2018 Corison, Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA
Critics reviews
Cathy Corison's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard marries the brooding intensity of this site with the charm of the year, a combination that makes for a hugely appealing wine. Dark cherry, violet, lavender, menthol and spice fill out the layers. The Kronos Cabernet is typically quite a bit more potent and muscular, but the 2018 is decidedly laid back. Time in the glass brings out a whole range of mineral and savory notes that add striking complexity. Clone 2 on St. George rootstock planted in gravelly soils yield one of the most distinctive Cabernets in Napa Valley.
Drink 2026 - 2043
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (January 2021)
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit closed at first, opening out to black cherries, fresh blackberries, and black raspberries with hints of redcurrant jelly, Ceylon tea, and underbrush. Medium-bodied and elegant, it has tightly wound tannins and bold freshness, with loads of mineral layers leading to a very long finish on this beautiful wine.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (June 2022)
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard features gentle herbal tendencies, hints of crushed stone and pencil shavings, plus reined-in cassis fruit. Medium to full-bodied (just 13.6% alcohol), it's silky and fine, like the other Corison Cab offerings. These are elegant, restrained food wines, in the best senses of those terms.
Drink 2025 - 2040
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (May 2022)
Glowing garnet. Warm, spicy and luxurious on the nose. Napa Valley Cabernet of the purest sort. Real refinement here. The sort of wine I'd love to give those who think that all Napa Cab is overdone. There are comforting balsam notes to soothe the throat after swallowing it (it's irresistible) and the tannins are all but hidden by the subtle herb-tinged fruit until the very, very end. Finishes dry and appetising. I imagine oak played quite a role in the making of this wine but you certainly can't taste it. Very sophisticated.
Drink 2021 - 2035
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (November 2021)
There's a savory sparkle here, with sweet bay leaf and violet notes darting from the core of damson plum, loganberry and mulberry fruit, while the sleek and refined structure supports it all. Long and pure through the finish, offering a subtle twang of iron and a nice finishing kick of fruit. The balance is superb, making this approachable now, but this is going to cruise in the cellar.
Drink now to 2040
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (May 2022)
This is a sensational Kronos and one of the best ever, with pure, transparent aromas and flavors of blackcurrants, blackberries, raspberries and stones. Some violets, too. It’s full-bodied with just the right amount of tannin tension and austerity to make it ever so serious. Persistent and thought-provoking young wine.
Try from 2024
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (January 2021)
Corison’s Kronos Vineyard is one of the great Cabernet vineyards on earth, and an anomaly in the modern Napa Valley landscape. Planted in 1971 on bale loam with Saint George rootstock. The yields are extremely low, averaging just 0.5 tonnes to the hectare. Clean, clear, radiant aromas of blue-and-purple fruits, graphite and dates. The texture is pure velvet on the palate, seamlessly laced with subtle tobacco and fennel flavours. A long, powdery finish wraps up this definitive, understated, and ageworthy Valley-floor Cabernet Sauvignon.
Matthew Luczy, Decanter.com (October 2020)
From old vines planted nearly 50 years ago, this wine opens in violet and rose. On the palate are seamless layers of cranberry and currant, with an underlying strength of integrated spice, dried herb and oak. Complex and concentrated, this wine is elegantly built to age and evolve, beautifully styled throughout.
Drink 2028 - 2038
Virginie Boone, Wine Enthusiast (January 2022)
About this WINE
Corison Winery
Napa Valley
North Coast's Napa Valley is California's most famous viticultural area (AVA), claiming some of the most expensive agricultural land in the world and producing wines of ‘cult’ status.
Its 16,000 ha of vines lie over a strip (40 miles long-5 miles wide) of diverse soils (clay, gravely, volcanic), with its northernmost end on the side of Mountain Helena and its foot in San Francisco Bay. The valley is framed by two mountains ranges Vaca (to the north) and Mayacamas (to the south), yet the main climatic influence is the cool wind and fog that is sucked in from San Pablo Bay during the afternoon, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.
The area enjoys a variety of unique microclimates, as temperatures can vary dramatically as much as 15 degrees, from the north to the south end of the valley. These differences have led to the creation of several sub-AVAs (14 in total) including:
Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley District, Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain, Los Carneros, Mt. Veeder, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, Spring Mountain District, Stags Leap District, Yountville, Wild Horse Valley and Oak Knoll District. The Calistoga AVA is still pending approval.
Both the “Napa Valley” designation and the sub-AVA name must appear on the wine label simultaneously, with the exception of wines from the Carneros AVA, which is shared between the Napa Valley and the Sonoma County.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the undisputed king of Napa grapes, occupying over 45% of the vineyard acreage, followed by (predominantly) Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab. Franc and to a lesser extent Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Barbera, Dolcetto.
Recommended Producers
Frog's Leap, Dominus, David Ramey, Viader, Stag's Leap Cellars, Paras Vineyards, Heitz.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
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Description
Glowing garnet. Warm, spicy and luxurious on the nose. Napa Valley Cabernet of the purest sort. Real refinement here. The sort of wine I'd love to give those who think that all Napa Cab is overdone. There are comforting balsam notes to soothe the throat after swallowing it (it's irresistible) and the tannins are all but hidden by the subtle herb-tinged fruit until the very, very end. Finishes dry and appetising. I imagine oak played quite a role in the making of this wine but you certainly can't taste it. Very sophisticated.
Drink 2021 - 2035
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (November 2021)
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