2018 2018 Counoise
Counoise, pronounced COON-WAHZ , is a dark, thin skinned red grape, hailing from the Southern Rhone in France. Normally blended away as a balancing act in Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines adding a nice pepper note with bright acidity.
In California, there is very little acreage of the varietal planted. This wines is meant to be a fun summer red, served slightly chilled to go along with your charcuterie plate.
Technical
Tasting Notes
This wine is bright, fresh, and fun. At just 11.5% alcohol, it is a super easy sipper. There is great strawberry note on the nose, and fresh cherry and orange zest. On the palate, this wine is all high toned - high acid, high fruit, high spice. It’s perfect for your summer picnic.
Details
Up above the Central Valley, lies a vineyard in the foothills called Love Ranch. Organically farmed, 1300 feet elevation, and on Ahwahnee Vista soil – decomposed and weathered granite – this vineyard feels like a glimpse of the Rhone in California. Love Ranch is planted to many different varietals, and Raft Wines was honored to get a small amount of the 2017 COUNOISE to experiment with.
The Counoise was the second to last pick for Raft Wines in 2018, on October 1. The grapes were beautiful, and came into the winery still chilled after being picked in the early morning fall cool air. The grapes were 100% destemmed, and fermented in a small T Bin.
The grapes finished primary fermentation in 19 days and were set to pressed to age in neutral oak barrels.
The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered on March 15, 2019.