Cosentino Winery

Cosentino Winery is well worth a visit if you like Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Merlot or very nice Cabernet Sauvignons. They are in a lovely winery building covered with ivy, the first winery on the left on Highway 29 as you drive toward St. Helena from Yountville, just past the well known Mustards Grill.  Cosentino Winery was built in 1990, and this prime location makes them very popular, especially on weekends and during the summer.  Open to the public without an appointment, they offered two tasting options at the time of our visit. Check their website or call them for current information regarding tasting hours and options offered.

For our tasting at Cosentino Winery one of us had the Reserve Flight ($20) and the other had the Vintage Flight ($10).  Each flight consisted of four tastings. The Vintage Flight was composed of the Cosentino 2008 Chardonnay, Cosentino 2007  "The Franc", Cosentino 2008 Sangiovese and Cosentino 2008 Cigarzin. Prices range from only $20 to $24 (even less for wine club members.)  I thought the 2008 Sangiovese at $20 was especially good and well worth the money.  

The Reserve Flight was a significant step up and is what we would recommend, unless you want to split two flights as we did. The Cosentino 2007 Secret Clone Chardonnay at $40 was a nice, dry, chardonnay with good minerality and very good balance. I thought the Cosentino 2006 Reserve Merlot at $50 was quite good, light to medium bodied with nice tannins.  At $60 a bottle the Cosentino 2006 Winemaster Cabernet Sauvignon was the favorite for both of us.  It was a delightful Cabernet Sauvignon, with  a nice cherry aroma followed by soft tannins, and smooth cherry like fruit.  It was well balanced and very drinkable now, and would cost only $48 if you were a wine club member. We highly recommend it.  The Cosentino 2006 Secret Clone Cabernet Sauvignon was $100 and had nice, well integrated tannins and very good balance.  It is still young, though, and I would love to try it in a few years when it has further time to develop.

In addition to a lovely building, very pleasant tasting room and excellent wines, we found the service at Cosentino Winery to be outstanding.  It is easy to find and well worth a visit as is nearby Mustards Grill. Two thumbs up!

Cosentino Winery
7415 St. Helena Hwy
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-1220

Visited 9/10/2011