Domaine Carneros wins Great American Wine Award
29 October, 2009
Domaine Carneros Brut Vintage wins Food & Wine Magazine's Great American Wine Award October 2009
Carneros, CA - In a ceremony at the elegant Meadowood Resort in Napa Valley earlier this month, Domaine Carneros was honored with Food & Wine Magazine's annual American Wine Award for Best American Sparkling Wine. One of only nine wines over $20 selected and the only sparkling wine honored, the 2005 Domaine Carneros Brut ($26) is crafted from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from the now CCOF-certified estate vineyards of Domaine Carneros, which number over 300 acres.
Selected by an august panel of 33 top sommeliers and retailers from around the country, this was the 12th annual event that spotlights America's best wines as well as most promising new winery, importer of the year and winemaker of the year, among other categories. The panel included Annette Alvarez-Peters, Gillian Ballance, Trey Beffa, Chris Blanchard, Andy Chabot, Bill Floyd, Shannon Fristoe, Darryl Joannides, Michael Jordan, Michael Kaminski, Peter Kasperski, John Lancaster, Kerrin Laz, Laura Maniec, Dan McCarthy, Kevin Mohalley, Jay Murrie, Jeremy Noye, Rajat Parr, Jesse Rodriguez, Jim Rollston, Lisa Rongren, Jesse Salazar, Margaux Singleton, David Stevens, Bernard Sun, Todd Thrasher, Gerald Weisl, Karen Williams, Jeffrey Wolfe, Wilfred Wong, J. Jeffrey Wooddy and Sebastian Zutant.
The collective tasting note for the 2005 Domaine Carneros Brut read, "A ringer for a very good Champagne from a ripe year. This Pinot Noir-dominated blend by head winemaker Eileen Crane, aged for three years in Domaine Carneros's Napa cellars, is dry-even austere-when first poured. But it takes on flesh and weight in the glass, soon brimming with classic notes of pear, brioche and yellow apple and revealing a fine, full, mid-palate creaminess."
Crafted by CEO and founding winemaker, Eileen Crane, the 2005 Brut represents her 18th vintage of her 22 years with the winery. Considered America's doyenne of sparkling wine production, Crane has also spearheaded the conversion of the property's estate vineyards to CCOF certification, which was official in December 2007. In 2003, she also installed what was then the largest photovoltaic solar collection system of any winery in the world. Upon receiving the award this year, Crane stated, "This is a great acknowledgement of the quality and finesse we've been able to achieve for Californian sparkling wine. It's wonderful to see the judges recognize our team's hard work and achievement."
About Domaine Carneros
Domaine Carneros is a boutique, family-owned winery founded by Champagne Taittinger in 1987. The winery handcrafts sparkling and still wines of extraordinary quality: a super-premium vintage Brut, a luxury Blanc de Blancs called Le Rêve, a Brut Rosé called Cuvée de la Pompadour and the Domaine Carneros Estate Pinot Noir. Domaine Carneros is located in the picturesque Carneros AVA, the first American appellation to be defined according to microclimate rather than along political lines. Carneros shares a portion of both Sonoma and Napa Counties at their southern ends. The Carneros region is best known for its cool climate and maritime influences, making it the perfect terroir to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, two of the essential varietals in the award-winning sparkling wines from Domaine Carneros. Domaine Carneros is the first and only American sparkling wine producer with 100% certified organic estate vineyards.
Domaine Carneros is open daily from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm and is located at 1240 Duhig Road (off Highway 121), four miles southwest of Napa and six miles southeast of Sonoma. Visit www.domainecarneros.com for more information. For media inquiries, please contact Charles Communications Associates at press@charlescomm.com or 415-701-9463. For a full summary of the awards given, please visit http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/american-wine-awards-2009.
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