2019 Benevolent Neglect Counoise California

Benevolent Neglect is not only the Wine Access team-favorite that produced one of our company’s most talked-about wines of 2019. It’s also one of the wineries that the eminent Jancis Robinson was referring to when she urged her readers to “forget three-digit prices and take advantage of the creativity of California’s new generation of wine producers.” And in our insatiable thirst for more Benevolent Neglect, we’ve discovered a lip-smacking, crowd-pleasing red—a wine so uncommonly pretty we’re certain it will sell out before even we’ve had our fill of it.

We’ve had to hound our own Eduardo Dingler to score some more Benevolent Neglect, and he finally delivered with the 2019 Counoise, the kind of blissfully pure, light, and crunchy red that we literally can’t get enough of—we had to place strict limits on our own employee purchases, but you lucky Wine Access members can grab all you want. But be warned: Our $22 price is not going to do us any favors on the stay-in-stock front.

We’d welcome this wine’s lively pale ruby hue in our glass to start every evening if we could. Counoise is best known as one of the 13 grapes legally allowed to go into Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and we think Benevolent Neglect’s delightfully fresh single-varietal version will thrill drinkers of Pinot Noir and juicy Grenache, dazzling with its notes of bramble and dried rose petal accentuated with savory black pepper and Chinese spice. 

Beautifully focused, with bright primary red cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, it’s got mouthwatering acidity, and impressive linear tension. Secondary hints of fresh-picked herbs, tobacco leaf, and minerally granite remain lifted throughout, while a lovely note of spiced orange peel carries the finish.

After first discovering Benevolent Neglect at Michelin three-star SingleThread in Healdsburg last year, we told you we’d found the #1 Syrah we could possibly recommend to you. Placing a wine at thetop of our list isn’t something we do lightly, but we’re ready to do it again with this 2019 Counoise.

Made by the same 100-point winemaking talent behind Diamond Mountain’s $400+ Seaver Vineyards, winemaker Matt Nagy learned from the best under Napa legends Thomas Rivers Brown and Steve Matthiasson. We (through Eduardo) had been nagging Matt for more bottles all year to make sure we were first in line for whatever he had next, and this ethereal 2019 Counoise is everything we’d hoped for.

The name Benevolent Neglect summarizes the ethos behind Matt’s winemaking style. His take on his organic grapes is almost an anti-take, involving as little intervention as possible in the cellar. He sources the majority of his Counoise grapes from an organic vineyard in Yolo County (which is also Matthiasson’s secret source for under-the-radar grapes), while the high-toned balance is from the famed Alder Springs Vineyard in the deep, cool-climate reaches of northern Mendocino.

Refraining from additives or substitutes allows the vineyard to speak for itself, showcasing the wine’s brilliant floral aromatics, floral cherry notes, and potent layers of herbs and spice.

Benevolent Neglect’s latest red charmed the pants off us once again, much as its predecessor did the sommeliers at SingleThread and across the pond at iconic English eateries The Clove Club and Fat Duck (more Michelin stars). As far as the Counoise goes, Matt told us that London’s famous wine bar Noble Rot would buy his entire production if they could (though we’d put up a fight).

The international clamor for these wines makes sense. While Benevolent Neglect is not submitted for scores in the US, Britain’s top two critics have fallen hard for it: Jancis Robinson included Matt’s wines in her piece “The State of California,” in which she urged her readers to “forget three-digit prices and take advantage of the creativity of California’s new generation of wine producers.” Dr. Jamie Goode flipped specifically for the Counoise, asking, “What’s not to like in this delicious, joyful, really lovely wine?”

With Wine Access members clamoring for more Benevolent Neglect, we expect today’s cases to go fast—even faster than the Syrah. If you love crisp, bright, amazingly drinkable reds, we recommend quick action. You won’t regret it.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 12.20%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• % Counoise
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Stelvin