Winemaker Notes
From the David Girard Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills, certified organically farmed. Made in the traditional carbonic method, 10 days of enzymatic fermentation and then a light foot tread to finish fermentation. This wine has no added S02 and was aged in neutral oak for 6 months before bottling. This is a delicate fruit forward wine, to be served chilled or cellar temperature. Native yeast fermentation, unfined/ unfiltered.
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.
As home to California’s highest altitude vineyards, El Dorado is also one of its oldest wine growing regions. When gold miners settled here in the late 1800s, many also planted vineyards and made wine to quench its local demand.
By 1870, El Dorado County, as part of the greater Sierra Foothills growing area, was among the largest wine producers in the state, behind only Los Angeles and Sonoma counties. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking and grape growing was totally abandoned. But some of these vines still exist today and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.
El Dorado has a diverse terrain with elevations ranging from 1,200 to 3,500 feet, creating countless mesoclimates for its vineyards. This diversity allows success with a wide range of grapes including whites like Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as for reds, Grenache, Syrah, Tempranillo, Barbera and especially, Zinfandel.
Soils tend to be fine-grained volcanic rock, shale and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nights are cool and the area typically gets ample precipitation in the form or rain or snow in the winter.