Arrival Dk - Nov 2023
Summer and fall were so cool in 2019 that we picked fully two weeks later than we usually do, the perfect setup for a great vintage. Those cool days allowed long hang-time, resulting in complex, intense flavors, and the cold nights promoted inky color and balancing natural acidity.
The entire spectrum of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit flavors is present and accounted for, from red cherries and raspberries through blueberries, to purple plums, black cassis and marionberries, for remarkable complexity. A floral perfume of dried roses, violets and lavender is already jumping out of the glass. Signature Rutherford Dust minerality joins baking spices, notes of cocoa, dried thyme, and a whiff of tar and anise. Tannins that are firm and grippy, though velvety, lend structure and mouthfeel. It is going to be a lot of fun watching this wine over time.
- Cathy Corison
Wine & Spirits Magazine Top 100 Wines of 2022 - 96
This wine is, in fact, an idealized version of (Cathy Corison’s) benchland cabernet sauvignon, holding on to the elegance she regularly achieves, while adding a luscious textural beauty that more often comes from bottle age. James Conley of NYC’s Keen’s Chophouse found the aroma suggested a more delicate wine than the density and extract this one carries in its “cabernet grape tannins and intriguing, lifted fruit. If someone said, ‘I love Napa, but show me what I’m missing.’ I’d say, ‘Well, try this.’” Warm and explosive in its energy, this wine carries an imprint of the benchland soils in the play of darkness and light, in the detailed tannins that make you crave another taste.
Joshua Greene, Fall 2022
Vinous - explore all things wine - 93
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is full of charm. It offers all of the natural intensity of the year, with bright acids that keep the flavors bright. Sweet red cherry, plum, cedar, tobacco and spice all build effortlessly. This open-knit yet classically built Cabernet is likely to offer a wide window of drinkability over the next 15-20 years. As always, Cathy Corison's Napa Valley Cabernet is a blend of three sites in St. Helena.
Antonio Galloni, October 2021
Wine Spectator - 94
A very fresh, floral-laced style, offering a bright beam of cassis and plum gelée laced with flashes of violet, hibiscus and rose petal. Nicely grounded through the finish, with alder and warm earth hints filling in. Approachable, but this has more to show in time.James Molesworth, August 2022
Decanter - 94
Alluring aromas of dark cassis, graphite, cedar and wild herbs. It has a striking depth with layered flavours and texture, and while restrained now it is incredibly well-built and in need of time in the cellar to fully shine. Reveals subtle hints of fresh black and blue berries, currants and dried herbs tinged with red florals. Finishes with polish, energy and poise.Jonathan Cristaldi, 12 June 2022
purely domestic wine report - 95
The nose is lavish dark plum, blackberry and violet. The palate entry is classic Corison; vibrant restraint with defined black fruit and notes of cranberry and cherry leading to a core of tea, firm blackberry with youthful acidity.Doug Wilder, free run juice, May 8, 2022
Wine Enthusiast Magazine - 96
Savory and complicated in saline, woody notes of cedar and dry tannin, this old-school wine is dark and structured, aged 20 months in French oak, half of it new. Brooding black fruit and clove give it an edgy richness that is restrained and balanced by underlying acidity.
Virginie Boone, 10/1/22
