Say you’re touring California wine country and you want to show your friends a good time tasting some lovely sparkling wine. You can’t go wrong if you take those friends to one of our regional favorites: Domaine Chandon!
Our Napa Bubbles tour had started on a high note with a visit to Domaine Carneros. We then tasted some great still wine AND some surprisingly nice sparkling at Peju, and were ready for more. Previous visits to Domaine Chandon had been crowd-pleasers, so the choice was obvious. Domaine Chandon it was!
The main tasting room at Domaine Chandon is full of sunshine, warm woods and shiny counter tops. Add throngs of happy tasters and a capable band of wine guides and you have everything you need for a great tasting experience. We found a space at the bar and met wine guides Omar and Nathalia, who very effectively tag-teamed our tasting service.
Tastings at Domaine Chandon can be selected from a menu of five choices. The four of us uncharacteristically chose only two of the options: the Classic and Reserve tastings. Our champagne flutes were tagged for the appropriate flights and we were off! Omar and Nathalia made sure our glasses were full and our questions were answered. We swapped glasses to make sure that everyone tasted everything. Our investigation was exhaustive and exhilarating! We had several favorites, including the Reserve Brut and the intriguing Reserve Pinot Noir Rosé, but in all honesty, there wasn’t a glass that wasn’t savored and emptied.
Tasting complete, we thanked Omar and Nathalia and ventured back downstairs to the retail area. The tables were covered with glassware, bottles, and wine accessories all competing to deliver the greatest sparkle. With some degree of reluctance, we directed our attention on the sparkling wines and away from the other baubles. Properly focused, we made our selections and set off for our final winery of the day. Given our theme of bubbles, can you guess where we went next?
About the Author: John grills a mean steak and is always in the market for another wine fridge. Believes that if a winery has more than 10 employees, it's probably too big. Buys wine faster than he drinks it, but who cares?
