Corison Winery, December 28, 2012

www.corison.com

It was wine-club pick-up time for me, so I stopped in at Corison winery again.  (There is a more detailed review earlier in the April/May posts.)  My shipment this time was the prodigious 2008 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  The big disappointment for me was not being able to taste it.  The reason given was that nearly the entire production of 2008 Kronos was distributed to wine club members, leaving very little to sell to others in the tasting room.  (2008 suffered a late frost and a drought which greatly reduced the Napa Valley crops.)  So, I will have to accept these wines on blind faith – that and a small sample of the grapes from the vine just prior to harvest.  The fresh grapes tasted wonderful, and I trust the skills of Cathy Corison to craft these grapes into something special.  I’ll let you know in a few years. 

One thing I enjoy about tasting at Corison Winery is that they frequently offer a vertical tasting of their wines, giving you a good idea about how aging affects their wines.  During this visit I was offered a taste of different vintages of both of Corison’s Cabernets.  First, they offered the 2004, 2005, and 2009 Napa Valley Cabernets, followed by the 2000 and 2006 Kronos Cabernets.  I tasted only the 2004 and 2005 Napa Valley and the 2006 Kronos.  My favorite was the 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet (again) for its juicy red fruits, typical for the vintage.