A long time ago I remember discovering the wonders of champagne! Today is for the savoring of the newer offerings of an old friend. Domaine Chandon! The tasting room and restaurant are in Yountville, California, the gateway to one of the best known wine a regions of California. It is a great first stop on the way to Clear Lake or other points north.
Today it is a hot early summer’s data, 90 degrees. There is a slight breeze that is gentle and comforting. So we drive under the arched entry to taste bubbly and eat oysters. We discover that there is indeed parking for the truck and trailer as well as a large RV. Very easy to drive to and no switchy curves or steep mountains.
The entrance has a beautiful arched sign high in the trees. The road is well maintained and cooling in appearance. You do not see an overwhelming structure or a psuedo italian or french chateau. It sits quietly in the hills and trees.
You walk into a darkened shop area with the registers and a concierge’s podium to get directions to the tasting room and restaurant. There were no signs that I could see, very subdued environment. When I entered a large glassed area I was not sure if this was the tasting area, take out ordering or entry into an outdoor restaurant. Finally a young woman at another podium told me I had just left the tasting room.
Back to the glass and windows area and then waved a staff person down to help. The menu outside stated there was a special of a bottle of champagne with dozen oysters! My friend and I decided wow lets order a dozen each because the price was so reasonable. The staff person was funny, intense and directed us to the patio area to await our bucket of champagne and goodies. We were not sure if we were supposed to wait for our bucket and take it outside or if they were to be served to us.
Again a section with a waterfall and linen table cloths was on one side with reserved signs and a lot of regular tables and chairs in a beautiful spacious patio area. The area was so comfortable with a warm breeze and music playing from the speakers. Not too loud and somewhat comfortable. The champagne was etoile Brut!!! so crisp, new to me and worked wonderfully with the oysters. The oysters were very fresh, no foam! We ate 3 and half-dozen oysters each with our bottle of champagne. It was an enjoyable 2 hours on a lazy, warm afternoon. But we did not get a “taste” of the many new sparkling wines available here.
As we left the patio and were on the way out of the establishment we did learn many things about champagne. Here at Domain Chandon they have sooo many sizes of bottle of their Classic Brut and Rose that are perfect for packing in the Airstream. Single serving size, split or 1/2 bottle and regular liter size. The single serve size is one serving and fits in the pantry shelf in the Flying Cloud, the other bottle sizes are too wide. The 2 serving size is just a tiny bit smaller than the split and fits easily into the refrigerator door.
We did ask questions of the very helpful sales associate Janice Beland:
Q. Can/should you freeze champagne?
A. No, keep refrigerated for a few hours before serving. Store in a cool dark place, less than 60 degrees. Same for their still wines.
Q. What is the best way to open the champagne?
A. Use a bar towel, grab the cork after removing the wire cage, slowly twist the bottle, not the cork, slowly so you do not loose control of the cork and you do not loose the bubbly.
Q. How to serve the bubbles?
A. A chilled glass is a personal preference, slant the flute and pour down the side of the glass. This gives less foam on the top and allows the bubbles to get smaller. When the fine bubbles appear it is ready to sip.
Q. How long can champagne be stored?
A. Double the age of the bubbly and that is the gage for the length you store it. For example if etoile Brut is aged for 5+years it can be stored for 10 years ; Reserve Blanc de Blancs is aged 18 months so it can be stored for 3 years (36 months)! SOMETHING NEW I LEARNED!!!
The winery shop had many very glass looking plastic stemless glasses with their logo on them but really looked like glass. If you joined their wine club on the day we were there (Monday) we recived a 50% discount on stuff, champagne and still wines! That was great to learn after our first round of oysters!
There are only 2 RV parks in Napa and we could not find them to review. You can park your trailers and RVs while you are enjoying their treats but no overnight. There are two large parking areas that are an easy wondering to the bubbles.
where shall we wander to next? You never know what we will find….
Canned Comfort 