Stateside purple pagers who enjoy bold yet well-mannered wines, can look to Cadaretta, based in Washington state's Walla Walla Valley (the wines are not yet available in the UK).
Washington has long welcomed French winemakers and viticulturists into its fold, seeing them as bridges between California and European wine styles. As well, many young French oenologists have found more opportunity in Washington than in their homeland; Cadaretta winemaker/viticulturist Virginie Bourgue is one of them.
A native of Provence, she earned an oenology degree at the University of Sciences in Rheims, worked for Louis Roederer and Bollinger, then moved to Washington...