{"id":349,"date":"2016-08-30T20:38:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T20:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=349"},"modified":"2021-09-28T15:05:31","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T15:05:31","slug":"domaine-carneros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=349","title":{"rendered":"Domaine Carneros"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we often point out, Power Tasting<\/em> is not about wine itself but about the pleasures of visiting Wine Country and tasting wine.\u00a0 In our estimation, there are few if any places worthier of a visit than Domaine Carneros in the Napa County side of the Carneros region.\u00a0 In a word, the experience is simply lovely<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Domaine Carneros is the US subsidiary of Taittinger in Reims, France.\u00a0 Their wines are among the most famous champagnes in the world.\u00a0 The French have laws that restrict the use of the word champagne<\/em> to sparkling wines made of grapes grown in the Champagne region.\u00a0 Therefore, being a French company, they do not call their California production champagne<\/em>, only sparkling wine.\u00a0 You can now forget that distinction and call it whatever you like.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re pretty sure you\u2019ll like visiting Domaine Carneros.<\/p>\n

You enter the grounds through a wide gate (remember that gate) and park at the foot of a long staircase leading to what to the naked eye seems to be a grand French chateau.\u00a0 Honoring their roots in France, the Taittinger people constructed a faux chateau in California, very much like the one they have on their French estate.\u00a0 The staircase cuts through rows of Pinot Noir vines, one of the three grapes used in champagne and thus in Domaine Carneros\u2019 cham\u2026, excuse us, sparkling wines.\u00a0 (The other two are Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.)<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2389\"<\/p>\n

The faux chateau at Domaine Carneros<\/em><\/p>\n

You then take a seat at a table on the wide terrace (or inside on days with inclement weather).\u00a0 The views from that terrace are priceless: vineyards, the rolling green and beige hillsides of Carneros, blue sky, a lake, sheep nibbling the grass.\u00a0 Wait.\u00a0 Sheep?\u00a0 Actually, the Domaine Carneros folks put up flat wooden replicas of sheep, just to enhance your experience.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2384\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The view, with \u201csheep\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Soon a server will bring you a menu and ask what you would like.\u00a0 Here you pay for wine flights at different levels, from $30 to $40 dollars.\u00a0 You can also order by the glass, at prices ranging from $10 to $30 a glass.\u00a0 No, it isn\u2019t the cheapest place for wine tasting in Napa Valley, but you should consider the matter of value for money.\u00a0 Visitors can have their sparkling wines or their Pinot Noirs, the most renowned of which is called Famous Gate.\u00a0 (Remember that gate?)<\/p>\n

You can also order rather pricey nibbles, like charcuterie and caviar.\u00a0 Your server will also bring you some almonds or other snack to go with your wines, without charge.<\/p>\n

A few words about those servers.\u00a0 They are always very well-mannered and attentive and are usually quite informative about the wines they serve you.\u00a0 They tell you what you need to know and don\u2019t enter into your conversation.\u00a0 It can be a little difficult to get their attention when you want to order some more to drink, and in our experience, we\u2019ve always wanted more.\u00a0 But they can be rather pushy about joining the Domaine Carneros wine club.\u00a0 (See Wine Clubs<\/a> in a previous edition of Power Tasting.)\u00a0 We must admit that we have succumbed and have joined, but that is neither a recommendation nor does it mean our arms were twisted by the server.\u00a0 Just be ready for the sales pitch and politely say \u201cno\u201d if you\u2019re not interested.<\/p>\n

It is important to remember that a visit to Domaine Carneros is more about drinking than sipping, as compared to any other winery we\u2019re familiar with.\u00a0 If you show interest in purchasing the wines, or especially if you show interest in joining their club, the server will bring you healthy pours of virtually all the wines on their list.\u00a0 So take it easy and keep in mind your wine tasting agenda for the rest of the day when you visit Domaine Carneros.<\/p>\n

For us, it\u2019s usually the first place we visit when we arrive from San Francisco, the winery being one of the southernmost in Napa Valley.\u00a0 It may be our only visit for the day.\u00a0 Or it\u2019s the last stop on the last day of our trip, the only place we go as we leave Napa Valley (or Sonoma for that matter).\u00a0 We can\u2019t recommend visiting Domaine Carneros highly enough, but you do need to be prepared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we often point out, Power Tasting is not about wine itself but about the pleasures of visiting Wine Country and tasting wine.\u00a0 In our estimation, there are few if any places worthier of a visit than Domaine Carneros in the Napa County side of the Carneros region.\u00a0 In a word, the experience is simply … Continue reading Domaine Carneros<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1954,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions\/1954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}