Overview

Winegrower Cathy Corison produces artisanal, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon that speaks of place, sourcing great benchland vineyards between Rutherford and St. Helena.

In 1987, Cathy Corison began to purchase great Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from prime benchland vineyards between Rutherford and St. Helena, intent on making powerful and elegant Cabernet Sauvignon. These well-drained alluvial soils had a long history of producing balanced, age-worthy, world-class wines, reaching back to the late 19th century, Kronos Vineyard is one of the last old Cabernet vineyards in the Napa Valley. Planted in 1971 on St. George rootstock, which is completely resistant to Phylloxera, the gnarly, vines are almost 50 years old. Yields are pitifully low at 1.25 tons/acre, but the singular wine it produces proves it to be one of the great Cabernet vineyards of the world. These old vines yield concentrated, complex, inky, structured, aromatic wines at very moderate alcohols. Farmed sustainably from the beginning, these deep-rooted veterans sail through any weather.

Cabernet Sauvignon makes powerful wine no matter where, or how, it grows. Careful canopy management, requiring meticulous handwork throughout the growing season, yields fully ripe fruit that retains snappy natural acidity at moderate sugars. Ample, velvety tannins give the wines gentle grip and, combined with good acidity, allow the wines to grace the table and enjoy remarkable longevity. Great grapes make great wine and at Corison winemaking is largely non-interventionist, with gentleness at every step. Everything is geared toward getting all the goodness out of the grapes and leaving anything undesirable behind.

When fermentation is complete, the wines go down to small French oak barrels to spend the next 20 months undergoing the magical alchemy that is wine ageing.