Valdiguié is a red

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

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 approximately 8,0 ...

grown primarily in the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...

region of southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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_(wine), Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as lon ...

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine in the Burgundy wine, Burgundy region. Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in grape tannins, tannin, but like most ...

,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 June 23, 1997.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 (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

clone

Gamay Beaujolais Gamay Beaujolais () is a varietal designation for a Californian grape variety, an early ripening clone of Pinot noir. It is named after the Gamay grape from Beaujolais wine, Beaujolais. History In the late 1930s, an early Settler, pioneer of t ...

and Valdiguié were sometimes also labelled as "Gamay Beaujolais" until that name was banned on labels in April 2007. 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 Merille is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Garonne of South West France. It is a common grape in table wine Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a ...

variety * Guillaume Valdiguié found it in the vineyard of a Templar monastery in Aujols * Jean Baptiste Valdiguié found it in a vineyard in

Puylaroque Puylaroque (; ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. See also *Communes of the Tarn-et-Garonne department The following is a list of the 195 communes of the Tarn-et-Garonne department ...

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 may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

.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