Who she is: Cathy Corison has been making Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon since 1978 and has run her own eponymous winery in St. Helena since 1987. In a valley that spent much of the 1990s and 2000s chasing power, ripeness, and 100-point scores, Corison made a different choice: she farmed for elegance, picked early to preserve acidity, and produced a style of Cabernet more akin to Bordeaux than to the hedonistic California cult wines of her era. She was often out of step with critical fashion. She was almost always right.
Cathy Corison grew up in California and studied enology at UC Davis before working at several Napa Valley estates including Chappellet and Long Vineyards in the 1970s and early 1980s. By the time she launched her own label in 1987, she had a clear and fully formed vision of the wine she wanted to make: restrained, precise Napa Valley Cabernet with the structure to age for 20 years and the elegance to be enjoyable at 5.
The Kronos Vineyard
The heart of the Corison program is the Kronos Vineyard, a 10-acre parcel she farms in the Rutherford area of St. Helena on deep Bale Loam soils. The vineyard was first planted in 1971 and has been farmed organically since Corison took over the lease in 1995. Old vines, deep soils, and careful canopy management produce naturally low yields and physiologically complete fruit that does not need to be pushed to high sugar levels to achieve full flavor development.
Corison harvests earlier than most of her neighbors, aiming for sugar levels that other Napa winemakers might consider underripe. The goal is to retain natural acidity and produce wine that drinks with freshness even at 15 or 20 years of age. This choice was controversial during the peak of the high-ripeness era but has been vindicated consistently by how her older vintages taste: structure intact, fruit still vibrant, the tannins fully resolved into something silky and complex. Explore the region at Napa Valley wine country.
The Wine Style
A Corison Cabernet Sauvignon is recognizable from the first sip. The color is a translucent, medium-deep ruby: lighter than many Napa Cabs. The aromatics are classical Cabernet: cassis, red currant, dried rose, cedar, and a faint floral quality that Rutherford producers call “Rutherford Dust.” The palate is medium-bodied by Napa standards, with fine-grained tannins, vivid acidity, and a long, mineral finish. It is a wine built for a dinner table, not a tasting room competition. For the full picture of Napa Valley Cabernet, see the California Cabernet Sauvignon guide.
Her Place in California Wine History
Cathy Corison’s significance extends beyond the quality of her wine. She was one of a small number of women who built their own wineries in California during the 1980s, at a time when the industry was still predominantly male. She did it with no outside investment, farming a leased vineyard and selling wine that was consistently undervalued by critics who preferred bigger and bolder. She never changed her style to chase scores. She waited for the critics and the market to come to her, and eventually they did.
Corison Winery Cabernet Sauvignon is now regularly recognized as one of the most important and distinctive expressions of Napa Valley Cabernet made in any era. The wines age beautifully for 20-25 years, making older vintages some of the most interesting bottles in any Napa-focused cellar. Her approach: pick early, handle gently, trust the vineyard: is the philosophy that a new generation of California winemakers is now rediscovering as the tide turns from power toward precision. See more from the California wine landscape she helped define.