“Cathy Corison is a national treasure.”
- Hugh Johnson, Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book
WHAT WITH HIKING, BIRD WATCHING, mushrooming, wine making, gliding and theater-going, Cathy Corison is a woman of varied and consuming interests. Some are more consuming than others, but one alone stands out, and it isn’t bird watching. Before everything else, Corison is a wine maker.Frank Prial, The New York Times, September 8, 1991 Cathy and Grace talked with Esther Mobley of the S.F. Chronicle about all things next-gen. “Ten years ago I didn’t know whether they were going to come back,” Corison said of her daughters. She never dared tell them how desperately she hoped they would return.Esther Mobley, S.F. Chronicle, Dec. 4, 2024 “Cathy is about to release the 26th vintage of her Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and so she decided it was time to take a look back on her first 25 years working with this remarkable vineyard, and she invited a lucky few of us along for the retrospective.” Wine Critic Eric Asimov highlights “six producers who make glorious wines by following their own muse…The Corison wines are both of a time, and timeless.” “Cathy Corison started the Corison Winery in 1987 as a small family farm producing terroir-driven expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are lauded for their elegance, savory complexities, and age-worthy power. “ Best wineries to visit in the Bay Area, 2023: Corison We are so honored to be on The California List, “a list of the top Californian wine producers – estates renowned for their quality, fame and overall impact in the UK – as chosen by a five-strong panel made up of writers Jancis Robinson MW and Stephen Brook, wine buyers Sarah Knowles MW and Mark Andrew MW and chief executive of the Court of Master Sommeliers Europe, Ronan Sayburn MS.”Peter Dean, www.the-buyer.net, March 25, 2022 Jordan Mackay introduces Cathy Corison as one of “five movers and shakers, setting the standard for modern North American wine”. “Cathy Corison… has achieved viral fame and influence by being decidedly anti-viral. Her secrets to success – beyond winemaking skill – are focus and integrity.”Jordan Mackay, Decanter Magazine, September 2, 2021 California, in tune with global viticulture, has turned its attention back to its soils, its land, its territory. The top winemakers strive to express place – that amalgam of site, climate, aspect, soil and culture – and the wines reflect their origin. Cathy Corison is another winemaker whose focus never swayed from her vines… She explains why Rutherford, on an alluvial fan that straddles several AVAs, is special… “A one-off Napa Cabernet blend comprising equal parts of the best wines from four of California’s most famous female winemakers is to be offered to UK buyers today. Called ‘In Concert’, the blend features wines from Cathy Corison, Dawnine Dyer, Rosemary Cakebread and Diana Snowden Seysses, using fruit from the 2019 vintage from their respective wineries: Corison Winery, Dyer Vineyard, Gallica, and Snowden Vineyards.”Patrick Schmitt, thedrinksbusiness.com, 29 June, 2022 In her recent article, California to Rival The World, winewriter Anne Krebiehl, MW, notes, “authenticity and sense of place are the cornerstones of fine wine.” She talks about Napa’s historic vineyards, including Corison’s Kronos Vineyard and To Kalon Vineyard, noting “California, in tune with global viticulture, has turned its attention back to its soils, its land, its territory.” Anne Krebiehl, MW, Falstaff Magazine, March-June 2022 “…if you’re going to buy these wines, I recommend buying them in multiples of three. Drink one if you have to in the next 2 years, drink one between 5 and 7 years later, and save the last one for 10 years or more. You can thank me later.”Alder Yarrow, vinography.com, August 25, 2021 …the wines we were drinking came from superstar producers — two bottles each from the Ridge Monte Bello estate in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Cathy Corison in Napa Valley and Inglenook, also in Napa… Great producers often find a way to coax loveliness out of the most difficult situations. Each of them succeeded in this tasting.Eric Asimov, The New York Times, February 16, 2021 “‘Nevertheless, she persisted,’ is how I think of Napa’s Cathy Corison. Under her own label, she’s made elegant cabernets, even when cult cabs got the buzz.”Elin McCoy, Bloomberg, July 1, 2020 Lettie Teague reviews the 2016 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in this article about classic wines. “Other wines I’d readily deem classics include the Napa Cabernets made by Cathy Corison — beautifully balanced wines that only improve over time… This subtle, polished and notably low-alcohol (13%) Cabernet is a shining star in the Napa firmament.”WSJ.com, January 30, 2020 “(Cathy Corison’s) wines always have a lot to say. This 2001 was a beautiful expression of the potential of Napa cabernets, graceful and complex with a lovely balance of earthy, stony, fruit and herbal flavors.” – Eric Asimov, The New York Times, Dec. 12, 2024 “Veteran winemaker Cathy Corison has always strived to make powerful yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignons that speak of place and terroir and her 2020 certainly hits these marks. This delightful Cab has aromas and flavors of fennel frond, cigar box, cassis, cranberry, and a touch of sarsaparilla root in the finish.” -Mark DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, The Robb Report, Dec. 12, 2024 “In the Napa Valley where I live, the 2023 vintage, now resting in barrels, was one of those spectacular vintages. I have no doubt that it will go down as one of the most phenomenal vintages—ever—in the Napa Valley.” Karen MacNeil goes on to praise the 2023 and 2016 Kronos. – Karen MacNeil, WineSpeed.com, Dec. 6, 2024 Cathy Corison – nominee for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer ProducerThe Mercury News, March 27, 2019 “Later this spring, Corison will release the 2015 vintage of Kronos Vineyard, marking her twentieth vintage. Corison Kronos Cabernet is notable in the Napa Valley in that it reflects a single producer with the same owner-winemaker working with the same site for more than 20 years… There are remarkably few single-vineyard Napa Valley bottlings with a history to rival that of Corison Kronos Cabernet.” -Elaine Chukan Brown for jancisrobinson.com, 12 Mar 2019 “Cathy Corison is my heroine. She makes such great wine – the essence of Napa Valley minus the bludgeoning force, plus a sensible price tag. And I love the 2010s.” -Jancis Robinson, interviewed by Ray Isle, Food & Wine Magazine, October 2014 “…try a Corison cabernet sauvignon. Better yet, try 25 vintages in a sitting… it was clear to me in tasting these wines that Corison is among the greatest producers of cabernet sauvignon in Napa Valley today. These were fresh wines of great balance and elegance that spoke clearly of their place and vintage, and were remarkably consistent in character through a quarter-century. They possess the capacity to age and become more complex, integrated and eloquent with time. Best of all, they demonstrate plainly that Napa cabernet can speak transparently and persuasively in a pure, restrained voice without artifice or bombast.”Eric Asimov, New York Timesimes.com, March 19, 2015 Cathy Corison – nominee for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professionaljamesbeard.org, March 14, 2018 “Cathy Corison has been practicing balance at her Napa winery for nearly 30 years.”Oz Clarke, Decanter Magazine, January 14, 2017 “Cathy Corison, one of Napa Valley’s most thoughtful winemakers, planned it from the start: ‘I’ve held wines back for re-release since the very beginning, 30 years ago,’ she says. ‘I knew the wines would age because of the long, distinguished history of the Cabernets grown on benchland between Rutherford and St Helena…’ ‘The wines go through a series of peaks and valleys with something to offer all along the way.’”Anne Krebiehl, Decanter Magazine, December 2016 “‘This is how integrity tastes,’ I found myself concluding as I tasted through 25 years of Cathy Corison’s efforts to express what she thinks her little patch of Napa Valley can say. In addition to meaning honest and upright, integrity means wholeness and completeness, and both definitions apply to Cathy’s wines individually, and as a group of 25 vintages.”Alder Yarrow, vinography.com, June 27,2015 “Corison’s wines have consistently eschewed the fads of the moment in favor of an abiding commitment to classical balance.”William Kelley, Decanter, May 2016 “A voice of restraint in a land of ‘look at me’ wines, Cathy Corison has been single-handedly championing elegant, fresh, lower alcohol California Cabernet at her eponymous winery since she launched her own label in 1987.”Lucy Shaw, thedrinksbusiness.com, 14th March, 2016 “There’s been a recent uptick in female winemakers in California, but Cathy Corison of Napa’s Corison Winery is one of the originals: she’s been crafting elegant, critically acclaimed cabernet sauvignons for three decades… Her two iterations of the (cabernet) – a Napa Valley entry and a site-specific Kronos Vineyard bottling – consistently show depth, power, and that signature restraint. Other wines from Corison include a Napa cabernet franc under the Helios label and a cabernet rosé and sassy Anderson Valley gewürztraminer labeled Corazón. All are standard-bearers in their class.”Colman Andrews, thedailymeal.com, August 2017 Wine & Spirits Magazine recognizes Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon as one of the most popular wines in America’s most popular restaurants of 2018.wineandspiritsmagazine.com, April 2018 Betsy Andrews interviewed Cathy Corison for the SevenFifty Daily – and then reached out to many of her peers. Cathy is honored by their kind words.Betsy Andrews, daily.sevenfifty.com, July 30 2018 In this in-depth interview from March of 2022, Chris Cottrell of Bedrock Wine Co. talks with Cathy Corison, covering all areas of her work and life, including an early memorable wine enjoyed with Milt and Barbara Eisele in the late 1970’s (a ’61 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze). After running into Cathy Corison at Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Top 100 Tasting in NYC in March 2023, John Coyle reached out to create this podcast. On 15 March, 2022, Cathy Corison sat down with Michelle Mandro to talk about being a woman in the wine industry, ending the interview by answering some fun, light-hearted questions. Meredith Griffin and Lou Zant talked history and wine with Cathy in this March 2022 podcast. “One sniff of wine from Cathy Corison, our 2011 Winemaker of the Year, and you’re instantly reminded what Cabernet truly is.”Jon Bonné, San Francisco Chronicle, December 1, 2012 “And I must give special credit to the 1989 Corison. Cathy Corison’s production is small, but her 1989 is surely the single most beautiful expression yet of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a study in what can be achieved when everything is right.”Gerald Asher, Gourmet, June 1993 “Winegrower Cathy Corison might just produce the best Cab out of Napa Valley, period. It’s a bold statement that she lives up to by producing artisanal Cabernet Sauvignon that speaks of place and legacy, sourcing great benchland vineyards between Rutherford and St. Helena in the Napa Valley.” alisterpaine.com, February 12, 2014 On 16 April 2020, Cathy Corison and Antonio Galloni chatted. They talked about our estate Kronos and Sunbasket vineyards, and answered participants’ questions. They spoke about this year’s current releases as Cathy tasted the 2016 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Antonio tasted the 2016 Corison Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Cathy Corison joined wine-writer Elaine Chukan Brown’s conversation with Jasmine Hirsch, GM and winemaker at Hirsch Vineyards, in April of 2020. Cathy Corison enjoyed talking with Doug Shafer in early September 2018, a few weeks before the grapes started to roll in! Christian Oggenfuss and Cathy Corison talk shop in this 2018 interview. Jeff Davis interviewed Cathy Corison about her top 100 wine in this 2017 interview. Levi Dalton interviewed Cathy Corison in 2015.
Filter CategoriesAllCurrentPodcastsReviewsArchives
“A Wine of One’s Own”
Next Gen at Corison
The Majesty of Time: 25 Years of Corison’s Kronos Cabernet
Alder Yarrow, vinography.com, Dec. 3, 2024
How the Most Delicious Wines Stay True to Themselves
Eric Asimov, The New York Times, March 13, 2023
An Illustrated Timeline of Napa’s Most Famous Cabs
Hannah Staab, VinePair.com, February 17, 2025
Top 25 Wineries
Since 1987, winemaker Cathy Corison has made some of the most awe-inspiring wines in the valley… Esther Mobley, March 27, 2023
The California List
North American Trendsetters: five modern-day pioneers
California Wine: Past, Present, Future
Anne Krebiehl, MW, Falstaff Magazine, July 4, 2022
One-off Napa winemaker blend offered to UK buyers
California to Rival the World
The Soul of Refinement: Recent & Upcoming Releases from Corison Winery, Napa
How to Think about Wine Vintages
Top Women Winemakers are Still Rare in the World of Grapes
What Makes a Wine a Classic?
The Most Memorable Wines of 2024
The 50 Greatest Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons of the 21st Century
FIVE STUNNING NAPA CABERNETS FROM A “VINTAGE OF THE CENTURY”
Bay Area’s 2019 James Beard Award finalists: Here’s who made the cut
Corison Kronos – a vertical of Napa restraint
Wine Royalty, 7 Favorite Wines
At Corison Winery, the Focus on Napa Cabernet Never Blurs
The 2018 James Beard Award Nominees
Finding balance in California
Youth vs Age – Rewards of Patience
Tasting Integrity: 25 Years of Corison Napa Cabernet
The Decanter Interview
Wonder Women: 10 Female California Winemakers to Watch
101 Best Wineries in America
Top of the List
Cathy Corison Leads by Example
Bedrock Wine Conversations
Drinking on the Job
Wine Country Women
Major Crush Wine Cast
Top 100 Wines 2012
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2001 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet
VINOUS – explore all things wine
Behind the Wines with Elaine Chukan Brown
The Taste with Doug Shafer
Napa Valley Wine Academy – The Stories Behind Wine
On the Wine Road with Jeff Davis
I’ll Drink To That! Talking Wine with Levi Dalton
“California’s Trailblazing Women Winemakers – The First 20 Years”
“Napa Valley sub-appellations – heartening?”
That Paris judgement 40 years on
“A salute to women winemakers”
“Which other winemakers make you proud to say you’re Californian?”
Wine Gift Options Abound for Thanksgiving
Five Luxury Wines for Thanksgiving
“Grape Goddesses”
“The Top Ten Iconic Wines Every Collector Must Have”
“Every Little Thing Is Small: A Conversation With Cathy Corison”
“Five Luxury Wines for Thanksgiving”
“Napa Valley’s Corison Winery produces powerful but elegant Cabernet Sauvignon”
“Life with Wine: The Trailblazers – Women who have consistently created great wines”
“Go West 2015 – California makes good on all that potential”
“Corison does it her way”
“The Feminisation of Wine”
“Time in a Bottle: Can Napa Valley Cabernet Age?”
“The 9 Best Wines and Spirits to Start Drinking in 2015”
“Janes on Wine: What’s old is new again in California”
“A Beautiful Factory”
“Napa Cab – forget everything you think you know”
“The Return of California Cabernet”
California Wines
“How To Build A Wine Cellar”
“Yes, Women Can Make Great Wine”
“Kronos: Experience a Golden (vint-)Age of Corison Cabernet”
“Tradition, and change, in 10 key wines of 2013”
“A Cellar for Any Situation, Any Price”
“Give the Gift of Red”
“California Cabernet – a mixed pleasure”
“California Wine Legends in the Making”
“I cannot remember any non-European red wines I have enjoyed more than Cathy Corison’s 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and her 2008 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon”
Napa’s Cathy Corison: Self-Confessed Cabernet ‘Chauvinist’
Keeping it Simple: Love for Cathy Corison Cabernet
Sexing the Signature
“Holiday cabernets worth the splurge”
“The Zinfandel Chronicles Power Rankings – Old World wines that are back in style”
Entrepreneur Spotlight On Corison Winery Founder Cathy Corison
“The Chronicle Recommends: 2009 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon”
“Napa’s 2009s herald what great Cabernet can be”
“Clear favorites emerged with Corison among the top two”
Cathy Corison – Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year 2011
Top 100 Wines 2011: Cheers to thinking small
The 12 Wines of Christmas – Day1: Rich Cabernet
“Corison: elegant, drinkable, remarkable.”
“An iconoclast develops elegance and balance from Napa Cabernet”
Top 100 wines of 2008
“1001 wines you must taste before you die”
“Not desperately intense or hot or massive or tannic, it’s just so gentle and harmonious. A fine riposte to high alcohol Cabs.”
“[Corison] reminds that great Cabernet is born from balance and depth more than unbridled ripeness”
“Nothing but the best”
“There is a tension in Corison’s wines between power and elegance”
“Hiding in plain sight. Her signature style: viscous and full of fruit, with a hefty structure and doses of ripe tannin that portend a life measured in decades”
“Corison- California Cabernet with Subtlety”
“I want to be as close to my wines as possible. There’s an intuitive thing that happens, and that’s what makes great wine.”
“Face-to-face with her tremendous efforts and intangible artistry, people buy her wine because they believe in her ability to wrestle an amazing bottle from the land, no matter the growing season”
“One of Napa’s most expressive single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons”
“Corison’s wines, like the ancient pottery shards that grace the labels, are of another time and place, even as they are firmly and undeniably some of the best of Napa”
“Corison makes wines to be great all their lives, a patient, provocative style”
“Corison: Not Just Any Napa Cabernet”
“Wines of clarity, balance and finesse”
“Visiting the Corison Winery tasting room on Highway 29 near St. Helena, on one of the most heavily traveled wine routes in the world, is a trek back in time”
“In the end, I can’t make wine any better than the grapes that come in”
“And I must give special credit to the 1989 Corison. Cathy Corison’s production is small, but her 1989 is surely the single most beautiful expression yet of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a study in what can be achieved when everything is right.”
“Cathy Corison has been making food-friendly wines throughout her winemaking career”
“Uncompromising in her commitment to Cabernets that have the stamp of terroir as well as their Napa roots.”
“Arguably the best Cabernet in the Napa Valley”