Boise Coop Wine Shop

Domaine Carneros

• June 10, 2009

The Domaine Carneros château is a landmark of the Carneros region. Completed in 1989, this classic 18th century château-style building was architecturally inspired by the historic Taittinger-owned Château de la Marquetterie in Champagne. The Pinot Noir facility sits just behind the main château and was styled after a French carriage house. Completed in 2003, this state-of-the-art facility housed the largest solar collection system of any winery in the world at that time.

Domaine Carneros farms organic vineyards in four separate Carneros sites. Clones are selected for subtle differences of flavor and intensity. TJ Evans recently joined the Domaine Carneros winemaking team to head up the still wine production, with emphasis on Pinot Noir. He has just returned from Chile where he spent the last 3 years developing a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir ranch at the southern end of that country’s winegrowing region. Pinot Noir has been the common theme throughout his career. After completing his MS at Davis in 1997 he began his career at La Crema winery in the Russian river. The next stop was Dry Creek where he continued to work with Pinot Noir and also crafted vineyard designate Zinfandels for Alderbrook winery.

“Domaine Carneros was an easy choice because I knew I could apply my 10 years of Pinot experience to the still wines while also integrating the use of Pinot Noir in a way new to me – the production of sparkling wine”, comments TJ.

2005 Domaine Carneros Brut, $28.00
The vast majority of sparkling wine and champagne in the world is made in the Brut style. Brut refers to the dryness or level of sugar of the wine. The sugar content of a Brut-style sparkling wine is 0-15 grams per liter. Vintage dated each year, the Domaine Carneros Brut Cuvée represents the best of Carneros pinot noir and chardonnay made into a classic sparkling wine. The appellation is 100% Carneros. The Brut was aged in the bottle for three years before release. It will continue to develop further depth and complexity as it ages.

Domaine Carneros Rosé, $37.00
Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé is a wine of great balance, emphasizing fruity and floral characteristics to a greater extent than evident in the Brut. It is made strictly with artisan attention to quality, with sourcing exclusively from Carneros and the use of time-honored Champenoise methods of production. A blend of 58% Pinot Noir, 42% Chardonnay, the Brut Rosé is meant to be enjoyed at a fairly young age, when the fruity character is still predominant yet there is enough age to make the wine round and balanced. The wine’s aroma has hints of wild strawberries and roses with notes of peach Although a pale pink in color, Brut Rosé is not sweeter than our other wines. It is a true Brut.

2006 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir, $32.00
Sensitive Pinot Noir can be a challenge for winemakers. The delicate, thin-skinned grapes grow best in cool, consistent climates where the fruit can ripen slowly. Domaine Carneros is fortunate—the long growing season and cooling maritime breezes of the Carneros Region are ideal, producing wines of distinction virtually ever year. Their classic Estate Pinot Noir, made to show off the superb qualities their organic vineyard, is rich with fruit tones of black cherry, raspberry and black current overlaid with notes of chocolate, toast, clove and exotic spices. Luscious flavors end in a very long and silky finish.