, the Carneros AVA, which gives the wines a strong sense of place. This is a unique calling card for domestic sparkling wine houses, which often source fruit from numerous regions.”

All Domaine Carneros’ fruit is estate grown and farmed by the winemaking team. “This gives us a lot of control over the quality. Using that high-quality fruit, we produce our wines using the exacting Methode Traditionnelle technique, ascribing to the high standards of our founder the Taittinger family from Champagne Taittinger,” says Miller. “We also follow French labeling laws, which dictate that all of our vintage-dated wines have been aged for a minimum of 36 months in the bottle.”

While they’re known for their many variations of sparkling, the winery is a small grower-producer—growing all its own grapes in the Carneros region, at a limited production.

“Domaine Carneros produces about a dozen unique sparkling wines each year,” says CEO Remi Cohen. “We’re well known for our brut wines, which are blends of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Our white label Brut is distributed and can be found in high-end restaurants and retailers. At the winery, we offer a few different Brut wines including our Estate Brut, Ultra Brut which has a lower dosage or sweetness level, Late Disgorged Brut which spends extra time aging in the bottle, and Verméil which has a slightly sweeter dosage.”

Remi Cohen, CEO

Domaine Carneros is mostly known for its Brut, but the Rosé fans love the Brut Rosé, says Cohen—a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir containing a higher percentage of Pinot.

“It has a beautiful pink hue,” she says. “We offer a Late Disgorged version of this wine as well. Additionally, the winery produces a tête de cuvée, called Le Rêve—a Blanc de Blancs made from 100 percent Chardonnay. “We also offer a Late Disgorged Le Rêve and a Le Rêve Rosé.”

And there’s more. The winery also offers a few other small-production wines such as a single vineyard sparkler, a Blanc de Noirs and a winter holiday release called Jardin d’hiver. “We’re very grateful to NorthBay biz magazine’s readership for voting Domaine Carneros as best sparkling wine,” says Cohen. “We hope the readers join us this summer for a glass of bubbly on the chateau terrace overlooking the beautiful scenery of Carneros. Cheers to NorthBay biz readers!”

domainecarneros.com

 

Photos courtesy of Domaine Carneros

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