It has a youthful aroma of melon, fig leaves, basil and spices. It has firm yet fine bubbles, and a strong acidity on the palate. The finish is also salty and mineral, giving it a wonderfully refined taste. This is Petillant Naturel.
*Pétillant Naturel is a method of bottling wine that is still after fermentation is complete, with sugar and yeast added, then bottling, sealing, and secondary fermentation in the bottle, as opposed to the traditional method. It is also known as Méthode Rural or Méthode Ancestral. In addition, Pétillant Naturel uses a crown cap instead of the usual cork and wire. Therefore, we recommend storing the wine in a cool place out of direct sunlight and lowering the temperature to 6-8°C before serving. After cooling well, open the bottle using the bottle opener part of a sommelier knife or a beer bottle opener. 2020 was a very difficult vintage due to COVID-19 and forest fires. Rancho Chimirez was no exception, and the fires came close to the fields. This Valdiguier (also known as Napa Gamay) comes from the Rancho Chimirez Vineyard (owned by Terry Wilson) in Wooden Valley, Napa Valley AVA. Surrounded by the Vaca Mountains, it is a cooler region of Napa Valley. The vines are over 40 years old, and the silt loam soil is left untouched with natural cover crops, and the vineyard began converting to organic farming in 2018. This wine was usually made as a rosé, but to avoid contamination by smoke on the skins, the grapes were pressed with great care immediately after harvest, and only the first squeezed juice was used. Fermented in stainless steel tanks with only wild yeasts. The wine was left to rest for a few more months to remove ash and dust before bottling. So this vintage is not a rosé, but a true blanc de noirs without any color. "Cruse Wine Co." and "Ultramarine" are the California brands that are currently attracting the most attention from around the world. Michael Cruse, the owner and winemaker of these two brands, majored in biochemistry at UC Berkley and after graduating, he learned winemaking from a scientific perspective at SutterHome and Starmont. He did not receive any formal winemaking education, but instead taught himself wine science through trial and error and on-site experience, and founded Cruse Wine Co. and Ultramarine in 2013. Just three years later, he was selected as Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle, and was in the spotlight as a maverick in the California wine industry. The "Cruse Wine Co." brand produces wines with the pure fruitiness and transparency unique to California, as well as a strong structure, and the "Ultramarine" brand produces fragrant, handmade sparkling wines from single vineyards and single vintages, inspired by Champagne's Recoltant Manipulant. Even star-ranked restaurants in the US only allocate a few bottles per year, making this a popular wine that many sommeliers and wine buyers are desperate to get their hands on. As if symbolizing California wine in an age of diversity, they create complex, distinctive, and fresh wines without being confined to traditional styles or grape varieties. They actively use word-of-mouth and social media as marketing tools, and are making a leap into the world as an up-and-coming winemaker who will lead the next generation.