Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Groundwork Counoise takes a page out of the cellars in the Rhône Valley. TASTING NOTES: This red wine shines with aromas and flavors of pomegranate and dried earth. Try it with oven-roasted short ribs. (Tasted: August 15, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
Counoise shows a light color, and characteristics of plum and cherry fruit, along with anise, licorice and pepper. It is a natural pairing to foods like lamb, duck, insalata niçoise, jambalaya or lentil stew. It is most often found in the southern Rhône Valley, where when blended, balance the strong tannins and high alcohol of Syrah. A few small-production vignerons make high quality single varietal Counoise in France as well.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.