Corison (4.25)



Open: 10am-5pm

Appt required? Yes.

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (April 18, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

View Napa in a larger map or Get Directions

Tasting:
With the end of our trip looming, I started to get antsy and see what other wineries we could potentially cram in. With our first appointment set for 11am on our last day and nothing prior to it, I scoured the route between the Napa Valley Marriott and Calistoga for wineries opening at 10am that I hadn’t been to and didn’t require an appointment. There were surprisingly few that met the criteria, but I narrowed down the list to a few possibilities. At the top of the list was Corison, which according to their website did in fact require an appointment.

Given it was a Tuesday in April, I thought our chances were good. We headed in that direction, and at 9:45 I had Steph call to see if they could take us. No problem!

We arrived shortly after 10:00 and approached the large barn-like structure. Opening the giant door, we were greeted by our host Tim. He started us with a taste of their 2008 Gewurztraminer under their “Corazón” label, and well as the 2005 Helios Syrah. Both wines were so-so for me, but then we moved into the interesting part of the tasting.

Corison is primarily known for their Cabernet, and they make a Napa Valley Cab from a few different vineyards (including Morisoli and Hayne, from which Elyse also sources fruit) as well as a single vineyard Cabernet from their Kronos estate vineyard. We tried the 2008 Corison Napa Cabernet, followed by the 2005 Corison Napa Cabernet. Tim then went in the back and pulled a bottle of 2001 Napa Cabernet. The first bottle turned out to have some type of issue, but the second one was issue-free and solid. Of the 3 wines, my favorite was the 2005. Tim revealed that was also Cathy Corison’s favorite.

As if on cue, Cathy made a brief appearance. She was busy working, but stopped for a second to welcome us. Our last taste was of the single vineyard Kronos Cabernet from 2007. This was excellent and my favorite of all of the wines.

It turned out that the multi-year approach was for a reason. Corsion was having a “vertical sale”, where if you bought any three bottles from different years they’d discount the order 15%. Not too shabby! Given how much I liked the 2007 Kronos and the fact that they seemed to make some solid wine in 2005, I decided to get a 2005, 2006, and 2007 vertical pack of the Kronos. Wines on their way and discount applied, we moved on to our next stop at Allora.

Outside in front of the Kronos Estate Vineyard


Recommended wine: I think the Kronos is significantly better than the Napa Valley and not that much more expensive.

Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.25
TASTING ROOM
4.25

ATMOSPHERE
4.75
VALUE
3.75

OVERALL
4.25

No comments:

Post a Comment

Previous Posts