2011 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard has reached its tenth birthday in style. Pliant and generous, the 2011 is fresh, layered and super-expressive. Bright, red-toned fruit, rose petal, mint, savory herbs and licorice all open in the glass. The 2011 is a quiet, restrained Kronos that impresses for its balance.

The 2011 vintage is considered by most producers in Napa Valley a historically challenging year with unusually cold temperatures and a strong dose of rain late in the season. The combination caused challenges for producers unprepared or unused to such conditions. Generally, there is a lighter, higher-acid profile to wines of the 2011 vintage. It is a good year to know your producer as some gorgeous wines come from the vintage but some troubled wines do as well. Ruby-black core with ruby edges. Star bright in the glass. Fresh lifting aromatics showing notes of cedar, dried rose and potpourri. Exuberant, exotic flavours including notes of blooming roses, mixed dried citrus, and a cascade of mixed fruits. Accents of cedar and gunmetal with a background of white mushrooms show layers of complexity. This is a lovely, harmonious wine that is simultaneously finessed, exotic and nicely balanced – fine-boned and lengthy with ultra-fine-grained, persistent tannin. There is something incredibly fine and delicate here like bone china or antique lace while also full of beauty and presence. This is the most ethereal of the vintages tasted though I don’t mean by that to deny the real presence and still earthy elements throughout the wine. Lovely. A favourite. Those looking for the power and push easily possible with this variety will need to look elsewhere. This wine is all about delicacy, finesse and nuance. The size and weight of the wine is comparable to the 1996 but everything here at the same time actually feels finer boned – it would be easy to assume that implies less ageing potential for this vintage but there is such harmony of elements here that I’m inclined to give it just as much overall time as other vintages. To put that another way, the wine has the incredible elegance, and fineness of fine china, and fine china remains quite durable for decades (and as museums teach us, even longer) as long as we don’t drop it. (ECB)

Dark red cherries, plums, freshly cut flowers, mint and spices lift from the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos. In 2011, the Kronos is especially aromatic and lifted in style. Hints of kirsch and lavender add nuance on the delineated, layered finish.