Domaine Chandon

In the 1960s, Moët & Chandon began exploring the potential for producing world class sparkling wines outside France. Having established successful Chandon Estates in Argentina, Brazil and California, they saw the opportunity to produce a premium quality sparkling wine in Australia.

During the mid-eighties, a group of Australian wine experts were engaged to find an ideal site for growing traditional cool climate champagne grape varieties. Nestling in the Yarra Valley, they found an old dairy farm named ‘Green Point’ with the perfect combination of cool climate and great soil. Since 1986, this has been the site of Domaine Chandon.

In addition to the Yarra Valley site, Domaine Chandon established a vineyard about 150km north in the Strathbogie Ranges. The Chandon winemaking team also works with over 30 grape growers from the best cool climate regions from Victoria, Tasmania and beyond. The geographical diversity of the grape sourcing helps produce complexity and structure, trademark characteristics that have seen Chandon become recognised as Australia’s benchmark producer of méthode traditionnelle sparkling wines.

By the early 1990s, the Chandon winemaking team began producing small quantities of still wines, primarily for Cellar Door. They sourced grapes from some of the exceptional Victorian vineyards which supplied fruit for Chandon sparkling wines. For nearly two decades, the winemaking team has refined the still wine range, selecting the vineyard sites ideally suited to each wine style and perfecting their winemaking approach to produce wines displaying elegance, varietal expression and their unique Victorian regional origins.

In August 2008, the launch of still wines under the ‘Domaine Chandon’ label resulted in widespread acclaim from consumers and wine professionals alike. The accolades have continued ever since, with every wine in the range receiving excellent ratings and reviews from Australia’s wine critics.

The Yarra Valley offers great diversity for our winemakers. Fruit can be sourced from a range of viticultural sites with different micro climates. They vary from the Green Point Vineyard at Domaine Chandon, to the slopes of the upper Yarra, at 500m above sea level. These micro climates, combined with subtle variations in soil types - from ancient alluvial sandy clay loams soils to the red granitic soils of the upper Yarra - give the winemaking team the ideal ‘terroir’ diversity to produce complexity and balance in our wines.

In 1994, we found a marvellous site in the remote and spectacular Strathbogie Ranges. At an altitude of almost 700 metres and with granitic clay loam soils, this vineyard produces vibrant fruit with intense flavours. The vineyard is planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, which have subtly different varietal expression to the same varieties grown on our Green Point vineyard, adding greater complexity to our sparkling and still wines.

In 2014, we expanded our premium vineyard holdings with a Whitlands vineyard located in the King Valley, Victoria. Sitting at an elevation of 800 – 850 metres, the vineyard is one of the highest and coolest in Victoria and has a strong history of producing exceptional sparkling and table grapes. Since its development in 1982, the Whitlands vineyard has gone on to reliably produce award winning wines.

In addition to these regions, fruit for our sparkling wines is sourced from a variety of cool climate regions. These sites provide the quality and diversity required to bring complexity and finesse to our sparkling wines.

Méthode Traditionnelle. All Chandon sparkling wines are created using the centuries-old ‘méthode traditionnelle’, developed in the Champagne region of France. After the grapes are pressed, the juice undergoes two separate fermentations, the second taking place in individual bottles producing the fine bubbles of great sparkling wine. Méthode traditionnelle wines are made exclusively from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grape varieties, each imparting classic varietal flavours, elegance and finesse.

Cool-Climate Wines of Victoria. Hidden within Victoria are some viticultural gems, where a varietal expresses itself with unique clarity and vibrancy. This is the marriage we seek for Chandon wines. The unique breadth of cool climate sites found in Victoria’s high countries and valleys provides the diversity which lies at the heart of the complexity we achieve in our wines.

Two critical factors influence the cool-climate regions of Victoria. The first is the cold weather patterns that sweep in from the Great Southern Ocean. The second is the Great Dividing Range, cutting through Victoria and creating mountainous and hilly terrain across more than a third of the state. The combination of these factors offers many outstanding sites for cool-climate viticulture. The influence of climate is critical in allowing the Chandon winemaking team to select grapes that provide elegant structure, and vibrant varietal expression for our still wines.

Today the winemaking team work with a number of growers to provide the diversity of fruit we require for our wines. During the growing season Chandon’s viticulturists and winemakers visit our many growers to assess progress in the vineyard, monitor the ripening of the grapes and select the perfect moment to harvest.