Broc Cellars Eaglepoint Ranch Counoise 2016

Counoise is almost exclusively a blending grape in the southern Rhone, where it contributes acidity and spice to Chateauneuf-du-Pape and other appellations. This 2016 bottling from Broc Cellars is a rare single-varietal expression, sourced from Eaglepoint Ranch in Mendocino County. Winemaker Chris Brockway originally planned to blend it but found the site's fruit compelling enough to bottle on its own.

Eaglepoint Ranch sits at 1,800 feet elevation on the Mayacamas Mountain Range east of Ukiah. The Counoise block, roughly 4 acres, was planted in 2007 from clonal material sourced from Tablas Creek. Soils are thin mountain decomposed sandstone, iron-rich, rocky, and low in nutrients, with veins of red loam that keep yields naturally in check. Temperatures run 5 to 10 degrees cooler than Mendocino's valley floor, extending hang time and preserving acidity. The vineyard is CCOF-certified organic and farmed without pesticides or herbicides.

In the cellar, Broc's approach is consistent across all wines: grapes are whole-cluster fermented spontaneously with native yeasts, basket pressed, and bottled with little to no added sulfur. No commercial yeasts, nutrients, enzymes, or tannins are added at any stage. Alcohol comes in at 13.3%, on the moderate end for a California red.

The result is a medium-bodied red that sits outside easy category comparisons. It shows raspberry, red cherry, and plum with white pepper on the finish, wet-clay tannins, and the kind of vibrant acidity that makes it a genuinely good food wine.