A big bold plumy purple bomb As dense and luscious as a wine can get in a glass. Decanted for 2 hrs and its still a baby with blackberry, dark chocolate licorice and pepper on the nose and on the palate. A long long finish and loads of tannins to sum it all up — 6 years ago
Dark purple plum skin color from center to the rim’s edge where some scarlet also appears. Opaque. Great fruit forward nose that grabs your attention. Notes of blackberries, ripe plums, violets, tobacco, forest floor and some crushed walnuts. Rich and silky in the mouth. Great balance and texture. Tannins perfectly integrated. Long finish. If a Cal Cab can be seductive, this is it. Still youthful but in a great zone tonight. — 7 years ago
Smooth finish, love this addition from Mondavi. Can taste the hint of bourbon — 8 years ago
Whoa, this was rockin'. Amazing aromatics. Fully mature wth life ahead. Clean and focused and very complex. Love it when you can find old rioja — 9 years ago
Bold and deep blend with a slight sweetness that's surprises the palette. — 9 years ago
Incredibly full and balanced. Loved it. — 10 years ago
My kind of wine, a lot of meats and dark fruit. Mainly wood and meats in it. I can't have enough of this amazing wine though it can wait for a bit longer for a better opening. — 11 years ago
This beautiful 2005 cab was an anniversary gift from a great friend of mine @Jeff Savigny The vintage is the year we got married. The nose is so complex and yet so subdued, it practically blew my mind. A nose full of roses, tobacco, dark fruit and licorice with a hint of molasses and vanilla. On the palate very dry, with a faint aged acidity, yet very rich and delicious. You can spend just as much time smelling this as drinking it. This was a near perfect wine and a great anniversary present! — 11 years ago
An exceptional wine that shows its age ability to endure and improve over time. The 2009 vintage has 76% Cab Sauv, 18% Merlot, 4% Cab Fran and 2% Petit Verdot and was aged for 15 months in French Oak barrels. Extremely opulent and luscious, though tannins were already falling, but its elegance and finesse was compelling. All ripe red fruits with a persistent perfumed aromas. Elongated finish with some fig notes as a bit of baked raisins. It can continue aging for another 15 years without compromising its elegance and complexity. This is a show stopper!! — 9 months ago
All class, all sophistication. Lots of black fruit, currants, cedar, earth. A touch of oak, well balanced acidity and fruit. Can age well much longer. Beautiful long finish. Very savory. Smoke meats and salt. Dark chocolate and dusts of graphite also noticed. 13% — 4 years ago
Just stunning. Chappellet can do no wrong in our book. Tuck this away for a few years. We anticipate that this will “bulk up” over time. Suave tannins support subtle acid. On the palate, neutral oak treatment, with espresso notes and jet black fruits, front and center. Finishes plush and expansive. — 7 years ago


Perfect 10 event. Balanced and elegant cabernet that is a bit fruitier than most. 2010 vintage. Would be delicious with food. Drinkable now but can age longer. Has a bit of new European quality. — 8 years ago
Awesome stuff. Biscuit dough, baked apple, a bit of oak influence, beautiful effervescence and great acid. 2005 vintage, but can only imagine how it will be in 20 years.. — 8 years ago
W T F - if u can u should. — 9 years ago
Outstanding! There is the perfect moment for a bottle to be opened and tonight was it. It was the wine equivalent of a album that you can listen to from start to finish. — 9 years ago
Tart cherries, smokey, and really high acid upon opening. Need to give this some time before final conclusion. But a lot to like here. I can see this could easily age for a long time. After a few hours, still quite bright and tart. But has a softer feel. Quite delicious. — 9 years ago
1996 In a perfect drinking zone. Still good color, complex fruit with a bit of leather. As close to Bordeaux as Napa can get. Aged ribeye and aged cab is a beautiful thing. — 10 years ago
This was poured through a Zazzol aerator and just spilled out Cassis, black olive, cigar box and vanilla/brown sugar from the glass. Should she well for another 8-10 years. Delicious! — 11 years ago
Big lush, dark fruit that has not reached its peak window yet. But she ain’t far away. I was able to obtain a vertical of 01,02,03,& 04. My first foray into that vertical. No rush on this one but very impressed. Leather, pepper, if not cigar leaf here . Suffice it to say, there is a lot going on here and my lack of Cali knowledge has new intrigue — 10 months ago
2002 vintage.Tasted at the Château, showing very well at 4 pm The person who opened the bottle said it was closed in the beginning, she double-decanted in the morning. A beautiful Lafite from a forgotten vintage, elegant, profound and very long. — 3 years ago
To me Shafer is among the worlds best wineries. Aged 32 months in 100% new French oak. Vivid deep purple color, and outstanding aromas of red/black fruits, cherries and blackberries, with hints of cedar, floral oak & spice. Tasting this wine was absolutely magnificent, concentrated dark berry fruit flavors, spices, leather and oak, exploding on my palate. Soft velvety subtle tannins provide a nice deep lingering finish. Truly an outstanding Cab, one of the best. If you can find yourself a bottle, do not hesitate. Should last at least 10 more yrs. — 7 years ago
Pure drinking bliss!
BlackBerry, dark cherry, a touch of cassis with leather, tobacco leaf, cedar, menthol... the list can go on and on with the complexity.
On the palate perfectly poised and balanced with amazing purity of fruit. This is currently in the perfect drinking window. Simply amazing! — 7 years ago
On the nose, stewed fruits of; black plum, blackberries, dark cherries, plum and blueberries. Mocha, chocolate, mixed berry cola, sweet spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, loamy mineral soils and dry dark florals. The mouthfeel is less concentrated than other vintages of Corison but that's indicative of the 10 Napa vintage generally. The tannins are nicely resolved with another 5-8 years before they are completely resolve. The fruits are; dark cherries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, blackberries with strawberries that dance around the rest of the fruit. There's nice barrel toast, vanilla, nutmeg, light clove, cinnamon, touch of wood shavings, liqueur notes, caramel, mocha chocolate, mix berry cola, loamy soils, dry crushed rocks, bramble, dry stems with nice soft round acidity. The finish is a little lean but tasty. Good balance of fruit and earth with long, rich elegance. Cathy slightly overachieved the 10 vintage as a whole. Photos of; her estate building, Cathy in her vineyard, grapes coming in at night (better to harvest when the fruit is cooler) and her estate vineyard in all it's glory. Producer notes and history...Cathy Corison grew up in Riverside, California. She studied biology at Pomona College and was on their men's diving team, because the school didn't have a women's team. In 1972, she had to take an extracurricular class. She signed up for a trampoline class, but changed her mind upon seeing a sign-up sheet for a wine tasting class. This class was the catalyst that sparked her interest in winemaking. After graduation in 1975, she moved to Napa Valley in California. She received her Master's degree in Enology from University of California, Davis. Upon moving to Napa, she started working in the tasting room at Sterling Vineyards and at a wine shop. During this time, she was getting her Master's degree at the University of California, Davis. She was told by her professor that she would not get a job in Napa Valley because of being a woman. However, if she wasn't the first Napa Valley female Winemaker, she was certainly one of the first. She tried to get a job at Freemark Abbey and was denied because they believed she could not work in the cellar. She almost took a job at Christian Brothers in the enology lab. However, she decided not to take the job and in 1978 she became an intern at Freemark Abbey and eventually became their Winemaker. She joined Chappellet in 1983 and was their Winemaker for nearly ten years. She founded Corison Winery, in 1987. The winery is located in St. Helena, California in a barn built by her husband, William Martin. Corison makes Cabernet and Gewürztraminer. They produce about 3,500 cases a year depending on the vintage. The winery makes a Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and as well as a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The Kronos is an estate wine that is made from organic grapes. The vineyard is dry farmed. The grapes come from one of the oldest vineyards in Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Cabernet comes from Rutherford. The Gewürztraminer is called Corazón and comes from the Anderson Valley. — 8 years ago

The color and nose tells you nothing about the age of this wine. Incredibly fresh and youthful on both scores. My nasal passage was flooded with violets and cassis. The flood gates collapsed and my mouth was coated with black currants, licorice and minerals. Paved over my palate like a run away steamroller. Merely a teenager at this stage of evolution. I can only imagine what Father Time will create. If this is your birth year it will be a challenge to out live this wine. — 10 years ago

A fav that I can find at most west coast whole foods — 12 years ago
Chris Ng
Notes of leather and dark fruits on the nose, very smooth on the palette. A lovely cab I can drink all day long. — 8 months ago