Domaine Carneros founding winemaker Eileen Crane recently retired after thirty years at the helm, handing the reins to another experienced wine maker and executive, Remi Cohen. A recent Zoom tasting looked back on Crane’s long tenure and afforded the chance to taste the recent release, 2012, against her very first vintage, 1992.
The results show not only that these estate wines are made for long aging but also that they stand proudly alongside the world’s greatest sparkling wines.
2012 Domaine Carneros Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs Carneros
Pale moony yellow with an active pour that subsides into a medium, animated bead. It’s fragrant of yellow fruits (pome, citrus, yellow plum) wreathed in a perfume of apple and citrus blossom, candied lemon peel, and brioche. The texture is cleansing and prickly, carrying flavors of citrus and orchard fruit. It has good weight. Overall a refreshing but fruit-driven wine, and age-worthy.
11.8% abv | $120 (sample)
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1992 Domaine Carneros Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs Carneros
The cuvée was 85 percent Chardonnay and 15 percent Pinot blanc. The robe has deepened to a golden hue animated by a quiet bead. The aromas are at first fresh-mushroomy, and with a little air, it becomes honeyed, sherried, with a sense of toasted almonds, rich brioche, almond paste, and cherrystone. The flavors are savory, with a depth charge of chesnut honey, cherry cordial, dried fruits, and roasted almonds. This is a richly elaborated wine, but the finish is like clover honey, lifted and almost lemony. Light on its feet, after all these years.
12% ABV (sample)
