Dawnine Dyer

Biography

In 1976, Dyer was recruited for the Napa Valley start-up Domaine Chandon, the first French-owned California sparkling wine venture in the United States. Charged with monitoring quality control, she was paired with a French winemaking team from Domaine Chandon’s parent company, Moët & Chandon, which included veteran enologist and winemaker Edmond Maudiere. Cast as Maudiere's protégé, Dyer oversaw trials aimed at creating a naturally fermented sparkling wine based on both Old and New world styles and techniques, including France's Methode Champenoise.

At the time, only a half dozen sparkling wine producers existed in the United States, among them Korbel, Kornell and Schramsberg. The effort resulted in California's first sparkling wine made from Pinot Meunier, a black grape typically used in Champagne for additional depth and maturity. A separate effort led by Dyer resulted in a still wine also made from the Pinot Meunier varietal. Over her 24-year tenure at Domaine Chandon, Dyer rose to vice president and principal winemaker, overseeing all winemaking at the 400,000-case winery and working with its parent company in France.

In 1986, she helped found Domaine Chandon’s sister winery in Australia's Yarra Valley, and oversaw export products for the company's winery facility in Argentina. During this period, Dyer joined forces with other winemakers and grape growers in calling for the creation of Geographic Indications and Appellations of Origin for America's wine growing regions, including the Napa Valley AVA. While at Domaine Chandon, Dyer and husband Bill planted a 2.5 acre cabernet sauvignon vineyard in the Diamond Mountain District AVA.

In 2000, she left Domaine Chandon to devote more time to Dyer Vineyard, which produces 400 cases of wine per year. In the 2004 book by Matt Kramer, New California Wine, the Wine Spectator columnist credited the Dyers with creating 'great cabernets' produced in 'minute' but 'superb quality'. Dawnine and Bill Dyer have been the winemakers for Sodaro Estate Winery in Napa since its inception. In 2005, the Dyers partnered with former America Online Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Schuler and his wife, Tracy Strong Schuler, to create a cabernet sauvignon blend, branded Meteor Vineyard, made from grapes grown on the Schulers' 22 acre vineyard in the Napa Valley’s Coombsville region.

The hilltop vineyard bottled its first vintage under the Meteor label in 2005, with a release date of February 2008. In the September 2007 issue of Decanter, U.K. wine authority Steven Spurrier commended the Meteor team, including Dyer, for its 2005 vintage, describing the blend as having 'smooth, spicy fruit' and 'plush tannins'. During her career, Dyer has served as president of the Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVV) and president of Napa Valley Wine Technical Group, and was a member of the founding board of Women for WineSense.

Through her work with the NVV, she has become a recognized voice for Geographic Indications and Appellations of Origin and has been invited to speak on the issue in Geneva, Beijing, Lima, and Bordeaux. She lectures for the annual Wine Industry Executive program at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and sits on the board of directors for Frog's Leap Winery. She is also a judge for several professional wine competitions, including the U.S.-based National Women's Wine Competition.

The Dyers have been married since 1981 and live full-time on their Diamond Mountain estate. Their wine properties are held by the limited liability company, Dyer Straits Wine Co.