The grapes were harvested in early October, returning to the same harvest time as the first few vintages when we started using grapes from this vineyard. The wine has aromas of roses and raspberries, as well as soft earth and radish. It is a wine that is simply delicious and makes you feel happy when you drink it. This Valdiguier (also known as Napa Gamay) comes from the Rancho Chimirez Vineyard (owned by Terry Wilson) in Wooden Valley in the Napa Valley AVA. It is surrounded by the Vaca Mountains, making it a cooler region of Napa Valley. The vines are over 40 years old, and the vineyard is untilled and has natural cover crops on silt loam soils. The first Valdiguier wine made by Cruise Wine Co. was made from grapes from Terry's vineyard. After destemming, the grapes are placed in open concrete tanks, where they are allowed to spontaneously ferment and are punched down by hand. After 12 days of skin contact, the wine is lightly pressed and placed in 500L used puncheons for spontaneous malolactic fermentation. A small amount of sulfite is used before bottling. "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 has never received any formal winemaking education, and 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 that are unique to California, and a strong structure, while the "Ultramarine" brand produces fragrant, handmade sparkling wines from a single vineyard and a single vintage, inspired by Champagne's Recoltant Manipulant. Even star-ranked restaurants in the United States only allocate a few bottles per year, and many sommeliers and wine buyers are desperate to get their hands on this popular wine. As if symbolizing California wine in an age of diversity, they create complex, unique, and fresh wines without being bound by 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.