Looks like @Adam_Frisch released his spring/summer wines today.
There appears to be two new wines, the Cunoise* (part of the Milk Fed series) and a different White Zinfandel, Eserra. Bund, Lanterna, and Obie return, along with La Malinche under a new name: Marina.
I had the pleasure of trying the Marina and Obie when Adam visited Chicago in February. If you’re a fan of his previous Missions, you’ll certainly enjoy Marina, though it’s a bit bigger than in years past. As the Obie was filtered this year, it was less rustic and cleaner on the palate.
I’ve liked the few experiences I’ve had with it. Domaine Monpertuis made a standalone bottling that was affordable and could age. Piaugier in Sablet makes a good one from old vines. I also like one I had from Keep, a domestic producer. Juicy raspberry and orange peel notes.
Yes, TTB did push back on Cunoise spelling. Just got it re-approved after changing to Counoise, which is one of the reasons the shipments won’t go out until mid-May because that sent it back in the queue at printers…
At Hospice du Rhone last year, my next door neighbor was Groundwork and they had a Counoise on display. Gave me a bottle to take home and it was exceptional - gave it 93pts on CT. Just a great little wine. The kind of wine that never gets high scores by critics because it’s light, but is so deserving (big sledgehammers still get all the high scores, nothing has changed since Parker).
My Counoise is a one-off in the limited edition series, so hopefully people will enjoy it. Very simply made, destemmed, put in neutral oak to preserve the freshness. A summer wine that has enough depth to extend into fall, I feel.
I’ve also adapted a more dynamic pricing model for this release. For the last 5 years I’ve not wanted to play regional favorites, so I priced pretty much all my wines around $29-35 to cover our costs, despite some of my Santa Barbara vineyards being 3-4 times more expensive to work with. But, after a lot of talks with myself and my wife, I think it’s better I pass along some of the savings I can get from certain vineyards to the customer. I resisted this simply because it reinforces the old stereotypes of certain regions or vineyards being “lesser” or “better” than others (which is BS, by the way, but that’s another discussion), but at the same time we are entering a recession and by passing the lower costs on I can make a wine from a less costly region fit better to a wine budget (hopefully), then charge a bit more for the expensive regions/vineyards/farming. Seems fair.
I haven’t had the chance to try any of Adam’s wines, but his website and bottle designs are so clean. I like the aesthetic A LOT and need to try the wines. I hate wax capsules, but I’ll give him a pass as they just fit.
It wouldn’t cash flow for any wineries as it’s difficult to ship to SD and very limited customer base, but I wish more wineries did so.
If memory serves, my sole experience with a stand-alone Counoise was from McCrea Cellars. They were solid wines, though all of his reds were low in acidity, richly textured, and well-oaked.
Doug McCrea was pivotal in establishing Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, etc, in Washington. After reading this blog entry, it appears he is no longer associated with the winery.
Tasting notes of Sabelli-Frisch’s bottlings give me the impression that everything is deftly made and delightful to drink.
I find his capsules to be on the thinner side and pretty manageable without having to hack away over a garbage can. When I was in Carmel* Valley, I asked the wine room rep at I. Brand & Family how she deals with opening so many with wax capsules and she showed me her trick: using your foil cutter or screw, perforate a circle at the top at the cork edge and then just remove the cork normally.
Speaking of Counoise, last night we opened a 2017 Domaine de Piaugier Cote du Rhone Sablet Ténébi. I have never in my life had a Counoise that tasted like this. This was dark, plummy, very rich, low tannins, with a distinct sweetness on palate. As if someone had poured a Ripasso into a bottle of Syrah. Very strange wine. Didn’t hate it completely, just really didn’t compute in my mind, because the C’s I’ve had have all been light, fresh and vibrant summer wines.
I’m down for two cases (so far) of Adam’s “menagerie of misfit varietal wines”.
Seriously, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve had so far, which is I think nearly everything under this label. And so have my wine geek friends. Wholeheartedly recommended!
PS I love the label style (though not the weight of the glass).
I am down just for a case myself. If the Tinta Cau and Mission are any indication, these are going to be great once September hits and SF has our typical Indian Summer
