HIGH-END RED CLUB SELECTIONS – SEP 2023

CATHY CORISON 2019 NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON $126.99

Of all the venerable Cabernet producers in Napa Valley, few have landed more often on Wine & Spirits “Top 100” list of global wineries. They managed it again this year, 2023.

I first discovered her wines at a tasting event where she poured four different vintages, one dating back 20 years. It was one of those life-changing moments that changes one’s perspective on Napa Cabs. At the time of that tasting, Napa Cabs had moved towards a style that rewarded high scores, by which I mean wines with high alcohol, gobs of fruit and head-snapping immediate appeal, but which rarely aged beyond 5-7 years.

Cathy’s wines, by comparison, rarely received high scores. They were decent scores, but not newsworthy. She didn’t care. He style never waivered. Quietly tenacious, she pursued her original vision, seeking only to make each vintage better than her last. And to say her formula has stood the test of time is an understatement.

It is her relentless pursuit of improvement that made her wines an obvious choice for this month’s High End Reds members.

Tasting Notes: A long, slow growing season allowed for a late harvest and two weeks of extra time for the grapes to develop flavor complexity without high sugars, resulting in complex, intense flavors, and an inky-dark color balanced by natural acidity.

The wine expresses a broad spectrum of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit flavors, from red cherries and raspberries through blueberries, to purple plums, black cassis and marionberries – a tantalizing complexity.  Enthusiastic aromas of dried roses, violets and lavender leap from the glass.

Signature “Rutherford Dust” minerality joins baking spices, notes of cocoa, dried thyme, and a whiff of tar and anise. In its current, youthful, stage the wine’s tannins are firm and grippy, lending structure to its mouthfeel. It is going to be a lot of fun watching this wine over time – an ideal wine to buy in quantity so you can taste its evolution over many years to come. Drink now through 2040!