TN: Corra Vertical 04-06

WINE TALK
1

This was a very interesting tasting for me as I have never tried the 05 and 06 vintages, but have bought them based on the 04. Different fruit so I was interested to see how they differed. The 04 is clearly the most fruit forward and most approachable right now. The 05 should eventually round into form and is a great effort. The 06 is a good, not great wine, that should drink well over the next decade. I thought there was a pretty clear style change (either intentional or a result of the sourced fruit) between the 04 and 05 vintages.

CORRA VERTICAL 04-06 - McClure House - San Diego (12/27/2009)

We were offered the Corra Gift Pack this past November and decided to order one and conduct a tasting of all three. It was a very interesting exercise as the fruit was sourced from different vineyards. The 04 is an absolutely decadent effort but the 05 may outlast it and overtake it in terms of quality. Only time will tell…

  • 2004 Corra Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Brought the goods again. Absolutely decadent. Big nose of chocolate covered cherry, mocha, cedar, menthol and a hint of darker fruit. After some time in the glass, there is a nutty character as well. The fruit core here is outstanding. Excellent concentration. Big cherry and chocolate on the palate. Very lush. Incredibly good finish. Mouthwatering wine. Tremendous. (96 pts.)


  • 2005 Corra Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Big burly monster. This was rather tannic and has some time to go. I’d probably hold for 3-5 years before tasting again. Big whiff of menthol, cedar and darker fruit. Sweet spice. Smoky with burnt quality of oak barrels. A bit subdued, fruit wise. With some time in the glass, this exhibited nice cherry and mocha but still was a little restrained. Nice secondary development with spice and leather. Good tannic structure on the palate gives way to a nice building finish. Impressive stuffing. Should last for many years. (94 pts.)


  • 2006 Corra Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
    A pretty clear step down from the 04 and 05. Big cedar nose with a huge whiff of menthol and herb. Really felt like it was a cedar closet. Some good char. Muted fruit. Good concentration and density. Still a nice wine, even up against the outstanding 04 and 05 but it was clearly 3 of 3. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Nice notes Josh. Glad you are enjoying Celia’s wine in my old stomping grounds.
I recently had the 04 and have to agree it is a wonderful wine. I was warned about opening the 05 by Celia and have not yet. I don’t plan to any time soon. We spoke last week and she is very excited about the 07. She said it is her best yet. I guess I will have to get a few.

3

Thanks for the data points. Like Jack, I eagerly await the drop of the 2007s.

4

Not uncommon. In fact, almost every winemaker I’ve heard from in Napa feels the same way. My views about '07 should be well known by now, at least here. Surprisingly, RMP mentioned the 2007 Mondavi Estate cab (~$20) as one to check out, which is directly in line with my thinking about the vintage.

5

Great notes on the Corra’s. The 04’ I had this past summer blew me away, just an incredible complex and rich wine that went on and on. It was just a perfect wine to me. It really surprised me due to the fact that I don’t drink much CA Cabs…

6

Fantastic notes. I am a huge fan of the 04 Corra but did not know that there was a change in fruit sources for the 05 and 06. Do you happen to know what were the changes, Joshua?

7

Thanks for the feedback on these.

I’m only going by the release notes, re: changed sources. I manually cut and pasted them into CellarTracker but I’m sure they are still up on the Corra web site.

Good to hear about the 2007!