Fruit for the Napa Valley bottling is sourced from vineyards Cathy Corison’s been farming organically (and now with some biodynamic principles) for decades. The winemaking is classical and low intervention; the wine is vinified with ambient cultures and aged in French oak barrels.
The 2018 is an opaque ruby red color with a pink rim and perfumed of blackberry flowers (which is one of my favorite scents, ephemeral as it is in June in New England). There’s also a sense of black raspberries, black and red currants, and a fresh green leafiness that suggests tarragon. The palate is texturally silken, with vibrant acidity and smooth, graphitic tannins. The overall effect is like velvet. The flavors continue the aromatics: black and red cherries, black and red raspberries, and black currant. In the deep distance the herbs kick in again.
It’s a bright, high-key wine, refreshing; the platonic ideal (seldom realized) of Napa Cabernet.
2018 Corison Winery Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena Napa Valley
13.8% ABV | $110 on release (sample)
Disclosure: Cathy Corison and William Martin are friends.
Just here to agree 100%.
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