With only 223 acres of Valdigue planted in California, it is not easy to find bottlings of this wine. Yet, I have been lucky to find a few and my newest one is the Optik Valdigue from French Camp Vineyard in the Paso Robles Highlands District. Originally thought to be the Gamay grape from Beaujolais, there were once more plantings in California under the name “Napa Gamay”. But in 1980 when the grape was correctly identified as Valdigue, a French grape from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France, much of it was pulled out and replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon. Thankfully there is still some Valdigue planted as it makes a delicious wine like the Optik 2021 Valdigue, the Please The Palate wine of the week.
This Article was originally published on Please the Palate
