Napa Valley

Medium

Cork

White

This is one unique pét-nat produced by Michael Cruse, informed by more than a decade of making Champagne-style wine (Ultramarine) and comprised of the Valdiguié grape (or Napa Gamay as it is known locally) sourced from Rancho Chimiles. The grapes were planted the same year that site was planted in 1972 by Terry and Virginia Wilson. Atop an old land grant to Jose Ignacio Berryessa, the site is a source for Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Pahlmeyer, Favia, and others. Produced since 2015, Valdigue, contends Cruse, speaks 'strong of the spirit of California, you can't get it overripe or make it low acid, and you can get 80 hectoliters per hectare dry farming it’. 2022 was a low-yielding vintage. Cruse captures just the clean juice from the press, which he calls the ‘hearts’. Fermented in tank and bottled with 20g/L of sugar. The yeast finish fermenting in the bottle down to 5g/L. After about seven months, it is riddled and disgorged with no dosage and tasted just after it was disgorged, with no sulfur additions. The nose is fascinating, with melon aromas, yeasty brioche, sourdough, and cement. It's intensely grippy, with succulent vinous notes, a voluptuousness and piercing acidity. The beading is very fine and sophisticated for a pét-nat. A cheese-rind and tart mouth-puckering finish lasts and lasts. It’s fun to sniff and a real ride to savour. 3,300 bottles were produced.

Valdiguié

Cruse Wine Co., Rancho Chimiles Valdigue, Napa Valley, Napa County, California, USA, 2022

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This is one unique pét-nat produced by Michael Cruse, informed by more than a decade of making Champagne-style wine (Ultramarine

Cruse Wine Co., Rancho Chimiles Valdigue, Napa Valley, California, USA 2022

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