2009 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5L

Harvest & Tasting Notes:

A third year of drought kept the crop size down in 2009. A mild, relatively cool growing season followed by a moderate September and cold October made for an uncommonly long ripening season. Resulting flavors are wildly complex with juicy fruit flavors ranging from black cherries and blueberries through plums all the way to cassis and blackberries. Cedar, anise, baking spice and chocolate top notes add layers of interest. Appealing floral notes of violets, lavender and rose petals are already gracing the aromas and a lovely dusty minerality signals a very special vintage.  - Cathy Corison

Reviews:

The Wine Spectator
90 pts. Smooth and polished, offering a graceful mix of pure, rich black cherry and plum fruit that’s delicate and well-centered, accented by spice and black licorice.  Ends with supple, firm tannins and a dash of earthiness.  Drinks now through 2020.
James Laube, Wine Spectator, June 30 2013

The Wine Advocate
Cathy Corison’s 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Corison is surprisingly deep, powerful and tannic. An exotic melange of dark cherries, plums, grilled herbs wraps around the palate. The 2009 is endowed with serious depth and tons of pure, unbridled energy. Mocha, espresso, menthol, and sweet spices all inform the warm, resonant finish. Readers will need to be patient with the 2009. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029. 94 

...drop-dead gorgeous wines from Cathy Corison, one of Napa Valley’s most overlooked winemakers. Stylistically, the 2009s are a bit bigger and richer than has typically been the case here. The 2009s may surprise long-time Corison fans for their size, but wines are impeccably balanced and pure.   
Antoni Galloni, Wine Advocate #204, December 2012

Top 100 Wines of 2012
One sniff of wine from Cathy Corison, our 2011 Winemaker of the Year, and you're instantly reminded what Cabernet truly is. The 2009 is an exceptional version, full of mineral power, with nuance from pencil lead, chicory and tobacco, and tension-filled plum fruit that perfectly frames a gorgeous vintage.           Jon Bonné, Francisco Chronicle, December 2012

Sunset Magazine
From a winemaker who never strayed from elegant restraint, mulberry fruit enfolds a core of minerals, espresso and slate.
Sunset Magazine December 2012

San Francisco Chronicle
2009 Napa Cabernets: The Chronicle recommends:
“Here was just the sort of vintage to play to Cathy Corison's strengths - a year where you could make a taut, ripe wine without a drop of fat. Corison handled it beautifully. Full of mineral power, with pencil lead and chicory, and a tobacco-leaf freshness. Plummy, tight and a bit dusky, a subtly shaded wine with nuance and refinement. Jon Bonné,  Francisco Chronicle,  June 2011

Dan Berger's Vintage Experience, The Weekly Wine Commentary
Exceptional
"2009 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($70): Another in a long string of fantastic Cabernets from Cathy Corison. Her deft hand shows in the elegant yet powerful aroma of tarragon/spice, and depth that will develop more intensely in time. A stellar wine, and similar to many Napa Cabernets that once delivered the same sort of mid- palate elements aimed at the dinner table."   
Volume XVI, Issue 12 May 3, 2011

purely domestic wine report
Corison regularly creates wines that defy the conventional wisdom of what should be coming out of the region, creating elegant wines that are a full 2% lower in alcohol than many of its peers. Vibrant nose of cherry, plum, lilac and violet with underlying graphite, loam and gravel. The palate has a delicate, floral feel along with blue fruit; berries and plum, in a cut-velvet texture. The emphasis is on restraint and balance through the mid palate, where it develops some supple underlying flavors through the finish of bright red pomegranate, brilliantly polished. Drink 2012–2022     -Doug Wilder

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
Full medium ruby. Blueberry, violet, licorice and a whiff of leather on the inviting nose. Juicy and vibrant, with a dominant flavor of crunchy blackberry and blueberry and a complicating note of licorice. For all its clarity and energy, and firm tannins, this is likely to offer relatively early appeal for a Corison wine. 91-93
Stephen Tanzer, May/June 2011

 

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