2006 Cosentino Winery The Franc

Mission Codename: The return of The Man

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Wine Spies Operatives love a great Cabernet Franc, but they also love a great wine at a great price. Send Agent Red to (re)infiltrate Cosentino Winery to investigate and retrieve their great FRANC Cabernet Franc – a wine with an exceptional QPR

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Cosentino Winery

Wine Subject: 2006 FRANC – Cabernet Franc

Winemaker: Mitch Cosentino

Winery Backgrounder: We had our sights squarely set on the Cosentino Winery since before we officially founded The Wine Spies organization. Agent Red’s very favorite wine was made by Mitch Cosentino, but the winery proved elusive. It too a long time to infiltrate the winery, but Agent Red’s perseverance paid off. Today, he brings you an outstanding Cabernet Franc made by Mitch himself. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and mission report below.

Varietal Backgrounder: Cabernet Franc is one of Agent Red’s favorite red varietals. Perhaps this is because its flavors are often rich, layered, complex and elegant. Or, perhaps he loves Cabernet Franc so much because it pairs so exceptionally with many different foods. One of the most notable things about Cabernet Franc is the fact that finding excellent examples can be very difficult. This explains why we have not shown a Cab Franc here in some time. Agent Red recently scoured the Napa Valley to bring you today’s exceptional selection from our old friends at Cosentino. Red Red’s tasting notes and mission report below

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – A stunning deep ruby red with a perfectly clear heart of slightly darker pure ruby. The gorgeous color of the wine is concentrated, right out to the edges of the glass, where it falls off suddenly to a shimmering pink. The wine has a springy and speedy surface that settles fast after swirling. When it settles, it leaves behind perfectly-spaced skinny legs that rocket down the glass

Smell – Brightly aromatic and highly perfumed with blackberry, black currant, plum, dried violet, tomato stem, damp forest floor with follow-on notes of clove, soft cedar and softest green tobacco

Feel – Soft and round at entry, with a medium weight. The wine leads off smooth and velvety, then settles in all around the mouth, gripping down all a around the mouth, all at once

Taste – A beautiful balance of bright fruit, dark fruit and fresh herbal characteristics. Ripe flavors include dark cherry, plum, smoky blackberry, clove, cranberry, fresh cut garden herbs and soft cedar – all of which work together in delicate harmony

Finish – Long and dusky with smoked fruit flavors at first, then more sweet and, finally tart with herbs at the end, with hints of minerality and a soft dryness that invites further exploration

Conclusion – You know that this Wine Spy goes crazy for Cabernet Franc. Today’s young Franc is a beautiful example of the wine, especially in its price range. At today’s price, you would be hard pressed to find a Franc with this much character and pizazz. With robust yet restrained flavors, big aromatics and a fun feel, this Wine Spies World Exclusive is a great buy. I believe that Cabernet Franc is the most universally pairable wine in the world and I have enjoyed this particular wine with grilled summer veggies, sauteed tofu with wild rice, scrambled eggs and more. The wine worked with each of these somewhat unorthodox pairings! Be sure to stock up on this budget-minded Cabernet Franc, you’ll want some to enjoy now, and some to cellar over the next few years. Also, decant for at least 30 minutes to realize the full potential of the wine.

Mission Report:

Cosentino Winery has two important distinctions; First, my favorite wine of all time was made by Mitch Cosentino, head of winemaking for the winery. Second, the Cosentino Winery was the most elusive and difficult to bring into the Wine Spies fold.

I first fell in love with Cosentino wines while on a (very rare for me) vacation. Agent Sparkle and I had just wrapped up a mission in Central America and, with a few days left before we were due to report back in, we decided to head to Costa Rica.

Once checked in to our hotel, Hotel Casa Marella, we decided to go for a swim in the infinity pool. The pool, which overlooked the Pacific Ocean, offered a spectacular view of the ocean and the town below. I was in heaven.

Heaven got even better when Agent Sparkle arrived, a bottle of wine in hand, and a giant smile on her face. It was twilight, so I could not make out the label. She opened the bottle, poured and handed me a glass. I took it eagerly.

On inhaling the wine, I knew that it was not a Chilean wine (the most common wine found in Costa Rica). I also knew that it was an exceptional wine, maybe even a California wine. One sip, and the heaven I was in got even better.

“What’s this,” I asked.

“This? Oh, its just that bottle of Cosentino we’ve been saving”

I was shocked, but very pleasantly surprised. How had she managed to smuggle this bottle along on this trip? Had she sent it ahead? That did not make sense, as this part of our trip was improvised.

Rather than press her for details, I simply enjoyed the wine. Drinking wine in a swimming pool overlooking the ocean is a wonderful thing to do. Add a Cosentino wine and the wonderful becomes far more so!

Getting back to how difficult it was to infiltrate Cosentio, I will say that it the delay may have just come down to poor spy-craft. I was just knocking on the wrong doors at the winery. For nearly two years.

So, dear Operative, this mission report is really my Mea Culpa. I did a bad job and it took me way too long to bring you a Cosentino wine. This mission is also my way of making it up to you! Today’s Zinfandel, made by master winemaker, Mitch Cosentino, is a great wine at a remarkable price.

The winery loves what we Wine Spies are up to and they allowed us special access to their wine archives. We pulled out today’s wine for you as the first of what we expect to be a handful of additional Cosentio wines that we’ll bring you this year.

A special thanks to Agent S2 (our new inside man at the winery) and to Mitch Cosentino for hosting us at our private tasting recently. It was great fun to hang out with you both – and to listen to Mitch tell us everything about wine, growing and winemaking. We learned a ton and we loved drinking through your wines with you!

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of Cosentino Winery can be seen in this satellite photo.