Corison Wines

If you are looking for a real, working, family-owned winery making first-class Cabernet Sauvignon, make an appointment at Corison Wines. Their large, Victorian-style barn-like structure sits in the middle of their famed Kronos Vineyard. A tasting table is located in the barrel room and has no adornments save its glass top, a handful of bread samples and the two wine-stained barrels supporting it. The concrete floors are strictly utilitarian. The wine, however, is anything but.

The estate vines of Kronos Vineyard are some of the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyards in the Napa Valley. Growing on gravelly loam soils, the gnarly old veterans produce scant yields of rare concentration and refinement. These benchland vineyards are located between Rutherford and St. Helena, where deep, stony alluvial soils promote the ideal growing conditions for the Cabernet vine.

The wines are noted for their consistency and balance. The winemaking style is to make wine that is powerful yet elegant at the same time. Owner and winemaker Cathy Corison uses very traditional methods, using only small French oak barrels sourced from several different forests for complexity. She explains, “It is my job to let the vineyards speak.”

There is a VIP personalized tour available, as well as a special sit-down tasting of wines from their library that has bottles from as far back as the 1987 vintage. These are paired with small bites of food and are offered Fridays at 10 am by appointment. The fee is $25. The winery’s production is 80 percent Cabernet, with Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Merlot rounding out their list.