Wine: Domaine Chandon turns 40

(MercuryNews) - Domaine Chandon was established in the Napa Valley 40 years ago, an anniversary that fans of California bubbly will probably want to toast. But the influence of this French-owned winery extends far beyond sparkling wine.

Certainly it helped pave the way for other foreign-owned sparkling wine houses in California. But the fact that Moet Hennessy, a major French wine company -- the French ruled the wine world in those days -- had made such a large investment in the Napa Valley also conferred instant credibility on that still-fledgling wine area.

"The critical thing is that it was the first French investment in the Napa Valley," says Matt Wood, Domaine Chandon's estate director. The move, he adds, meant  "there's something special about the Napa Valley."

 "There was a great deal of buzz that a French company -- a French company of that magnitude -- was taking an interest in the Napa Valley," says Dawnine Dyer, who went on to become the longtime winemaker at Chandon.

Moet Hennessy wanted to expand, and expansion in Champagne, which is a limited area, was difficult. The company already had a sparkling wine operation in Argentina and in 1968 started looking into making bubbly in California. After deciding that the Napa Valley was the right place, the company established M&H Vineyards, and renamed it Domaine Chandon in 1973. The new company assembled some land: 200 acres on Mount Veeder, 550 acres in Carneros and 350 acres in Yountville, where a winery was to be built. Winemakers from Moet & Chandon made some experimental wines that year, working at Trefethen Winery. The first commercial vintage was assembled in 1974.