Day 2 – Sparkling Sunday – Domaines Carneros and Chandon, then Schramsberg

Hi tech bubbly - gyropalettes replace the laborious manual task of 'remuage': turning bottles a fraction several times a day to chase out sediment

Domaine Carneros

Another beautiful day in the paradise that is the Sonoma Valley.  After a huge breakfast in the Black Bear Diner opposite our hotel, we headed to our first appointment of the day at Domaine Carneros.  My brother and sister-in-law were keen to visit some of the sparkling wine houses whilst in the area, and we were happy to oblige.  This faux chateau sits right beside the Sonoma to Napa road as it winds though the Carneros region, an imposing building, inspired architecturally by the Taittinger family’s Epernay Chateau de la Maquetterie.  Founded by the French champagne house back in 1988, it still looks somewhat out of place, but majestic, with its gates plonked alongside the drive.  We joined their Art of Sparkling Wine tour with about 8 others, led by Andrea & assisted by Josh.  It is all swish and under-stated perfection, but Andrea did bring the traditional, methode champenoise, wine-making process to life with glimpses of the tank room from the media room, then the gyro pallets and bottling plant.  Only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes are grown here now on 310 acres – they have never planted Pinot Meunier and their last Merlot vintage was back in 2008 before the vines were pulled out.  Annual production totals 90,000 cases, of which 40,000 is of their Brut.  This is a huge, successful, top-notch operation, far from the raw winemaking found in smaller establishments.   Founding winemaker and CEO Eileen Crane is a strong presence and powerful advocate of Californian sparkling wines.

As for the wines themselves, they were elegant and restrained in style, but pricey for what they were.  The $95 2005 Le Reve Blanc de Blancs is available in the UK highstreet for GBP 45.  You really should only buy the wines here that you simply can’t source elsewhere  High volume & sustained quality is their trademark, the logo is all important.   One felt a strong sense of their corporate-leaning marketing, whilst pandering to the passing wine tourist.   A seriously upmarket Chateau Society Wine Club offers preferred pricing, but only for the truly well-heeled.   My personal favourite was their 2007 Famous Gate Pinot Noir, peppery and zingy, $68.  I also liked the $35 Domaine Carneros Estate Pinot Noir, and was intrigued to taste the white 2010 Pinot Clair, organic, 200 cases made, no skin contact.  They produce the full range of sparkling wines, from Ultra Brut to Demi-Sec (twice the sugar of the Brut, only 50 cases p.a.).

Domaine Chandon

We headed on down into the Napa Valley to Domaine Chandon.  Justin has visited their operation in Australia and wanted to see if they provided a similar experience.  In fact, what struck us most was the entrance foyer, all conference centre swathes and swirly carpets.  Upstairs to the tasting room, full of Sunday drinkers, noisy and impersonal, but with glorious views out from all sides, and sculptures and paintings in every direction.  A Chandon Ambassador welcomed us and we shared a Prestige and a Reserve Tasting.   The problem (although is it really one?) with champagne tasting is that you don’t spit, so spirits were already high and we struggled to stay focus on the selection before us.  We started with their Yountville Vintage Brut 2007 in lieu of the etoile Brut which was no longer available, this had a smooth bubble stream, light, nutty characteristics and yeasty on the nose.  $45.  Next the etoile Rose Non-Vintage, too flabby for my liking, not enough to justify $50 price tag.  The winery exclusive etoile Tete de Cuvee 2001 was delicious, more complex and zingy, but at $100 beyond my price range for value.    As a bonus, we were poured a Pinot Meunier Carneros, easy style soft, no tannin, my husband said it lacked a little bite, but intriguing to try a single varietal PM – Domaine Chandon were the first to introduce this grape into the US and is now the largest producer of it.  We left feeling happy we’d visited, but that we’d been a very small part of a marketing and commercial operation on a vast scale.

Schramsberger

So was our next port of call, but in a very different fashion.  We had pre-booked our tour and joined a party of 10 others with our guide, Todd.  He provided a lively and fascinating guide for the next hour.  Schramsberg dates back to 1852 when Jacob Schram, a German immigrant, purchased a large plot of land on the Napa hillside West of Healdsburg and called it Schramsberger.  He and his wife cleared the wooded, wild land and began to produce wine.  He hired Chinese labourers to dig the extraordinary underground cellars into the mountainside, thus maintaining cool, constant temperatures for storing his wines during the hot summers.  Started in 1870, the two tunnel caves were completed in 1888.  The style of his wines was heavily affected by his German background, and demand from the East Coast and beyond for Mosel-style wine (Hock, Riesling, Burgundy, Sauternes).  He lived to the ripe old age of 75, by which times his fortunes were secure and production was up to 12,000 gallons p.a.  However his son Herman who took on the business in 1905 was struck the double-blow of phylloxera then Prohibition, and the business was forced to close.

There are some wonderful photos on the walls of the entrance hall dating back to this era, discovered by a Schram descendant living in San Francisco.  Next to them are photos showing Robert Louis Stevenson fast asleep in a chair having drunk his way through 18 of the estate wines during a visit in 1880 whilst on his honeymoon in the area! (a visit which is recounted in his book Silverado Squatters).

Deep inside the mountain, a magical tasting overwhelmed our ability to differentiate between excellent wines

Several owners came and went over the next few decades, until Jack & Jamie Davies chanced upon the property when seeking a new life in the Napa area.  The house and outbuildings were near-derelict and it took huge courage and foresight to see how the business could be resurrected to its former glory.  However, with their three sons, the youngest of whom, Hugh, was newborn, arrived from Los Angeles and began the task of renovating and restoring and bringing the place back to life.  They had an ambition to make sparkling wine, but the very best, made in the traditional manner, on a par with the great Champagne houses of France.  They released their first Blanc de Blancs in 1965 using the first commercially grown Chardonnay grapes in the US.  A 1967 Blanc de Noirs followed produced using Pinot Noir and the methode champenoise.    Their Cremant Demi-sec, made using the Flora grape, was adopted by the White House and has been served at many state functions since.  The couple’s influence on heralding America’s place as a leading sparkling wine producer can not be under-estimated.  On their deaths in 1998 and 2008 respectively, their son Hugh took up their mantle and continues the dream.

Our tour led us deep into the dimly lit, sepulchral, underground caves, dug into the old volcano behind the house.  At  any one time, they could contain as many as 2.7 million bottles at various stages of aging the 2-10 years before they are released.   The impression of how this is a hands-on, manual operation is clear, with explanations of riddling the bottles clearly demonstrated by Todd – he leaves it to the pro, Ramon!  There were stories a-plenty from the Davies years, including one when Jamie had to play a hand of poker to reclaim some old, carved oak wine barrels that had ended up down at the Beringer winery, but rightly belonged to Shramsberg – even a photo to back it up!  The tour was fascinating and entertaining, full of anecdotes and intrigue, and finished at a candle-lit table in front of a fluted arch of about 6,000 aging bottles.  We tasted 6 wines, however sadly I have no notes, but the overall impression was of elegant, refined, crisp and high-quality sparklers.  The tour is highly recommended and you leave with a distinct impression of a winery high on success, deservedly so.

That evening with ate at a small Portguese restaurant off the square in Sonoma, La Salette.  The owner’s wife came from the same village in Portugal that my husband and brother-in-law’s grandparents had lived all their lives, Sintra.  We were treated like family and truly had a memorable meal, with a 2007 Merlot from Gundbach-Bunschu to accompany it.