Corison Winery

“What I like in wine is that it is a natural product for which the notion of time and place is very important! “

Corison Winery is a California property located in Napa Valley and specifically on St Helena. It was created in 1987 by Cathy Corison and her husband William Martin with the aim of producing Cabernets of great qualities, not over-matured and reflecting their soils. All are from plots between Rutherford and St. Helena.

Today Corison Winery extends over 5 hectares of vineyard, all in the St. Helena AVA. They source also Gewürztraminer from Anderson Valley (Mendocino County). Each year they produce four red wines, a rosé wine and a white wine. Let’s go together to meet Cathy Corison …

Why do you have the choice to make wine / winemaker?

” I like wine. It’s a living product, that’s what I’m passionate about. At the base I am a biologist, I am interested in all living organisms … There are a lot of links between my initial training and my passion for wine / winemaking. Wine is the fruit of a fascinating collaboration / interaction between living organisms. This addition, this magic is found at the bottom of the glass. In addition, the wine is a 100% natural product, delicious, wonderful / fascinating … a product of sharing, conviviality and history.

I started to vinify a long time ago! I studied at Pomona College and then oenology at the University of California Davis more than 40 years ago but I was already in love with wine before entering. By the end of my studies in biology I knew that what I wanted to do was make wine. In 1975 I arrived in Napa where I started making wine for other properties, mainly for Chapellet Vineyard. After 10 years I started, in addition to my work, to buy grapes and barrels to vinify on my own. At an age when everyone buys a house, a car … I bought grapes! My first vintage was 1987.

In 1995, fell in love with the terroir of this property. We acquired with my husband (William Martin) Kronos Vineyard that we have completely renewed. Later, we also acquired some vines in Sonoma. In 1999 we built the current buildings that house the winery, cellars / wineries … In 2015 we bought Sunbasket vineyard. ”

Where does the Corison Winery logo come from?

“It’s a symbol that comes from an ancient civilization that lived based on rain and germination. It means that life is the seed planted in the earth that rain brings to life. This symbol is found on vases more than 7,000 years old made by one of the first civilizations to have made wine. This civilization lived in Eastern Europe, where the Vinifera was born. ”

What does wine represent for you?

” Life ! ”

Why did you choose to create a vineyard / winery here?

“I made the choice to settle here because I am convinced that here we have terroirs that are among the best in the world for planting Cabernet Sauvignon. This is also why we call it the Benchland. We have here, on our three vineyards clay_, rock, gravel and alluvium … perfectly drained soils. We have temperatures high enough to lead the Cabernet maturity and fog in the late afternoon / early evening and cold nights that can encourage a long development of maturity and aromatics. The cold nights allow us to have more color as well as a broader aromatic palette while keeping a nice and natural acidity. ”

What allow to recognize Corison wines in tasting? What is your signature?

“Above all, Corison wines have a low alcohol content. I have never bottled a wine above 14% alcohol. My wines have good acidity, no over-ripeness and are very aromatic. They offer from the approach a nice aromatic palette, floral notes that I find very recognizable / differentiating. They also have a nice minerality that is quite rare to find on other Napa Cabernets. ”

If you had to describe the Winery, team and Corison wines in just three words?

“Integrity, balance, long term.”

Do you have plans for the property?

“I’m not interested in growing production or expanding the vineyard. What I want is to simply do better and better, each year better wines than those of the previous year. ”

Thanks to Cathy Corison and her team for the warm welcome.

Choukroun Chicheportiche Jonathan

Corison Winery
987 St Helena Hwy,
St Helena, CA 94574
+1 707-963-0826
www.corison.com