Darling Passetoutgrain Pinot Noir Gamay 2025

The Land

Bourgogne Passetoutgrains is a real French appellation with real rules: Pinot Noir and Gamay in the same wine, at least one-third of it Pinot. None of that carries any legal weight in California, where the label reads simply Pinot Noir x Gamay Noir. What it does carry is the North Coast AVA, the umbrella appellation established in 1983 that spans more than three million acres across Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano counties, and the designation a winery reaches for when a blend crosses county lines. What holds that sprawl together is Pacific fog pulled inland through gaps in the coastal hills and the cold nights behind it. Darling works almost entirely inside that fog zone: western Sonoma, Marin, Anderson Valley, Mendocino Ridge.

The Wine

Pinot Noir and Gamay, two barrels made in total, which the label states outright. Darling publishes neither the split between the two grapes nor whether they were co-fermented. What the cellar does put on the record is how it works across the range: minimal handling from grape to bottle, no new oak anywhere, no synthetic additives or perfecting agents, restrained sulfur, and no fining or filtration. Their James Creek Vineyard Gamay has run heavily carbonic in recent vintages and rested six months in neutral French oak. Expect what that combination gives from cold coastal fruit — tart red cherry, cranberry skin, violets, crushed herbs, fine gritty tannin, and enough acidity to want twenty minutes in the fridge. The 2025 season across the North Coast was long and mild with no meaningful heat spikes, and picking ran into early November.

The People

Tom and Ashley Darling are a husband-and-wife team, and neither came from a winemaking family. They met in college in North Carolina, got curious about wine visiting Virginia wineries, married in 2016, and moved to Napa to start over in the trade. Tom had one harvest behind him and was beginning his second when the two came across a listing for certified organic, cool-climate Syrah at McEvoy Ranch in the Petaluma Gap. They bought enough for two barrels, made the 2017, and it sold out in months. Darling has grown since without ever buying a vineyard: every grape is purchased from small family growers, all farmed at minimum sustainably and most organically, biodynamically, or regeneratively. Azaya in Marin County and McEvoy Ranch are both CCOF certified organic.

Food Pairing

Chill it half an hour and pour it into big glasses. Grilled pork sausages with grainy mustard and a pile of braised cabbage is the natural call, since the acidity resets the palate between bites of fat. Salmon fillets cooked skin-side down and finished with dill and lemon can handle a red this light, and the tannin is fine enough not to clash with the fish oil. A mushroom and thyme pizza with heavy black pepper picks up the earthier Pinot side. A smash burger works better than it has any right to. Two barrels means this is gone when it is gone, so drink it on a Thursday rather than saving it.