Got a note in my email inbox this morning telling me that if I was in the St Helena area today it would be in my best interest to stop in at Corison. I have been in the right place at the right time more often than not lately. Wednesday happens to be my Napa Valley day so I took an extra long lunch. Seems that Corison had their harvest party last night. That meant there was leftover wine that needed to be poured. How could I say no? Especially since we were going back 22 years! Oh my lucky stars.
1991 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5L - Green bell pepper greets the nose along with muted plum and leather. Black cherry compote and red currant amid integrated still slightly grippy tannins. Peaking.
1993 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5L - Nose bursting with fresh plum and dried cherries. Cedar, tobacco, graphite accent the dark red berries. Wonderfully balanced fruit/acid/fully integrated tannins. A WOW showing. Years left in this one.
1995 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5L - Wood and black currant nose. Black cherry, cinnamon, cardamom, wonderfully bright acidity, chalky tannins sneak up and explode.
2001 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vyd 1.5L - Downright youthful in comparison. Dried fruit profile with tar, smoke, cassis. Lively dark red currants and black cherries envelop the mouth. Lean in texture but rich in flavor with the old vine complexity pushing through. A mere baby at 12 years old but delicious.
2005 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - This one gave me oak splinters in my nose. Dark red fruits, primary blackberry and pepper on the front end evolving into ripe strawberry before finishing with some baking spice and cedar. Let 'em rest.
2010 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - Pine needles dominate the black fruited nose. Ripe red and black berry fruit, juicy, ample acidity, chewy grippy tannins. Infanticide.
Fellow ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker")
are great folks!
Wow, no Corison love in the house? This can be a difficult crowd to figure out sometimes.
I was in the office for like 12 hours yesterday getting punched in the junk by docs, patients, insurers and others.
You now join Hardy on my s-list.
Plenty of love at 6:30 in the morning. I wish I got emails like that. The one answer I could give for “what are you pouring for Thanksgiving?” Bunch of Corison – spread out about the same as what you had, including a 1990 which I hope will be no worse than peaking like your 1991 was.
Was Hardy the head winemaker with them when he was there? Do you know what year he started?
A '93 Corison last year was the best cab I had last year! Great stuff! Corey
Ha! Cathy was smart enough to keep me in the front of the house 
Though I “retired” from Corison in Aug. I came back yesterday afternoon to pour (and taste, and re-taste, and re-taste again) these. The 93 was straight up crazy.
We had these wines with dinner the night before and the 93 almost had me weeping on my lamb. 
It was really powerful
Yeah, that was really, really good. Thanks again Pal! 
So, so, so jealous! Corison is one of my favorite cabs - I really appreciate the notes and will be pouring some of mine throughout the holidays.
That '93 sounds epic…also sounds like they don’t mind holding on to them as $660 per mag is a pretty good barrier!
Love Cathy. Love her wines. I have an '04 and an '07 Kronos sleeping.
I really don’t know much about mags versus 750’s after 20 years, but I wonder if a 750 of the 93 would perform as well.
I recently found a 2007 Corison in the cellar (probably my wife’s) and I decided to review it in pdwr as a library selection (sold out @ winery). delicious
Better lucky than good is what I always say. 
Wonderful place and great wines. I was in town in early August and stopped by for a library tasting. The wines age with such grace. I loved the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, but would warn that it lacks some of the tannic spines found in the other wines. Across the board, though, wonderful cabernet. Very jealous.
Great wines and people - thanks for the notes!
Cheers,
Blair
Having visited the place this past summer and being lucky enough to taste some back vintages, I can say I am very impressed with this place and their wines. They have aged really well and they new ones show that same potential. (I posted about the visit back in July IIRC).
I was in a local wine store and came across some older Corison Cabernets. There were the 1991, 92, 94, 95, and 96 Napa Cab and the 1997 Kronos available (all in 750 format and stored well). I had the 97 Corison Napa Cab this summer and thought it was fantastic. I am looking to pick up 1 or maybe 2 bottles and could use some suggestions for which of these wines are still holding up and drinking well today. Thanks.
