2007 Cosentino Winery Estate Gewurztraminer

Mission Codename: A Spicy Endeavor

Operative: Agent White

Objective: Revisit Cosentino Winery and retrieve a great Gewürztraminer perfect for the fall holidays.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Cosentino Winery

Wine Subject: 2007 Estate Gewürztraminer

Winemaker: Mitch Cosentino

Backgrounder:

Gewürztraminer, perhaps one of the most distinctive white aromatic varietals is well known for its low acidity and characteristic spiciness, from which it derives its name. This spiciness comes from the terpenes found in the grape’s skins. At home in France’s Alsace region, Gewürztraminer also finds itself in many wine regions around the globe.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Glistening clear pale straw yellow in color with a slightly thicker viscosity and appearance. When swirled, this springy wine leaves behind thinly spaced thin legs that race down to the wine below.

Smell – Very aromatic with scents of sweet orange blossom honey, flint and mineral spice and soft rose petals over a bright, youthful and fresh lychee nut fruit component.

Feel – Smooth and dry, with the signature spice kick, this medium- to full-bodied white has a good structure over balanced acidity that holds the flavors long into the finish.

Taste – Fresh and crisp lychee and tart passion fruit flavors that are immediately followed by tangy spice kick. Hints of sweet honey, floral rose petals and minerality also add complexity.

Finish – Clean lingering with its signature spice and a touch of minerality that frames the tart and fresh fruit and honey flavors just long enough to invite another sip.

Conclusion – The 2007 Cosentino Estate Gewürztraminer is a lovely aromatic white wine with a lovely spice and balanced acidity that makes this wine a perfect pairing for spicy food. We enjoyed this wine with Chinese Kung Pao but would also recommend it with spicy buffalo wings and a fall football game. Don’t forget – Thanksgiving is coming and Gewürztraminer is the perfect compliment to your feast!

Mission Report:

What follows is Agent Red’s report on Cosentino, one of his favorite wineries of all time:

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 X 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 X 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.