2020 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon from Cathy Corison also comes in at the same 13.9 percent alcohol as the Sunbasket cabernet this year, but the wine seems a bit more precise and fresher on the nose than the Sunbasket, at least at this early stage. The classic Corison bouquet wafts from the glass in that Rutherford Bench classic signature of black cherries, cassis, dark soil tones, Rutherford Dust spice tones, cigar ash and a lovely framing of nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, elegant and full-bodied, with lovely depth at the core, fine-grained, buried tannins, great focus and grip and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This just seems cooler in personality to my palate than the Sunbasket Vineyard bottling this year, despite the two wines coming in at the same octane. It is a great classic Corison cabernet in the making!