| Region of production: | Napa Valley AVA |
| Winery Location: | St. Helena |
| Year Established: | 1987 |
Vineyard Holdings
- Kronos Vineyard: 3 ha
Top Wines Produced
- Napa Valley (100% Cabernet)
- Kronos Vineyard (100% Cabernet)
Inaugural Vintages
- Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: 1987
Kronos Cabernet Sauvignon: 1996
Average Total Production
- 30,000 – 42,000 bottles (including approximately 4,800 bottles of Kronos)
Summary
As one of Napa Valley’s first female winemakers, Cathy Corison spent a decade making wines for Chappellet, and produced the first vintage of Staglin Cabernet Sauvignon before launching her own label in 1987. She purchased her valley floor estate property–the 8-acre Kronos Vineyard–in 1995, and built her winery on the site in 1999. The vineyard was originally planted with Petite Sirah in 1971, but was grafted to Clone 7 Cabernet Sauvignon later that decade. Before Corison’s purchase, the fruit landed in Mondavi’s Reserve wines. Kronos‘ low-yielding, old vines are widely spaced (8′ x 10′), dry-farmed, and grafted onto St. George rootstock. The organically farmed vineyard is the source of Corison’s top Cabernet bottling, but she also makes a second Cabernet with purchased Rutherford and St. Helena fruit (Hayne, Morisoli, and Zuntz Vineyards), and a dry Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer. Long a champion for moderate alcohol levels and elegance in Cabernet Sauvignon, Cathy Corison’s wines were largely out-of-step with styles popularized in the 1990s, but she is resurgent: as the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year, Cathy has benefitted from a pendulum swing in stylistic preferences amongst the trade, and is widely respected as one of the top traditional winemakers in Napa Valley. She considers her Kronos Vineyard Cabernet to be a „30- to 40-year wine.“
Style & Vinification Techniques
Cabernet is harvested at 24° Brix or less, and is vinified with both ambient and inoculated yeasts. Aging occurs in oak barrels selected from various French coopers; 50% is new wood. The wines age in wood for 1-2 years, and in bottle for an additional year prior to release (2 years for the Kronos Cabernet). Corison’s Cabernet wines rarely surpass 13.5-14% in alcohol.
Producer Website: Corison