COUNOISE 2022 Estate Owl Hill Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

Tasting Notes: Cherry red color.  Medium-full body. Aroma of plum and watermelon. Fig, peach, new leather and caramel. Lingering finish with cranberry and dust.

The Grape: Pronounced “coon-wahz”. This is an obscure Rhone variety with large dusty colored berries and soft tannin. Rare grape- To illustrate this; in Sonoma County there are only 2 acres of counoise. 

 The Vineyard: Frick Estate Owl Hill Vineyard is the hill to the west of the winery.  This tiny block is at the top of the hill. The soil is rock, gravel and clay from decomposed Dry Creek Conglomerate.  At this site the vines have low vigor and produce grapes that are distinctive, full and complex with the unique character that only counoise has to offer. 

The Wine:
 100% Estate grown counoise. Aged 12 months in neutral oak barrels. Reserved but deep character. A low alcohol (12.7%) European style wine that delivers subtle clear red fruit flavors. Drink now to 2026. 
Only 89 cases made from this low yield drought year .

Serve with: margarita pizza, crisp bread sticks wrapped with salame, pasta with peas and butter, vegetable soup, cream cheese on a cracker, tuna tartar, rotisserie chicken,  eggplant grilled until creamy, sautéed Dover sole, mushroom lasagna, spaghetti squash with pesto, ripe figs with proscuitto, carnitas taco