Corra Wines are made by veteran Napa Winemaker Celia Welch. She has been making wine in Napa for over 25 years and currently is the winemaker for six boutique high end Napa producers. She has also made the wine for Scarecrow since their first vintage.
Her father was a home winemaker and collector and she grew up helping him make wine. Her first introduction to the Napa Valley was in the 1960's during trips with her family. She graduated from UC Davis in 1982 with a degree in Enology at a time when a number of now prominent women winemakers were enrolled including Pam Starr and Heidi Petersen Barrett and others who work in Napa and beyond.
Recently we had the opportunity to sit down with her and several wine writers at 750 Wines in St. Helena. Her attention to detail is painstaking, yet Celia spoke of never having a recipe when it comes to winemaking. Every year is completely different; there are too many variables throughout the year that require adjustments both in the vineyards and during the winemaking.
She focuses on what she does best and what the soils of Napa do best; as a result all her efforts are directed into one high quality Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is available in extremely limited quantities, usually merely several hundred cases. It is available direct through her mailing list and in select locations within the Napa Valley including at 750 Wines in St. Helena.
Celia believes in the complexities different vineyards can bring to a wine and her Cabernet Sauvignon is always a blend of fruit from multiple vineyards. In the case of the current vintage (2007) she sources from three premium vineyards in Oakville, Rutherford and from Pritchard Hill. Celia works with only sustainably farmed vineyards.
After trying to decide on a name for the wine and looking at the nomenclature of overused Roman Gods for wine names she looked at her own heritage. Being Irish on both her mother and fathers side she found the name Corra, a Celtic goddess of both prophecy and harvest. This is a name that fits well in the wine industry - prophecy - always working in the moment yet with one eye on the future, always looking ahead so to speak.
The 2007 has an intriguing bouquet which is a mix of espresso, light brown chocolate, raspberries and cherry. The entry is rather soft - this wine remains smooth from start to finish with a complexity of well-layered fruit and structure on the mid palate. The Pritchard Hill fruit helps provide structure and the other vineyards provide more of the fruit aspect to this wine. The tannins are well managed both in the vineyards and definitely in the winemaking style. They are fine grained and linger on the palate for some time.
For more information and to signup for the mailing list, visit: www.corrawines.com
|
 |
|
