by Patrick Ogle
Groundwork Central Coast counoise 2015 is a light red wine from Sans Liege. The grape is usually found in Rhone blends and also in blends from California, the home of this wine. It is one of those grapes that I am sure many wine experts disdain as unworthy. It isn't.
I sniffed a couple of times before realizing it smells like a Beaujolais--not one of the bigger bodied Cru Beaujolais but the lighter, Beaujolais Village or even noveaus. This isn't terribly shocking because the wine is made, partly, using carbonic maceration, often used in Beaujolais. This is a method where they do not crush the grapes before fermentation. It is a longer story than that but suffice it to say the process can create a lighter, fruitier wine.
It doesn't really taste like a nouveau or any Beaujolais and it is really a bit lighter. This is a red wine you want to serve with a chill on it. It almost functions as a rose. The wine has some of the same fruit flavors you find in a rose: the strawberry, candied cherry but it also has some darker berries. There are sneaky, subtle tannins and a slightly bitter finish--which you detect if you serve the wine chilled but not TOO chilled. It has some complexity; it isn't just kool aid.
This should be your red wine of the summer and keep an eye on Sans Liege too. They create interesting wines.
Groundwork Central Coast counoise 2015 is a light red wine from Sans Liege. The grape is usually found in Rhone blends and also in blends from California, the home of this wine. It is one of those grapes that I am sure many wine experts disdain as unworthy. It isn't.
I sniffed a couple of times before realizing it smells like a Beaujolais--not one of the bigger bodied Cru Beaujolais but the lighter, Beaujolais Village or even noveaus. This isn't terribly shocking because the wine is made, partly, using carbonic maceration, often used in Beaujolais. This is a method where they do not crush the grapes before fermentation. It is a longer story than that but suffice it to say the process can create a lighter, fruitier wine.
It doesn't really taste like a nouveau or any Beaujolais and it is really a bit lighter. This is a red wine you want to serve with a chill on it. It almost functions as a rose. The wine has some of the same fruit flavors you find in a rose: the strawberry, candied cherry but it also has some darker berries. There are sneaky, subtle tannins and a slightly bitter finish--which you detect if you serve the wine chilled but not TOO chilled. It has some complexity; it isn't just kool aid.
This should be your red wine of the summer and keep an eye on Sans Liege too. They create interesting wines.
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