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Domaine Chandon Australia was established in 1985 as part of Moet & Chandon's expansion into the global sparkling wine market. Wineries have been established in Argentina, Brazil, California and Spain, with Bodegas Chandon in Argentina the first in 1960. In 1997, these wineries were brought together as a global organisation, Chandon Estates, under the parent of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the French luxury goods house. As a group, Chandon Estates will produce and market a unique premium global sparkling wine brand 'Chandon' which offers variety through geographical and varietal characteristics.
Domaine Chandon Australia represents a key element in the global strategy as a producer of premium and super premium sparkling wines for both domestic and export markets. The Chandon Vintage range is now well established in the Australian market, recognised as Australia's benchmark premier sparkling wine. The success in this sector is outstanding as the super premium category was largely non-existent in 1985 when the winery was first planned.
The choice of the Yarra Valley has historical viticultural relevance. The Yarra Valley earned its wine reputation last century for the production of premium table wines which won many Grand Prix prizes in Europe. Sparkling wine is also no stranger to the valley with some of Australia's earliest sparkling wines being made by Louis Lawrence Smith (1830-1910) from base wines produced by Yarra Valley growers. Smith's sparkling winemaker was Auguste d'Argent, a Frenchman experienced in American winemaking (he claimed to have introduced champagne - making to that country). In 1881, Smith formed the Victorian Champagne Company and their successes included a gold medal in 1883 at Amsterdam for his Creme de Boosie.
 While visiting Australia in 1984, John Wright, President of Domaine Chandon California, saw the enormous potential for growing high quality Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier for sparkling wine production. It is interesting to note that in Australia until the early 1980's virtually no sparkling wine was made from the traditional grape varieties used in Champagne. Even today less than 10% of the 3,000,000 dozen produced annually in Australia is made from these varieties. In 1985, John, with his winemaker, Dawnine Dyer, returned to Australia and made trial base wines at Coonawarra and Mt. Macedon. These wines further convinced them of the quality that the cooler regions of South Eastern Australia could produce. Subsequently, after a full investigation of the viticultural suitability of various regions and of the potential sales on local and export markets for a premium Australian sparkling wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, Moet & Chandon decided to proceed with the development of vineyards and a winery.
Dr. Tony Jordan, well known in Australian winemaking circles as a winemaker and technical consultant, was appointed as consultant to establish the venture in late 1985. Dr Jordan became the Managing Director of Domaine Chandon Australia in 1987. Domaine Chandon found a receptive market for their high quality sparkling wines which confirmed Moet & Chandon's original direction. The winery has seen strong growth over the last twelve years and is now set for further expansion of Chandon wines for both the domestic and international markets.
 From 6000 cases from the first vintage in 1986, Domaine Chandon Australia is now planning to triple current production in 1999 of around 75,000 cases to 225,000 cases by 2004. The Chandon Vintage range will provide some of this growth with the majority of expansion being in the premium sector with the release of a N/V Chandon Brut. The first Chandon Brut was released in September 1999 - a Millennium introduction. Domaine Chandon commenced in 1987 with the planting of fifty hectares(120 acres) in Coldstream in the Yarra Valley. The vineyard was planted with the traditional Champagne varieties -
Chardonnay (50%), Pinot Noir (45%) and Pinot Meunier (5%). In 1994, another 40 hectares (100 acres) of vineyard was planted in the Strathbogie Ranges.
Allen, Jack and Cottier of Sydney produced an outstanding facility at Domaine Chandon that combines both modern winery requirements and a visitors centre that takes in the stunning surrounds of the Yarra Valley. The building represents a combination of the French heritage of Moet & Chandon and Domaine Chandon's Australian home with the use of both French colonnade influences and the very effective use of Australian style stainless steel and corrugated iron. The original homestead on the property was fully restored for functions, private tastings and administration. The winery opened to the public in February 1991. Guided tours are provided daily which take in the production facilities and culminate in Chandon by the glass served in the Green Point Room with magnificent views towards the Great Dividing Range. Regardless of the time of year or the weather conditions, the Green Point Room outlook is always an outstanding sight. The Green Point visitors centre has become an essential destination when visiting the Yarra Valley with over 80 000 visitors each year from local, interstate and international destinations.
Drawing on the Champagne approach where complexity of flavour in the wineries is in part produced by blending across varieties and vineyards, Domaine Chandon Australia grows Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes on its own Green Point and Strathbogie vineyards and the same varieties are purchased from diverse regions including the Yarra Valley, Coonawarra, the Australian Alps (Mansfield and Strathbogie Ranges), Mt. Macedon, Southern Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula and Western Australia. An open minded approach to winemaking methods was taken in consultation with Moet & Chandon oenologists (Philippe Coulon, Richard Geoffroy and Edmond Maudiere) and various trials have led to the adoption of techniques that are very similar to those used by Moet & Chandon in Epernay.
Grapes are fed directly into the presses, no S02 is added and three juice fractions are separated, Cuvee, Premiere Taille and Deuxierme Taille. Deuxieme Taille is not used in any of the Green Point blends. Juices are settled in stainless steel tanks for 24 hours before the clear juice is fermented to produce the base wines. All vineyards and grape varieties are kept separate to give maximum blend possibilities.
 In addition to the base wines made each year, Domaine Chandon age reserve wines from previous vintages which can be used to add further complexity during blending and are useful for inclusion in the Expedition Liqueur. In July of each year the winemaking team, Wayne Donaldson, Neville Rowe and James Gosper blend the various Cuvees. The Cuvees are tiraged between August and October and matured on yeast for 2 to 5 years before disgorging, cork ageing and release. The first Chandon wine released in June 1989 was the Blanc de Blancs vintaged in 1986.
Domaine Chandon now releases a range of styles. The most important blend is the 'Brut' which is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir along with a small percentage of Pinot Meunier. The current release available in Australia, UK and other export markets is the Chandon Vintage Brut 1996. Each year a limited quantity of the Brut blend is held back for further yeast ageing. These wines are released as late disgorged five year yeast age styles. Other styles produced are Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Brut Rose, Yarra Valley Brut, Cuvee Riche (the sweeter style) prestige Late Disgorged Brut and in 1999 the Millennium Cuvee, specially released for Millennium celebrations.
New Zealand grapes from the Marlborough region are used to produce a purely New Zealand Brut blend. The first of these, the 1990 Marlborough Brut, was released in June 1993 for the New Zealand market with the current release being the Marlborough Brut 1994 (50% Chardonnay, 41 % Pinot Noir and 9% Pinot Meunier). |
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