Napa’s Domaine Carneros picks Lede winery ops chief to succeed iconic CEO

Remi Cohen, most recently chief operating officer of Lede Family Wines in the Napa Valley, will take over next month as CEO of Domaine Carneros, a maker of ultrapremium sparkling and pinot noir wines whose château is a fixture of the highway through the Carneros growing region between Napa and Sonoma counties.

She will be replacing Eileen Crane, who was hired in 1987 by Claude Taittinger, president of Champagne Taittinger, to develop the winery. As CEO and founding winemaker, Crane will cap her 43-year industry career by overseeing her last harvest then blending the 2020 cuvee wines, according to the announcement July 15.

Cohen called Crane a “luminary,” whose talent, leadership and vision she admired.

“I take great pride in the opportunity to continue to develop this foundation of excellence,” said Cohen in the announcement.

She added, “The wine industry is at a pivotal time, with changing consumer demographics. I look forward to using data-driven and team decision-making processes to create innovative, benchmark hospitality programs as well as wine club and consumer engagement tactics to attract and retain a broad membership and consumer base.”

At Lede, Cohen is credited with leading the Napa Green certification for the land and winery. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and cellular biology from UC Berkeley and then went on to receive master’s degrees in viticulture from UC Davis and in business administration and finance from Golden Gate University.

Domaine Carneros’ six estate vineyards cover approximately 400 acres, with 125 acres planted to chardonnay, 225 acres to pinot noir and the remaining acres currently in development. The winery focuses on making ultrapremium Carneros sparkling wines largely estate grown and limited-production pinot noirs.

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