About Us

Welcome to Domaine Carneros Winery

Domaine Carneros in the heart of Carneros, is the California expression of the tradition and excellence of its founder, Champagne Taittinger. Established in 1987, Domaine Carneros is considered a regional landmark. Exquisite views of endless vineyard-covered hills are the perfect setting to savor our wines.

The main château and terrace are open 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. daily. The last service of the day is at 5:45 p.m. We are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Please see our Visit Us section for information on daily tours.

History

In the late 1970’s, Claude Taittinger, the president of Champagne Taittinger, proclaimed his faith in the future of American wines and began the search on U.S. soil for a suitable winery site. In 1987, Champagne Taittinger, along with partner Kobrand Corporation, selected a 138 acre parcel in the heart of Carneros, a viticultural appellation they recognized to have the potential to produce world class sparkling wines. Also in 1987, Claude Taittinger selected Eileen Crane to oversee the planning and development of the property, as the winery’s first and only winemaker.

CEO/Founding Winemaker Eileen Crane has been at the helm of Domaine Carneros since the first harvest and continues to oversee and direct winemaking and operational duties.

From the beginning, Domaine Carneros has built a reputation on sparkling wines, in particular our Brut Vintage and luxury cuvée Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs. In addition, in the early years of the winery we sold our Pinot Noir fruit to some of California’s top producers for a number of years. We naturally came to the conclusion that we had something special on our hands for the creation of red wine. Beginning in 1992, we added the production of Pinot Noir to the Domaine Carneros repertoire. Our Pinot Noir is characterized by rich, red fruit flavor, layers of complexity and a velvety finish.

All of our wines bear the Carneros Appellation, with 95% of our fruit coming from estate vineyards. In April 2008, we received organic certification of all Estate vineyards by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).