Corison Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Winemaker Notes
2018 is the darkest, inkiest vintage in my memory, a result of an extremely long, cool ripening season with cold nights. Happily, natural acidity persists during ripening under these conditions and wildly complex flavors and aromas result. As the weather was perfect at flowering, we had a bumper crop of deliciousness, making everyone happy.
Violet and dried rose perfume jumps out of the glass along with tart cherry, blueberry, plum and cassis fruit. Flavors follow with cocoa and refreshing minerality joining the party with a tantalizing white pepper note for interest. Signature velvety tannins add texture and a gentle grip to complete the picture.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Perennially a yardstick of balance and grace, Cathy Corison’s St. Helena Cabernet admirably sums up the best that the 2018 vintage has to offer: power, clarity and poise. Delicate and deft aromas of red plums and damp soil. The palate is silky and fine, with a zesty, high-toned quality through the finish.
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James Suckling
Aromas of currants, walnuts, stones and berries follow through to a full body with firm, layered tannins and a pretty finish. Lovely polish to this. Needs a year or two to come completely together, but already delicious. Try after 2021.
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Wine Spectator
Delightfully fresh in feel, with Damson plum, cherry paste and red licorice notes that come across as bright and engaging, while violet and anise details chime through. Ample length and energy, with fruit in reserve, all with a fun, almost care-free feel thanks to its relatively toast-free finish. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Cathy Corison's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon remains true to her own stylistic bent, weighing in at 13.8%. Hints of tobacco and crushed stone accent cassis, with minimal wood influence on the nose, despite it being aged 20 months in 50% new French oak. Medium to full-bodied, it's concentrated, silky, long and elegant, a balanced, refreshing alternative to much of what Napa has to offer these days.
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Jeb Dunnuck
I always love the wines from Cathy Corison, and 2018 is a vintage that certainly plays to her strengths with its classic, elegant style. Looking at her 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, this medium ruby/purple-colored effort offers an old school bouquet of red and black currants, menthol, spring flowers, and violets to go with a medium-bodied, elegant style on the palate. It’s not a blockbuster, but it offers medium-bodied richness, terrific overall balance, seamless tannins, and a great finish. Drink this classic, balanced, satisfying Cabernet from Corison over the coming 15 years or so.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Light on muscle but long on style, the latest from Corison runs a predictable course that should be familiar to all fans of the winery. It aims successfully for finesse and steers well away from the lavishly oaked, high-ripeness, blockbuster model favored by a good many Cabernet makers. Look elsewhere if extravagance and brute strength are what you seek, but this is a deliberate, very carefully measured wine that hits the mark smartly as far as keen varietal identity goes, and it capably proves that richness and grace are not mutually exclusive.
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Wine & Spirits
Cathy Corison’s cabernets are often lighter in body than many of her neighbors’ wines. This vintage follows that elegant style, though with harder edges to the tannins than in recent releases. With air, it sheds its plum-skin bitterness as the fruit fills out, suggesting it needs bottle age to show itself more completely
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Corison Winery is a small family farm producing delicious Cabernet Sauvignons that speak of place. Over three decades, Cathy Corison and William Martin have built a special home to celebrate the best of their little corner of the world, benchland in the heart of the Napa Valley. Known for power and elegance, Corison wines are balanced to grace the table and are recognized throughout the world for their longevity and consistency.
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 that speaks of place. These well-drained alluvial soils had a long history of producing balanced, age-worthy, world-class wines, reaching back to the late 19th century. In her early years everything was done with smoke and mirrors, using purchased fruit and space in others’ wineries.
In 1995, with the purchase of Kronos Vineyard, a property that had been a farm for over a century, there was finally an estate vineyard and a place to build a winery. In the spring of 1999, they broke ground to build their stately Victorian-style winery barn, designed by Cathy’s husband, William Martin. The second estate vineyard, Sunbasket, a stone’s throw from the winery, was purchased in 2015 after sourcing it for over 25 years.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.