Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros is an iconic Napa Valley location. Not only is it along the main drag even before you pass the city of Napa, but it’s a magnificent manor atop a hill with manicured gardens below. It should be no surprise why this winery is so reminiscent of a French château; the owners are the champagne family Taittinger.

There are several options for tastings, but we opted for the Bubbles and Bites. At $95 per person we were able to sample five different sparkling wines with an accompaniment of food. (NOTE: the menu was mostly gluten free to start and the chef willingly modified the rest for my dietary restriction.) The menu’s theme changes every few months; ours was centered around Spain.

We arrived on time and were seated right away in their beautiful sunroom. There’s a beautiful fountain and a sweeping panoramic view. And then we waited. And waited some more. It did not seem to us that the staff was overwhelmed but clearly something was amiss. Thankfully, another waiter noticed our lack of food and drink and poured us a little something to sip while we passed the time.

Shortly thereafter, our wine was poured and our food arrived and we were smooth sailing for the rest of the tasting. All of the food was delicious as were the wines but none of the bubblies were unique enough to warrant us purchasing a bottle.