La Marea Central Coast Grenache 2022 Grower Champagne Valdiguie is the grape California

Valdiguie is the grape California spent decades calling Napa Gamay - a misidentification finally corrected by a French ampelographer in 1980

(It was called Claret until the Bordeaux wine council sent a letter asking them to stop

This timeless Madeira blend of Tinta Negra and traditional grape varieties achieves its character through estufagem aging

5-hectare estate

The Snowden Ranch spans Napa's microclimates—a quarter-mile wide and a mile long

La Marea Central Coast Grenache 2022 Grower Champagne Valdiguie is the grape CaliforniaIan Brand has spent a decade making the same argument: California's Central Coast is a far better home for Spanish and Rhone grapes than anyone gives it credit for. La Marea "the tide" is where he tests it, with wines rooted in sea air, sandy soils and ancient seabeds. His Grenache runs in the opposite direction from the jammy, high alcohol version the grape usually gets here: light on its feet, transparent, built around freshness rather than force.