I’m drinking a 2006 McCrea Cellars Counoise from Washington. Tastes fantastic, like tangy raspberry jam. (But not “jammy,” if you will). Enough acid to cut right through a piece of pork belly. Closest cousin would be some of the better Washington grenaches I’ve had, like Maison Bleue or Syncline. No complaints at a low $20-something price tag.
This would appeal to both nerds and the general drinker, I think. Any reason we don’t see more of this stuff as a standalone grape? Hard to grow, maybe? Harder to sell and market, I’m sure.
I’m sure it’s the latter. The vast majority of wine drinkers will drink Chard, CS, Merlot, PG, SB (maybe) and PN (less maybe). New is scary to most when it comes to wine. For me, new is scary for anything except wine. 
It’s a shame as Doug (Mccrea) used to be a big presence in wine shops in our WA market, he seems to have fallen by the wayside. He started a label dedicated to Spanish varieties. I liked his Syrah quit a bit, he was one of the first in Washington to do things like Grenache, Viognier, Syrah, tempranillo 20 years ago when the grapes were almost never made on their own here in the NW. he was also one to experiment with different oak treatments and styles, i.e. the 'orlearns was more rhon-ish as to where his 'Amerique was an Aussie fruit bomb.
I think your spot on with Counoise being a very esoteric name even more so it has a flavor profile that might stretch the average consumer a little.
I followed Doug’s wines from the very start, when he first showed long ago at HdR. Haven’t seem him in a fair number of yrs.
My understanding is that Doug is no longer involved w/ McCrea and the wnry was taken over by SusanNeel.
Tom
Tablas Creek makes it some years but it typically is a blender. Theirs reminds me of dry strawberry wine.
The name sounds like it must mean something dirty in SOME language, no? Could be a marketing hook…
As coincidence has it, I was talking to Doug McCrea yesterday as he was pouring his Salida wines at Esquin.
He mentioned liking Counoise as a blending grape to boost the acidity, something I hate to say his wines often lack. Cinsault is a similar grape that has an attractive bright raspberry profile without a lot of dimensionality. Cinsault shows up a bit as a single grape wine, even in France.
A little off topic. Doug mentioned that he is going to be releasing a 100% Graciano next year. That is something I don’t recall seeing in from the US. He had an over-ripe Albarino open, unfortunately very low acidity. Also a Tempranillo, Garnacha, Monestrell blend that showed some brett, a straight Tempranillo, and a plummy yet attractive Tempranillo/Malbec blend. None said “buy me”.
He’s an engaging guy to talk to. I didn’t realize that he had been a professional musician. We talked some about Ligeti.
P Hickner
Peter,
Both Louisa Sawyer-Lindquist/Verdad and Bokisch make a Graciano. And Ann Kramer has some planted up on her ShakeRidgeVnyd in Amador.
The Verdad is really quite nice w/ a bit of a tannic bite to it.
Glad to hear that Doug is still doing his thing…though now w/ Spanish grapes I gather.
Tom
This would appeal to both nerds and the general drinker, I think. Any reason we don’t see more of this stuff as a standalone grape?
We don’t see it because in the red hierarchy, Cab Sauv is king, Merlot a second, Pinot Noir the grape that wink wink “real” connoisseurs love, and Zin for the unsophisticated crowd. You have to sell the stuff after all, and Americans love to drink monovarietal wines and the foregoing is basically the list the mass market will buy.
Even Syrah is a harder sell.
And Counoise?
Forget it.
But there are a few bottlings in Washington and elsewhere and I think it’s great that people are looking at those kinds of grapes. By “those kinds” I mean not Cab/Merlot/PN/Zin. There’s no reason to expect that we can’t find a place in this huge country where some “minor” blending grape can become a real star. Argentina did it with Malbec and in fact, California did it to some degree with Petite Sirah - it’s the best wine in the Turley lineup IMHO.
Graciano for example, isn’t particularly delicious in Rioja but it does add something to a blend. However, that’s not to say that the performance in Rioja is the one and only and that it can’t behave differently elsewhere.
In any event, if you’re a small winemaker with an independent income or source of wealth, you can do stuff like Counoise. Otherwise, you better have a nice label, a cheap price, and a good marketing campaign.
Twisted Oak also makes a Graciano.
Peter,
Isn’t/wasn’t Susan Doug’s wife?
I remember calling the winery ordering wine for our shop and she was always the contact, if I’m thinking of the right Susan…
This is evidently not up to date, but gives some history, inc. the Counoise planting.
http://www.mccreacellars.com/McPAbout.html
P Hickner
Interesting, I always thought Susan was his wife, oops…
Did he sell the winery to her?
I wonder how non-French speaking Americans would pronounce this grape? 
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I have tasted it seperately now and then in Southern France, but it rarely is as good and interesting as the final blends … so no real reason to bottle it on its own.
Pierce Ranch and Quinta Cruz make good Graciano, too.
Broc Cellars does Counoise.
Some winery Tom Hill follows did a tiny Counoise/Cinsault coferment this year. Maybe he’ll be the first to post notes…
To Greg’s point - yes, these (varieties uncommon in the U.S.) are niche wines that would have trouble finding mainstream customers. That severely limits production volume. But there are a number of wineries doing some pretty interesting stuff, with good results, and finding a market for it.
Yep. And I support them. I bought Ribera’s Counoise. Also the Tempranillo that Seven Hills put out, which was actually quite good. They stopped doing it unfortunately.
BTW, if anyone checked Wine Woot, they have some US Tempranillos for a few days.
Yup…the Donkey&Goat 5/13: 47% Grenache/21% Syrah/16% Mourv/10% Counoise/6% Cinsault
Not yet tasted it.
Tom
I had my first Counoise a couple weeks ago (Robert Ramsay) and really enjoyed it. As far as the question about how a non-French speaker would pronounce it goes, well, suffice it to say I had to ask.
Monpertuis makes a nice stand alone but price is what sweetens the deal, WS avg. $14.