Cosentino Winery
Franc
Cabernet Franc
California
Woodbridge, California, USA
2007
14.6%
$14.99 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX
Color: Deep ruby
Nose: Cherry, cinnamon, Slim Jim, cream, pie crust
Body: Full
Front: Cherry
Middle: Licorice, raspberry
Back: Cigar wrapper, coffee, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
This is a two-dimensional wine, but both dimensions are good. The first is the scent: lovely, baked meat pie with fruit on top odors. The second dimension is the taste, firm tannins and fruit and a little darkness. Neither changes much as the wine is open. If the fruit isn't largely Lodi and Paso-area, I'll be shocked, given the taste profile of this wine. But it's good with food--an artichoke-mozzarella-olive-tomato thing with a melon and prosciutto main course, tonight. (They say don't ever grocery shop when you're hungry; if you grocery shop right after exhausting yourself athletically in 105-degree weather, it will equally spin things... towards the uncooked!)
Cabernet Franc one of my favorite varietals, but I haven't sought it out often because so few people will drink it with me. The oenorati tell me that it's less tannic than Cabernet Sauvignon, to which I say, it depends on how it's made and where it's grown. It makes some drinkers make bitter beer face, and that is enough evidence for me. The other Cab Francs I've got are earnestly aging, to lose a little more of that dry bite and gain a bit of complexity; I don't think this one will age much, so go for it now, with some cheese!
