Champagne & Sparkling

Chandon was originally founded by world-renowned Champagne house Moët & Chandon in 1973, but it has been making a name for itself with its still and sparkling wines ever since. Chandon has two separate winemaking teams each led by winemakers who are experts in their respective styles. All Chandon wines are made with the three traditional Champagne varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, using both estate-grown fruit as well as grapes sourced from other top vineyards in the Carneros and Napa Valleys. Sustainability forms the core of Chandon’s practices in the vineyards and in the winery.

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Chandon produces California's best Champagne-style sparkling wines and still wines using the three traditional Champagne grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Its properties in Carneros, Yountville, Mount Veeder and Lakeville span over 1,300 acres composed of 64 vineyard blocks in the Carneros and Napa Valleys of northern California.


Chandon is the United States expansion project of renowned Champagne house Moët & Chandon. In 1968, Moët & Chandon partnered with Cognac-producer Hennessy and began searching for prime vineyard properties in California. John Wright (Chandon President) and LVMH chairman Count Robert Jean de Vogüe founded Chandon in 1973 and the first Chandon vineyards were planted in 1974. The most important of these vineyards are in Carneros, where Chandon owns 900 acres of vineyard property, making it the largest landowner in the region.


Grapes for the wines also come from: a substantial ranch in Yountville that surrounds the Chandon winery, Visitors Center and award-winning étoile restaurant; 200 acres on Mount Veeder planted to Chardonnay; and 100 acres in Lakeville. Chandon was the first producer to plant Pinot Meunier in Napa. Grapes purchased from neighboring growers supplement the fruit from the estate vineyards. Each block is farmed, treated, and harvested independently.

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The following will give you an idea of the characteristics of Chandon's main vineyards.

CARNEROS
- Superb growing region for traditional Champagne varietals.
- Spans the southernmost tips of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
- Coastal setting cooled by nearby San Pablo Bay and clay-dominated soils result in lower yields and more developed fruit flavors.
- Sustainably farmed.
- Chandon pioneered the region and is the largest landholder with its 900-acre ranch.


MT. VEEDER
- Prized 70-acre hilltop vineyard.
- Elevation of 1,800 ft, just above the fog line, remains cool throughout the growing season.
- Cool climate vineyards yield fruit that is high in acidity and concentrated in flavor - Perfect combination for exceptional Chardonnay.
- Ideal for Chandon's non-vintage prestige cuvée, étoile.


YOUNTVILLE RANCH
- Well-drained and slightly sandy soils bearing concentrated, rich fruit.
- Select vineyards planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, earmarked for the rich, robust style of our Reserve Varietal sparkling wines.

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Chandon is committed to sustainable farming and viticultural practices. The philosophy in the vineyard is ultimately to ensure that the land receives as much as it gives. The natural habitat is replenished, reducing the need for pesticides and herbicides by planting nutrient-rich cover crops and creating an environment for beneficial insects like ladybugs and praying mantis to manage the population of unwanted insects. Chandon uses recycled water throughout the vineyards. Biodiversity is another focus of work in the vineyards, enriching the sites by providing a habitat for a number of different native plants and animal species, notably owls and raptors. For detection of harmful insects, Chandon employs a number of ‘sniffer' dogs who allow the winery to take a proactive stance to protect vineyards.

Chandon has long been on the cutting edge of wetland conservation, with a full-time soil engineer on staff, working to combat erosion.

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Chandon has two distinct winemaking teams, one for sparkling wines and one for still, each led by winemakers who are experts in their respective styles.


Sparkling Wines
Chandon uses Champagne's méthode traditionelle to create each of its sparkling cuvées. Once the grapes are pressed, the must (pulp) is inoculated with yeast and undergoes a seven-day fermentation to create base wines. About 20% of these wines undergo malolactic fermentation – a process which converts a wine’s tart-tasting malic acids into softer-tasting lactic acids, conferring more buttery flavors to a finished wine.

Then, the sparkling winemaking team blends as many as 100 unique base wines from 50 vineyards. To help maintain consistency from vintage to vintage, 10-20% of reserve wines from previous vintages are included in these blends. The blended wines then go through secondary fermentation in the bottle, whereby the carbon dioxide that naturally occurs during fermentation and ageing stages is trapped inside each bottle, steps essential to giving each bottle of sparkling Chandon its millions of bubbles! Chandon's signature house style is well-balanced with a luscious mouth feel and a long, fresh finish.


Still Wines
Chandon's still wine program utilizes the same grape varieties used in the sparkling wines (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) but also sources grapes from the Russian River Valley and Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County.

For Chandon's Chardonnay bottlings, the grapes are treated to partial whole cluster pressing – a process which helps to reduce tart malic acids in a resulting wine – and fermentation is begun in tank before being transferred to French oak casks. One-quarter of the production undergoes malolactic fermentation.

Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are cold macerated prior to fermentation in open-top fermenters with three pumpovers per day – all technical steps to yield more fruit-forward, fresher tasting wines. These wines are aged in French oak one year before release. Chandon is one of the only producers in the U.S. that makes single-varietal bottlings of Pinot Meunier.

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