Domaine Carneros Announces Official Start to Harvest 2023

Domaine Carneros Announces Official Start to Harvest 2023

August 25, 2023 - Napa, CA - Domaine Carneros, a leading grower-producer of estate grown method traditionelle sparkling wines and clonal driven Pinot Noir wines, announces the official kick off for harvest 2023 Friday, August 25th.   Given that sparkling wine requires high acidity for the process of secondary fermentation in the bottle, sparkling wine houses are always among the first to announce the start of harvest.  This year, given the prevailing cooler conditions up until mid-July, the harvest is slightly later than average. In addition, per CEO Remi Cohen, "A significant achievement for us this year is that the 2023 harvest was made possible by solar power with the winery's state of the art microgrid, an innovative technology that allows for energy independence."

Sparkling winemaker  Zak Miller, who marks 15 years with the winery this year, and who took over the title of Sparkling Winemaker when founding winemaker and former CEO Eileen Crane retired in 2020, shared his thoughts on this season. "As we begin the third latest harvest in our history of 36 harvests, we anticipate that our patience and hard work throughout the year will be rewarded with high-quality grapes.   This year’s wet winter and cool growing season was a welcome relief but required intensive farming to bring us this beautiful fruit.  I love the extended hangtime that has allowed for maximum flavor development.   2023 reminds me of other cool growing seasons like 2018 or even 2011 which produced spectacular sparkling wines.  On top of that, our yields are finally back with slightly below average crop for chardonnay and above average crop for pinot noir, which is an increase from the last few low-yielding vintages due to drought."

As CEO Cohen shares, "Great winemaking starts in the vineyard, and we are fortunate to have over 400 acres of sustainably- farmed vineyards, ensuring consistent top-quality fruit as a grower producer."  

The winery has been awarded several prestigious honors from the state of California and other well-respected organizations. In April 2023, the winery received the RISE Leadership Award for outstanding waste prevention and greening of its supply chain. In 2020, the winery received the Napa Climate NOW! award for being a Climate Champion in the Business Category.  The winery also received the California Green Medal Business Award in 2019 for "demonstrating smart business through efficiencies, cost savings, and innovation from implementing sustainable practices."  

ABOUT DOMAINE CARNEROS  
Founded in 1987, Domaine Carneros reflects the hallmark of its founder, Champagne Taittinger, in creating a vision of terroir-driven sparkling wine and preserving the quality tenets of the methode traditionelle of sparkling wine production. Located entirely within the Carneros AVA, between Napa and Sonoma counties, the six estate vineyards total approximately 400 acres with 150 acres planted to chardonnay, and 250 acres planted to pinot noir. The winery focuses on making ultra-premium Carneros sparkling wines largely estate grown and limited production pinot noirs. Domaine Carneros has been a Bay Area Green Business since 2014, Fish Friendly Farming certified since 2015, Napa Green Vineyard & Winery since 2014 and is Certified by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance since 2015.  

For additional information, images, and interview requests, please contact Kimberly Noelle Charles of Charles Communications Associates at kcharles@charlescomm.com or 415-730-0064.