Valdiguié is a red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

grown primarily in the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

region of southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where it is generally known by the alias Gros Auxerrois. In

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

it has been known as Napa Gamay or Gamay 15. Until 1980 Napa Gamay was believed to be the

Gamay Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th centu ...

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which mak ...

,Christensen, L. (2003
Wine Grape Varieties in California
University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources Publication 3419, Oakland, CA pp154-7. Lots of pictures but following genetic analysis the name "Napa Gamay" has been banned from U.S.

labels since January 1999.Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) (1997
ATF-388, Gamay Beaujolais Wine Designation (92F–042P)
as amended b
ATF-388a
. Confusingly, both the

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine ...

clone Gamay Beaujolais and Valdiguié were sometimes also labelled as "Gamay Beaujolais" until that name was banned on labels in April 2007. Valdiguier - Ampélographie

Other synonyms include Valdiguer, Cahors, Jean-Pierrou at Sauzet, Quercy and Noir de Chartres.

Description

Valdiguié was first commercially propagated in 1874, although its origin is unclear. There are three main theories : * M. Valdiguié (1745-1817) selected a seedling from the Merille variety * Guillaume Valdiguié found it in the vineyard of a Templar monastery in

Aujols Aujols is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Lot department The following is a list of the 313 communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is d ...

* Jean Baptiste Valdiguié found it in a vineyard in Puylaroque and sold it from 1874 :de:Valdiguié It produces medium to large conical clusters of dark blue-black fruit. It is a high yielding vine that is fairly resistant to oidium (powdery mildew).

Cultivation and winemaking

Valdiguié produces dark colored wines that are low in

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 204 Mitchell Beazley 1986 The wines tend to be of light to medium body and are frequently made in a style similar to the true Gamay of Beaujolais.Herbst, Ron and Sharon ''Wine Lover's Companion'' pg 222 (Barron's 1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdiguie Red wine grape varieties