With its inherent desire to educate, inspire, engage, and celebrate, Chandon has long held a top spot among the list of welcoming winetasting venues. Few Napa Valley winery grounds are as spacious, lush, welcoming, and inclusive as those at the Yountville-based sparkling producer. The winery’s recent makeover further elevates the visitor experience. Guests arriving at newly re-imagined Chandon are immersed in Napa Valley nature. Billowing grasses line walkways, welcoming visitors across the winery bridge to experiences like none other within wine country, such as the winery’s Culinary Journey and Togetherness Lunch. Each unique offering showcases Chandon’s beautiful sparkling wines that tell the story of place, terroir, grapes, and the inspiration behind each bottling.
Chandon continues to be one of just a small handful of sparkling producers in the Valley and is a must-stop for anyone with an affection for bubbly. The house style is sophisticated and exuberant and perfectly illustrated in a sip of Reserve Meunier, a wine that is rich, round, and filled with zesty freshness, or in a flute of Chandon Etoile Rosé, aged five years for delightfully creamy and complex flavor, bursting with red fruit and a hint of cocoa. Winemaking director Pauline Lhote is a boundary pusher and risk taker, always seeking to improve the existing wines and techniques while experimenting with bottlings, such as the spectacular, 100% Chardonnay Mt. Veeder Vintage Brut, 2017, from Chandon’s highest vineyard; an excellent expression of the region, always a top favorite in the Chandon collection. And though Chandon is rooted in sparkling wines, Lhote also crafts magnificent still wines such as a powerful and intense Cabernet Sauvignon called Gaïa, also from the Mt. Veeder estate.
Chandon’s five-course Culinary Journey is a great way to enjoy the winery’s spectrum of elegant yet approachable sparkling and still wines. And the pairing approach is somewhat novel. Where many restaurants and menus around the valley emphasize wines paired with the dish, Chandon takes the opposite approach: Seasonal ingredients—many from the winery’s own garden and local farms—are selected to match the wines, creating a perfect symphony of flavors.
The experience takes place in the winery’s new Epicurean Hub, framed by bold architecture and filled with warm colors and textures that complement panoramic views of the adjacent garden. Guests are greeted with a glass of Reserve Meunier, and the story of Chandon’s roots within the Napa Valley begins to come to life while a first-course salad of grilled peach, prosciutto, and tender Stracciatella is served. Course two features Monterey Vintage Blanc de Blancs 2018, a sparkling wine bursting with tropical notes that pairs perfectly with an “essence of summer” green gazpacho served tableside over shrimp, pickled red onion, and fennel.
The menu continues to surprise with course three, Chandon Etoile Brut, paired with potato gnocchi, spring vegetables, and kumquats, the flavors of which meld perfectly. Chandon Etoile Rosé follows, accompanied by a honey lavender panna cotta and pecan crumble with strawberry and rhubarb that accentuate every sip. The dish is finished with honey sourced from the estate, available in the winery boutique, and is a perfect remembrance of a perfect Chandon experience.
While the Culinary Journey is an intimate experience, The Togetherness Lunch is a community hub for all, where garden meets glass. This California-casual gathering of guests and their closest friends features a family-style al fresco lunch of three full-bodied and zesty sparkling wines paired with a chef-crafted menu that enlivens each pour. Served amid the Kitchen Garden with its grand timber tables set amongst breeze-rustling tall grasses and garnish beds from which guests can pick their own herbs, this private hideaway is ideal for celebratory moments toasted with exceptional sparkling wines and fine cuisine.
The family-style experience features three quintessentially Chandon sparkling wines to be enjoyed at a leisurely and casual pace and paired with a playful local menu that flexes with the season. Begin with the Yountville Vintage Brut 2016 for a vineyard perspective and journey to blending and extended aging with Chandon Etoile Brut. Experience something entirely new with Chandon Garden Tea. While sipping, plates of vibrant color appear, each an array of flavors, such as beet salad with goat cheese mousse and candied walnuts. Passed mains might include chicken in coconut curry, creamy polenta and grilled shrimp, or seasonal pasta—each course meant to enliven the palate in concert with each sip of wine. Dessert includes spring tartlets, macarons, and profiteroles, to be enjoyed casually while exploring the garden.
At the Culinary Journey and The Togetherness Lunch, each wine and each dish tell a story of the variety, the terroir, and the hand of winemaker Lhote. Chandon’s hosts take pride in treating guests as friends, making every visit special, unique, and full of small surprises to strengthen an emotional connection to the brand and the Chandon community and to create the best wine tasting experiences in Napa Valley.
“Simply put, we are hosts at heart, and our home showcases who we are,” said Lhote.
