I first tasted Cathy Corison’s 2012 Napa Cab with her at the winery in April 2015. It was floral and tender, youthful, evincing a porcelain fragility. I cellared some of that vintage and opened a bottle recently. The robe was still a shocking violet red color with a flame pink rim, and its fragrance remained on-point: There was a scent of fresh rose petals, dried rose petals, plus cassis, black and red raspberry. Time has added a shimmer of Mandarin orange peel, some red citrus. The palate remains silky with a core of bright, tart fruit wound around vanishing tannins. The flavors unroll in waves: First roses, like rose petal tea, then black currant, black raspberry, and a sense of something like Chinese five spice powder. The wine is flowery, so elegant, yet so age-worthy it feels timeless. It reminds me of an Old Masters painting, maybe mixed flowers in a pewter vase in sunlight, rose madder and vermillion and all.
2012 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
13.9% abv | About $100 retail on release
I purchased this bottle at the winery and received an industry discount.
