Vina Cobos house spotlight
Paul Hobbs is on camera for Wine Spectator, founding winemaker of Vina Cobos in Mendoza, the house behind this 2019 Chanares Estate Cabernet Franc.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2019 Vina Cobos Chanares Estate Cabernet Franc, Argentina (96JS) across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $95.09 and the average is $103.01. Our slash is $89.00.
2019 Vina Cobos Chanares Estate Cabernet Franc, Argentina (96JS)
Paul Hobbs' high Uco Valley Cabernet Franc from Chanares Estate, James Suckling 96, a 2019 you can cellar at eighty-nine dollars.
The 2019 Chanares Estate is 100 percent Cabernet Franc from 3,888 feet in Los Arboles: Andean herbs, pink pepper, gooseberry, mint, cinnamon, and a long savory close after 18 months in 50 percent new French oak, now $89.
High Uco Cabernet Franc, not a leftover Malbec
Chanares Estate sits at 3,888 feet in Los Arboles, Tunuyan, rocky calcareous soils, drip irrigation, a west-east slope for air. Paul Hobbs bottles 100 percent Cabernet Franc here, 18 months in French oak, 50 percent first use, unfined. The live sheet: Andean herbs, pink pepper, gooseberries, mint, cinnamon, angular and focused, fine tannins, a long finish. James Suckling 96: fresh herbs and currants with flowers, medium to full, firm fine tannins, an umami dark-fruit savory aftertaste, polished and fine, drink after 2025. This is the bottle that puts Hobbs' Uco Franc on a table at eighty-nine dollars.
The house
Paul Hobbs founded Vina Cobos in 1998 with Andrea Marchiori and Luis Barraud after years exploring Mendoza terroir.
The wine
100% Cabernet Franc, Chanares Estate. 18 months French oak, 50% new. Unfined. 14.5% ABV.
The scores
James Suckling 96: herbs, currants, flowers, umami, drink after 2025.
The drinker
Herb and currant first. Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Chimichurri steak or lamb.
Andean herbs and currant, then mint, pepper, and umami
The winery note is bright red with dark tones, then Andean herbs, pink pepper, gooseberries, mint, and cinnamon, angular and focused, fine tannins, concentration, a long finish. Suckling found fresh herbs and currants with flowers, medium to full, firm fine tannins, an umami dark-fruit savory aftertaste, polished and fine. Joaquin Hidalgo at Vinous, on this same 2019, found sour cherry, ash, blackcurrant, mint, and extremely fine-grained tannin. It is Franc, not Malbec in costume.
Thermal amplitude and low rainfall. Hobbs bottled this Franc to wait. Suckling said after 2025. We are in that window. Decant it.
Andean herbs, pink pepper, gooseberry, mint, cinnamon, currant, flowers.
Medium to full, 14.5% ABV, 18 months 50% new French oak, fine tannin.
Umami, savory length. Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
High calcareous Franc, then 18 months of French oak
Chanares is rocky, well-drained, sandy-loam with gravel, boulders, and calcareous sediment at 3,888 feet. Spur-pruned bilateral cordon, drip irrigation, northern exposure. Hand harvest, stainless ferment, 18 months in French oak, 50 percent first use, 50 percent second, bottled November 2020, unfined. That is why mint, herb, and currant sit on fine tannin instead of sweet oak.
14.5 percent alcohol. Fifty percent new oak is a frame for Franc perfume, not a toast costume.
Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. This 2019 is just entering its window.
Hobbs in Mendoza, a Franc from a named estate
Vina Cobos made its name on Malbec. Chanares Cabernet Franc is how that same cellar speaks a Loire grape at Andean altitude.
Paul Hobbs first saw Mendoza Malbec in 1988. Cobos launched in 1998. The 2011 Cobos Malbec later hit 100 points and reset the conversation.
Chanares Estate in Los Arboles is one of the house's Uco Grand Cru studies: altitude, limestone, air.
The 2019 Franc is that study in a glass: James Suckling 96, herbs, mint, and Andean altitude.
Fire, herbs, and a lamb chop
High-altitude Franc wants grilled beef, chimichurri, and a little herb. Skirt steak and rosemary lamb keep mint and pepper in the same key.
Two plates. One Argentine skirt steak with chimichurri. One rosemary garlic lamb chop. Both can take Chanares tannin and herbal lift.
Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Wide bowls. Air is for herb and currant.
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
Charred beef and chimichurri keep Uco Franc herbs and fruit in the same key.
Why it works: Beef fat rounds fine tannin. Parsley and garlic draw out mint, pepper, and floral sides.
View Recipe for grilled skirt steak with chimichurri (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops
Herb-crusted lamb for Cabernet Franc's currant, mint, and savory close.
Why it works: Lamb fat cushions tannin. Rosemary echoes Andean herbs and pink pepper.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic lamb chops (opens in a new tab)Put this Chanares Cabernet Franc in the cart
Paul Hobbs, Chanares Estate, James Suckling 96. Eighty-nine dollars against a $125 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is the Cobos bottle for a table that wants high Uco Franc, not a generic Mendoza slogan.
