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Gearhead Wines

Princess Valdiguie' Pet Nat 2019

Price: $26.95
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Tasting notes

This pet-nat tastes like carbonated grapefruit juice with a salty mineral edge — the Marsanne adds savory weight that keeps the high-acid Valdiguie from feeling one-dimensional. At 11% ABV and only 18 cases made, it is the kind of fleeting, low-intervention sparkling wine that defines what the Richmond natural wine scene does best.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
GrapefruitSalineOrangeWildflowers
  • Style: Sparkling orange-hued pet-nat; Marsanne and Valdiguie blend; salty grapefruit and high acid; 11% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: Valdiguie from CCOF-certified organic Lolonis Vineyard, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County; Marsanne from CCOF-certified organic Love Ranch on granitic schist; both dry-farmed
  • Winemaking: Carbonic maceration; no foot treading; no added CO2; bottled at 1.5 brix via methode ancestrale; unfined, unfiltered, zero added sulfur; 18 cases total
  • Serving: Serve well-chilled (45-50F); crown cap; drink now
  • Pairing: Oysters, fish tacos, fried calamari, cured anchovies, ceviche
  • Similar To: For fans of low-ABV, high-acid sparkling wine who want something closer to Bugey-Cerdon or natural Lambrusco than Champagne

The 2019 Princess Pet-Nat from Gearhead Wines is a blend of Valdiguie from the CCOF-certified organic, dry-farmed Lolonis Vineyard in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, and Marsanne from the CCOF-certified organic Love Ranch, farmed on thin granitic schist soils. Craig West made just 18 cases total. The wine glows a neon orange in the glass and carries a distinctly salty, grapefruit-forward character that prompted comparisons to a Salty Dog cocktail before it was even bottled.

Both varieties were fermented carbonically with no foot treading and no added CO2. The Valdiguie fermented for 15 days before bottling at 1.5 brix, capturing the natural mousse from active fermentation in the bottle. The result is a pétillant naturel with soft, lively bubbles and a bone-dry, high-acid finish. Zero additions: unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites.

Craig West produces Gearhead Wines at the Richmond Wine Collective, the shared natural winery space on Richmond's Marina Bay founded by Noel Diaz of Purity Wine. Craig entered winemaking after Noel invited him to tread grapes in an open-top fermenter during the 2016 harvest. He made his first wines that same year and has focused since on tiny-lot, zero-zero production from organically farmed California fruit. The Princess label art was drawn by his daughter, who charged him $50 for the rights.

At 11% ABV, this is a lightweight sparkling wine meant for drinking cold and soon. The Marsanne adds a savory, textural backbone to the high-acid Valdiguie and contributes to the wine's vivid orange hue. It is best served well-chilled, ideally within a year of release.

Serve well-chilled with oysters, ceviche, or salty fried foods. The wine's high acidity and saline character make it a strong match for anything rich and fatty — think fish tacos, fried calamari, or a plate of cured anchovies. It also works well on its own as an aperitif.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Sparkling Wine
Wine Style:, Sparkling
Grapes:, Valdiguie, Marsanne
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 11%
Country:, United States
Region:, Mendocino County
Appellation:, Redwood Valley AVA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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Heat/Frost damage

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Placed an order. What next?

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2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Gearhead Wines

Gearhead Wines is the project of Craig West, who makes wine at the Richmond Wine Collective, the natural winemaking incubator operated by Noel Diaz of Purity Wine at 1401 Marina Way South in Richmond, California's Marina Bay District. Before winemaking, Craig worked as a fisherman and as a baker at Acme Bread in the Bay Area. In 2016, Noel Diaz invited him to step into an open-top fermenter to tread grapes; Craig made his first wines that same year, initially working out of his garage. He started Gearhead Wines as a formal label shortly after.

Gearhead sources organically farmed fruit from certified growers across California, including CCOF-certified vineyards in Mendocino County and the Sierra Nevada foothills. Craig does not farm his own vineyards but selects growers whose practices meet his zero-intervention standard. All Gearhead wines are made with carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration, foot treading, native yeast fermentation, and no added sulfites. Production is extremely limited, typically under 100 cases per wine.

In the cellar, Craig works entirely without additions. Wines are unfined, unfiltered, and bottled with zero added sulfur. The Princess Pet-Nat series uses the methode ancestrale: wines are bottled before fermentation is complete, capturing natural carbonation from residual sugar. The 2019 Princess Valdiguie Pet-Nat was bottled at 1.5 brix after 15 days of carbonic fermentation, sealed under crown cap, and released as a single 18-case lot.

Wine region

Mendocino County, United States

Mendocino County sits north of Sonoma and Lake counties in California's North Coast, separated from the coast by the Mendocino Range. The region is one of California's most climatically diverse wine-growing areas, with twelve designated AVAs as of 2024. The Lolonis Vineyard, source of the Valdiguie in this wine, is located in Redwood Valley AVA, a sub-appellation known for its red clay soils, significant diurnal temperature swings, and strong organic farming tradition. At around 900 feet elevation, Redwood Valley is slightly cooler than the plantings to the south near Ukiah, which helps grapes retain acidity through ripening.

Mendocino County is one of the leading regions in California for certified organic viticulture, with nearly 25% of all cultivation grown organically. In 2004, county residents voted to make Mendocino the first GMO-free county in the United States, a measure supported by many of its largest wineries. The Lolonis family, Greek immigrants who settled in Redwood Valley, began farming the property that bears their name in the early twentieth century and have maintained CCOF-certified organic farming there since 1992. Valdiguie, historically sold in California under the name Napa Gamay, retains a foothold in Mendocino County where its high natural acidity and disease resistance suit the region's dry-farmed, organically managed vineyards.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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