Vineyard: Ricetti

AVA: Redwood Valley, Mendocino, CA

Farming: Organic, Dry Farmed

Harvest Date: 30 September 2024

Bottling Date: 20 March 2025

Alc: 12%

Cases: 100

As always, the Valdiguié is the slowest fruit to ripen at Ricetti! Because 2024 was consistently warmer than 2023, the fruit came in with a bit more sugar, though it is still by far the least alcoholic and brightest red wine we make.  And, I think, most aromatic, with such an intensely lovely nose of violets.  It’s particularly wild making this wine, as the juice when first picked and crushed is a very nondescript greenish grey color.  But, as it ferments, all those wonderful colors and aromas from the skins get pulled into the liquid, and the final wine is a vibrant purple hue and wonderfully expressive to smell and taste.

At the winery, the Valdiguié fruit was partially foot crushed and left to ferment whole cluster for 10 days.  After pressing, the wine finished primary fermentation in stainless steel, then was moved to neutral barrique to age for 6 months.

Indigenous yeast fermentation. SO2: 10 ppm total.  No other additions, unfined and unfiltered.

Due to its high acidity, the Valdiguié is of a particularly intense shade of violet, and I named it to reflect that color.