CEO prioritizes mentorship and scholarship as part of winery’s core tenets
Napa, CA – February 14, 2022- Domaine Carneros, the Napa Valley based premier producer of sparkling wine, proudly announces a 2022 program of mentorship and scholarship for deserving diverse professionals seeking training and financial support to grow professionally within the wine industry. Grounded in the winery’s philosophy of visionary female leadership, CEO Remi Cohen framed out Domaine Carneros’ commitment to the advancement of diversity, via several programs. The goal? To offer diverse professionals the pathways to success for realizing their career goals.
In December, the winery announced its partnership with Bâtonnage Forum, to launch Level Three of their Mentorship Program, which equips candidates to enter and grow in the wine industry by creating hands-on work opportunities. Domaine Carneros and Bâtonnage Forum co-created a custom-built job placement at the winery, which started in January and will conclude in November 2022. Level Three of the Bâtonnage Mentorship Program builds upon the networking, guidance, and education offered in Levels One and Two to give mentees a more in-depth, career enhancing experience. The program aims to provide access to departmental heads and exposure to hands-on work, while providing an environment where mentees feel empowered to ask questions, grow, and gain full operational knowledge.
Of this program, CEO Remi Cohen stated, “We are excited to be supporting something of this importance. The tenets of the Bâtonnage mission align with our business philosophy to support, encourage, and provide pathways to success for our team. We have a history of women in leadership at Domaine Carneros and now at our founding company, Champagne Taittinger, and are thrilled to partner in this mentorship opportunity.” For more information about Bâtonnage Forum and the Mentorship Program, contact Katie Canfield at katie@odonnell-lane.com.
In addition to the mentorship program, the winery is working closely with the University of California at Davis and The Culinary Institute of America, collaborating on scholarships and mentor programming to support aspiring students. The scholarships are called the Le Rêve “The Dream” Scholarship after the winery’s eponymous prestige cuvée. The UC Davis scholarship focuses on graduate enrollees in the Viticultural and Enology program. Students with a minimum GPA of 3.0, earning a graduate degree, and who are committed to promoting diversity and sustainability in the wine business, will be awarded scholarships. The winery has committed to a total of four Le Rêve scholarships at UCD over the next few years. The first will be awarded this fall, for more information on the program please contact Karen Block at klblock@ucdavis.edu
Domaine Carneros is also creating a Le Rêve Scholarship program for students in The Culinary Institute of America’s master’s degree program in Wine and Beverage Management. Beginning in March 2022, the four-year commitment will award one scholarship each year to an individual whose application essay demonstrates a commitment to supporting diversity and sustainability in the wine industry.
Now in her second year as CEO of Domaine Carneros, Remi Cohen states of all three programs, “Our team at the winery is excited about mentoring and supporting the future leaders of our wine industry by collaborating with like-minded partners. We are glad we can be a part of making dreams a reality.”
About Domaine Carneros
Founded in 1987, Domaine Carneros reflects the hallmark of its founder, Champagne Taittinger, in creating a vision of terroir-driven sparkling wine and preserving the quality tenets of the traditional method production. Located entirely within the Carneros AVA, between Napa and Sonoma counties, the six estate vineyards total approximately 400 acres with 125 acres planted to Chardonnay, 225 acres planted to Pinot Noir, with the remaining acres currently in development. The winery focuses on making ultra-premium Carneros sparkling wines largely estate grown and limited production pinot noirs.
About Bâtonnage Forum
Founded in 2018 by Stevie Stacionis and Sarah Bray, Bâtonnage Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a community for all those who identify as women working in the wine industry. In addition to the annual forum—which educates about the unique challenges and opportunities that women in the field have faced historically and present-day—the platform encompasses a mentorship program, designed to create a positive course forward wherein individuals who have traditionally been overlooked or spoken overachieve equal opportunities and equal representation across all sectors and tiers of the industry. For more information and to join the conversation, visit batonnageforum.com
About UC Davis Viticulture & Enology Program
Over the past century, UC Davis has steadily advanced cutting-edge research, driving innovation in grape growing and winemaking – giving California vintners a place of pride at the global table and changing how the world makes wine. From helping to revitalize the California wine industry after Prohibition and shaping modern sanitation standards, to debuting drought-tolerant grape varieties and energy-efficient processing technologies that set the gold standard for sustainability, UC Davis consistently has defined the leading edge in innovative solutions. Today, as the world’s top-ranked research institution for viticulture and enology and the global academic leader in sustainability and agriculture, UC Davis’ leadership is more crucial than ever in responding to the global challenges and opportunities facing the wine industry. Our vision is to steward a new era of grape growing and winemaking, driven forward by groundbreaking research and teaching that focus on challenging climate change with world-class innovation, from genetic sequencing that sheds new light on drought tolerance and disease resistance, to defining greener industry best practices; pushing the boundaries of wine chemistry and microbiology to uncover the molecular processes and sensory characteristics that contribute to an exceptional wine; creating next-generation technologies that yield more sustainable models of grape growing and elevates standards of wine production; and preparing the next generation of grape growers and wine innovators to lead these efforts forward, through unmatched experiential learning and continuing education opportunities throughout their careers.
About The Culinary Institute of America
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is the world’s premier culinary college. Dedicated to developing leaders in food, beverage, and hospitality, the private, not-for-profit college offers bachelor’s, and associate degrees with majors in culinary arts, baking & pastry arts, food business management, hospitality management, culinary science, and applied food studies. The CIA’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies offers master’s degrees in sustainable food systems, food business, and wine and beverage management, as well as executive education and certificate programs. Its conferences, leadership initiatives, and consulting services have made the CIA the think tank of the food industry, and its worldwide network of more than 50,000 alumni includes innovators in every area of the food world. The CIA has locations in New York, California, Texas, and Singapore. For more information, visit www.ciachef.edu.
