Counoise is a dark-skinned

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

grown primarily in the

Rhône valley The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea ( Gu ...

region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Counoise is also grown in California, Texas, New Jersey, and Washington. Counoise adds a peppery note and good acidity to a blended red wine, but does not have much depth of colour or

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' Harcourt Books 2001 There were of Counoise in France in 2000. Counoise is one of the grapes allowed into the blend of

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The village lies about to the east of the Rhône and north of the town of Avignon. A ruined medieval castle s ...

wine. In 2004 only 0.5% of the

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

's area was planted with Counoise. Some producers who favour the variety use about 5% of it in their blends, and those account for most of the plantings. One such producer is

Château de Beaucastel A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

, which is noted for using all the 13 allowed varieties.

Counoise and Aubun

Counoise is easily confused with Aubun, because of a large similarity in the vineyards. Counoise and Aubun were also grown mixed in a

field blend Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

in some older vineyards. However, Counoise is considered to be a grape of higher quality, while Aubun has a reputation for giving simpler wines.

Synonyms

Synonyms for Counoise include Aubon, Caula, Conese, Connoges, Connoise, Couneso, Counoise noir, Counoiso, Counoueiso, Damas noir, Grosse Rogettaz, Guenoise, Moustardier, Cow Noise, Quennoise. Counoise is also listed as a synonym for Aubun, most likely due to confusion between the two in the vineyard.Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Aubun
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910195159/http://www.vivc.de/datasheet/dataResult.php?data=761 , date=September 10, 2014 , accessed on June 18, 2008

References

Red wine grape varieties