- Grape: Valdiguie
- Alcohol: 12.4%
- Wine: Valdiguie Rancho Chimiles
- Vintage: 2019
- Winery: Wilson Foreigner
- Region: Napa Valley
- Location: Napa, California
- Date: 3/26/23
- Distributor: n/a
Curious Synonyms: Napa Gamay, Gamay 15, Gros Auxerrois, Brocal.
Nerd Alert: Red grape primarily grown in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France but it is also grown in California. Until 1980 it was called Napa Gamay until DNA testing validated it was a different grape. It’s a high yeilding, low alcohol with fruity flavors but little varietal distinction. In France the grape has gone from 4,908 hectares in 1958 to 88 hectares in 2018.
Personal Note: Wine people have a tendency (myself included) to repeat patterns. For example when we come across a light colored and light body red wine we tend to compare it right away with a Gamay. Which is the first thought I had when I tried this wine. How curious is it that one of the names for this grape is Napa Gamay? I didn’t know that at the time, I read it afterwards. I’ve heard of life imitating art, but this is more like life imitating wine. Yet another wine from my Napa trip last year.
The grape profile is very close to the grape which name it was called 40 years ago. We are talking about a light colored wine, with initially very little perceivable aroma. I had it a little above 65 degrees and I had a faint minerality aroma. Now I must admit I don’t have the most sophisticated aroma recognizer, but somewhere I read that some people, through retro nasal get a better representation of the aroma and in my case that’s how I got some cherry and red fruits from the wine. On palate this wine was elegant, low acidity and hardly any perceptible tannins. Upon warming up a bit I got a hint of anise.
Cool wine note: Rancho Chimiles was a 17,762-acre Mexican land grant in present day Napa County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to José Ygnacio Berreyesa. (Think Mexican-American War times).
Have you tried this grape?
*Sources for the wine facts are from sites like: Wine Searcher, Wikipedia, Wine.com, WorldsBestWines and the wineries websites.
