Category Archives: Napa Valley

Domaine Carneros

Leave a reply
Domaine Carneros Chateau

Domaine Carneros Chateau

1240 Duhig Rd, Napa, CA 94559

Website: https://www.domainecarneros.com/

When driving down Highway 121 in Carneros, it is hard to miss the chateau of Domaine Carneros set upon a hill off the side of the road. On a nice day, there are often people sitting on the terrace in front of the chateau overlooking the stairs and beautiful landscape leading up to the winery. Sipping bubbly at an elegant French chateau overlooking a vineyard on a sunny day is everything I dreamed wine country to be.

Domaine Carneros is owned by the Taittinger family who are famous for producing Champagne in France. The chateau of Domaine Carneros was built to resemble the Château de la Marquetterie in France where Pierre Taittinger began making champagne in 1934. Visitors who are interested in doing a tasting without a tour can choose to sit at the indoor salon or outdoors on the terrace. It is possible to sample a flight of wine or purchase it by the glass or bottle. This winery is a nice place to relax at a sit down tasting.

My husband and I have visited the chateau twice. The first time we opted for the tour. This was not the most impressive tour that I have been on in Napa Valley, but it did provide a basic overview of how sparkling wine is made. The tour began with a video that provided some history about Domaine Carneros and the Taittinger family. Then the tour guide took us up to a glassed-in area where he talked about the riddling process and we could see how the wine was bottled. At the end of the tour, we were taken to a private salon to sample some of the sparkling wine. I felt like our tour guide was really trying to push us to join the wine club.  Although most of the wineries do this, I found him to be more aggressive than others.

Sipping bubbly on the terrance at Domaine Carneros

Sipping bubbly on the terrance at Domaine Carneros

The second time we visited we set up a reservation for a tasting on the terrace. Even though reservations are not required, I would recommend setting one up via the website because the terrace tastings are very popular. This time my husband and I wanted to sample more of the wines and selected two of the bubbly flights to share along with a cheese plate. The view from the terrace is pretty. This winery makes high quality sparkling wines that have won many awards. We enjoyed the sparkling wine and cheese, but I find their wines pricey. I have tried other sparkling wines in Napa and Sonoma that I would choose over Domaine Carneros. The downside of our second visit is that we were seated at a table that was directly in the sun and we felt like we were broiling while doing our tasting. There are some shaded tables beneath umbrellas but unfortunately they were all taken.

My sense from both visits is that this winery leans on its French family roots to drive up its prices.  However, it is good quality wine if you are willing to pay a little extra. I would recommend bypassing the tour and spend the time sipping a glass of bubbly on the terrace instead.

View from the terrace at Domaine Carneros

View from the terrace at Domaine Carneros

Domaine Chandon

Leave a reply
Domaine Chandon

Domaine Chandon

1 California Dr, Yountville, CA 94599

Website: http://www.chandon.com/

Domaine Chandon was founded in Napa Valley in 1973. It is owned by the famous French champagne house Moët & Chandon. The winery has been using the méthode champenoise to make sparkling wine with California grapes since it opened its doors. Chandon also offers three types of still wines – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier – which are traditional grapes for making champagne in France.

Fountain and pond at entrance to Domaine Chandon

Fountain and pond at entrance to Domaine Chandon

Walkway to Domaine Chandon

Walkway to Domaine Chandon

The architecture drew me in from the parking lot. To get to the winery, visitors walk across a small bridge with a pond and fountain on one side, and a stone mushroom field on the other. Once across the bridge, there is a large trellis that leads to the front doors of the building.

Inside the doors is a wine shop. Along the way to the Tasting Room, there is a huge wall of wine bottles right across from the stairs leading up to the tasting area.

This tasting room is more like a lounge rather than just a tasting bar found at most other wineries. Guests have the option to step right up to the bar for a tasting, sit at a cocktail table, or go out on the terrace to sample wines by the glass, flight, or bottle. There is a nice view of the property and art exhibits. They also offer an appetizer and sandwich menu to go along with the wine tasting.  There are a few tour options for those who want a more about how the sparkling wine is made.  Check their website for details.

This tends to be a popular stop for tourists and can get rather busy in the tasting room. The first time I visited was in February and the tasting room was not overly busy. I thought this was a nice stop at the end of day because the sparkling wine was refreshing and cleansed my palate from a full day of wine tasting. Our server was able to give us one-on-one attention. On my second visit in May, the tasting room was full and it was like pushing through a crowd at a night club to get to the bar. Everyone was crowded in together and the servers had little time to explain each wine, never mind answer questions. Despite the crowds, I really enjoyed both the sparkling and still wines and would return to the winery during the off season when it is likely to be less busy.

Far Niente

Leave a reply
The entrance to Far Niente

The entrance to Far Niente

1350 Acacia Dr, Oakville, CA 94562

Website: http://farniente.com/

Far Niente is an Italian phrase that means “without a care”. This phrase is carved into stone on the front of this historic winery. The winery was founded in 1885 by John Benson during the Gold Rush era. The building was designed by Hamden McIntyre, the same architect who created the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (formerly Christian Brothers Winery), Trefethen, and Inglenook wineries.   This is a gravity flow winery, which means that there is very little man-handling of the grapes. The gravity or leveling of the winery allows the grapes to move naturally from one area to another. This winery was abandoned during Prohibition and later purchased by Gil Nickel in 1979. He was also the owner of Nickel and Nickel down the road before he passed away. His wife and kids now run the winery. Gil restored the property after he purchased it, and it is now on the National Register of Historical Places. Gil was also able to acquire the original 1886 Sweet Muscat, believed to be oldest California wine in existence that was found in a wine cellar in Marin County.

Far Niente produces two varietals of wine, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The winery also owns Dolce, its sister winery, which produces a late harvest wine often referred to as “liquid gold”. The only way to sample any of these wines without purchasing them is to reserve a tour. Advance reservations are needed.

A view of the Mayacamas Mountains behind Far Niente

A view of the Mayacamas Mountains behind Far Niente

I found the real beauty of this winery to be the property, more than the wines themselves. The property includes 13 acres of gardens. Driving into the winery, we drove down a long drive lined by trees. Then we drove past green fields of vines with a gorgeous view of the Mayacamas Mountains. It was stunning!

The fountains and pond at Far Niente

The fountains and pond at Far Niente

As we drove up to the building, we parked beside a pond with bubbling fountains. Next we walked along a pathway between the parking lot and winery surrounded by flowers and pretty bushes. The entrance is actually on the upper level of the winery. As we walked through the doors, there was a sign greeting guests with our names on it.  They had our names because only guests with prior reservation are permitted into the winery.  It was a nice little touch. Inside the waiting area there was a vintage-looking couch in front of a fire place and a wooden spiral staircase leading to a floor above. We waited there for a few minutes for our small tour group of 8 to gather.

Barrels of Dolce wine inside Far Niente's wine cave

Barrels of Dolce wine inside Far Niente’s wine cave

The tour started out just outside the winery where our tour guide talked about the history of the property. Then we ventured into the wine caves. This winery has over 40,000 ft. of wine caves. Work on the first 60 ft. of caves started in 1980. Almost 10 years later, a 3-phased expansion began that was completed in 2001. The modern caves are impressive. In the center of the cave is a wine library where we stopped to take pictures. The winery keeps bottles of past vintages on hand and releases a limited amount of their aged wines each year.  Within the wine cave there is also a section for their Dolce wines. There is a gate labeled Dolce that separates the barrels for the late harvest wine from all of Far Niente’s other wines.

Gil Nickel's car collection

Gil Nickel’s car collection

One of the other highlights of the tour was getting to walk through the Carriage House where Gil Nickel’s rare car collection resides. The collection includes cars from America, Britain, and Italy. Gil collected everything from classic sports cars, elegant high-end models like Alfa Romeos, motorcycles and new advancements in technology. Our tour guide informed us that the cars are not just there to look pretty. The family actually takes them out for a drive now and then to ensure they are in good working condition.

We finished up our tour back inside with a sit down tasting. We sampled two Chardonnays, two Cabernet Sauvignons including an older vintage from 2006, and the Dolce. The wines were paired with a cheese plate. Our guide was really pushing the wine club, not surprisingly since the wines are upwards from $65 for the Chardonnay and over $100 for Cabernet Sauvignon. I feel like I didn’t appreciate the wine as much as I should have considering how pricey and hard to get they are, but I did enjoy the tour. It was a nice way to end our trip in Napa Valley.