PERFECT PALATE

Hours of Operation: Open Daily By Appointment 10:00am – 5:00pm

Wine Corison Winery Cathy Corison, the first woman Winemaker-Proprietor in the

Napa Valley, produces two Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, hand-crafted without compromise. Her wines are powerful and elegant at the same time, have a sense of place and are structured to grace the table and enjoy a long, distinguished life. She sources some of the finest vineyards in the Napa Valley, all located on classic benchland between Rutherford and St. Helena, where deep, stony alluvial soils provide the ideal growing conditions for the Cabernet vine. These vines regularly produce some of the most concentrated and superbly ripened fruit anywhere. Kronos Vineyard, the estate vineyard, surrounds the winery on all four sides. Cathy just celebrated the release of her 25th vintage, the 2011 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

For the Corison Cabernet Sauvignon, her concept is to make a complex wine by taking advantage of the natural range of flavors possible in Cabernet Sauvignon grown on different sites. Rutherford produces California classics with deep plum, black cherry, and blueberry fruit with soft, ripe structure. St. Helena’s western edge is renowned for wines of unrivaled blackberry and cassis concentration and notable natural acidity. Kronos Vineyard, on the other hand, is the expression each year of a specific place; the French call this terroir.

Corison Cabernets are juicy with fruit and hints of violets, olives, and spice and are moderate in alcohol. Fresh and lively on the palate, they are supple and decidedly drinkable as young wines, but structured for decades of rewarding bottle development. Half of the small French oak barrels used to age each vintage are new each year, sourced from several coopers and various forests situated in the center of France.

Photos Courtesy of: Corison Winery

Corison’s academic preparation included a B.A. in Biology from Pomona College in Claremont, CA and an M.S. in Enology from U.C. Davis. Decades of winemaking for others, including Chappellet Vineyard, Staglin Family Winery, Long Meadow Ranch, and York Creek Vineyards, left her eager to express her own winemaking voice. She is guided by her belief that winemaking and wine appreciation are a timeless, creative celebration of life.

The images on the label are very old life symbols, one based on rain and the other on a sprouting seed. They embellish vases excavated from the site of one of the earliest European cultures to cultivate grapes and make wine over 7,000 years ago.

26 OFF THE EASEL MAGAZINE – SPRING 2016

Corison Winery 987 St. Helena Highway, St. Helena, CA 94574

Winery (707) 963-0826 Fax (707) 963-4906 www.corison.com visit@corison.com