My wife says Le Rêve tastes “almost French,” and you could say the same for the château building.

There are only a few places in California wine country where you can completely forget that you are in the United States.

Turning off Route 121, the highway that connects the Sonoma and Napa Valleys at their southern tips in Carneros, you encounter one of those places. Sitting atop a hill surrounded by rows and rows of vines is the château of Domaine Carneros, a 25-year-old American estate, straight out of 18^th century France.

The elegant manor is a fitting home for Domaine Carneros, founded by France’s Champagne Taittinger to produce new world sparkling wine in the traditional old world method. Taittinger plucked Eileen Crane from nearby Gloria Ferrer to oversee the planting of the estate and establish the sparkling wine program, and she remains to this day.

Taittinger conducted a lengthy search for the proper site before settling on Carneros, a region with average temperatures 10-15 degrees cooler than Napa, although still warmer than Champagne. Domaine Carneros owns four estate vineyards (all certified organic), planted only to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, for which the area’s long, cool growing season is close to ideal. Theoretically, the soil and climate should combine to allow Crane and her team to achieve a balance of ripeness and acidity – essential for any good sparkling wine, no matter where it is from.

As a fan of Taittinger, and its rich, toasty style, I was excited to visit Domaine Carneros on a trip to California a few years ago, and I was not disappointed. While the architecture of the château is more French-styled than the wines, on their own merits the sparkling wines of Domaine Carneros are consistently good, and my favorite of the trans-Atlantic bubbly partnerships (such as Roederer Estate, Mumm Napa, and Domaine Chandon, to name a few). I was equally excited to check in on the lineup thanks to a sampler pack that recently arrived at Terroirist HQ.

Tasting notes follow below the fold.

TASTING NOTES:

Review: N.V. Brut Rosé Cuvée de la Pompadour
This wine is named after Madame de la Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, who once remarked, “Champagne is the only wine a woman can drink and remain beautiful.” While I don’t agree with the sentiment, it is a cute name for the cuvée, which is about 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay, and receives its very pale pink color from several days of skin contact and a small amount of still Pinot. I found the nose to be slightly herbal, veering towards vegetal, but with a small amount of citrus. One the palate, there’s a decent amount of acid, but very little fruit; when it does appear, it is again of citrus, like grapefruit. It finishes better, with some red fruit and toast emerging. Not particularly complex, but a fine drink. This bottle was disgorged in May 2011 after 18 months on the lees. [Around $30]

Review: 2008 Brut Vintage Cuvée
This is the signature wine of the estate, consisting of 57% Pinot Noir and 43% Chardonnay in 2008. It is pale straw yellow in color with a medium bead. There are pears, green apples and sourdough on the nose, and more of the same in the mouth. It has a nice round, creamy feel, but a short finish and it seems a bit out of sorts at first. With some air, a pleasant white chocolate note emerges. The three years of bottle age before disgorgement adds complexity. At around $20, this is the best value of the Domaine Carneros lineup.

Review: 2006 Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs
Le Rêve translates as “the dream.” Taittinger’s dream was to make an age-worthy 100% Chardonnay tête-de-cuvée in America with the power and finesse of its French counterpart, Comtes de Champagne. While this wine certainly can go tête-à-tête with Champagne, Comtes is the wrong mountain to attempt to scale and, unfortunately, at $95 from the winery, it is not a very good deal when compared to something like a non-vintage Pierre Peters in the BdB space. The wine is nice, though. It is a pale greenish-yellow, with very small bubbles. The nose gives off shortbread and green apples and is quite leesy from about six years of aging. The palate is yeasty, with good acidity balancing green fruits – apples, pears. The finish is tart and chalky – this is the only wine of the three that showed much minerality. It was a bit closed at first and could definitely use some time. The long finish turns slightly bitter, towards almond skins – the only real blemish on an otherwise well-done effort. I would love to re-taste this in five or more years.