J Lohr Wildflower

J Lohr Wildflower is a red wine made by J Lohr Vineyard and Wines in the USA. It is an interesting wine made from the Valdigue grape variety and is a lighter style red wine that can be served slightly chilled.

J Lohr is is a large wine-making company with headquarters in San Jose, California who have approximately 1500 hectares of vineyards spread over the Paso Robles, Monterey County and Napa Valley wine-growing regions. J Lohr Wildflower is made from grapes harvested in the cool Arroyo Seco AVA of central Monterey County. The company was founded in 1971 and makes various levels of wine under the J Lohr label as well as other brands such Cypress Vineyards and Painter Bridge. J Lohr prides itself as an eco-friendly winery and is a Certified California Sustainable Winegrower. As well as making use of solar power the company also runs various water and energy conservation programmes.

What is Valdiguie?

Wildflower is made from 100% Valdiguié. For many years it was thought that Valdiguie was the Gamay Noir grape variety from the Beaujolais wine-growing region on France and for years it was also known as Napa Gamay or Gamay 15. However, Valdiguié originated in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France where it is known as Gros Auxerrois (or Brocol in Gaillac) and was first commercially propogated in 1874. A genetic study by U.C. Davis in the 1980s identified the grape variety at Valdiguie and since 1999 the term Napa Gamay has been banned from wine labels. Valdiguie produces quite dark wines that are relatively low in alcohol (the 2011 J Lohr Wildflower is 12.5 abv) and many producers continue to make wines in a similar style to Beaujolais.

Arroyo Seco AVA

As mentioned above the grapes for this wine come from the Arroyo Seco appellation of Monterey County. Arroyo Seco is located southeast of Monterey Bay is located in a valley next to the Arroyo Seco Creek. The vineyards here are quite close to the Pacific Ocean and the maritime influence means that it is a wine, cool climate wine growing area which suits grapes that benefit from a cool afternoon breeze. The soils here are gravelly Chualar loam soils which means that the stones absorb daytime heat and slowly radiate heat out in the evening helping to prevent grapes from freezing.