CrauforD Napa Valley

CrauforD Napa Valley was founded in 1999 by Marilyn Crawford Corley; her daughter Carolyn was initially involved with the winemaking. Her son Chris is the current winemaker and his wife Julianna manages their source vineyards. Marilyn was married to Jay Corley; both were founders of Napa based Monticello Vineyards (Jay died in 2016).

CrauforD released their first vintage from 1999, merely 70 cases of a Sauvignon Blanc called Highlander. While CrauforD does not own a physical winery, conveniently they produce the wines at Monticello Vineyards. Marilyn was born and raised near Falkirk, Scotland (about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh); the wines are a tribute to her heritage and the historical spelling of her last name. The Scottish motto which appears on their label, “Tutum te robore reddam” translates to “I will render you safe by my strength”.

Julianna (or Jules as she is known by friends and family) was born and raised in Maryland. She became hooked on wine while working in restaurants and waiting tables, eventually becoming in charge of one restaurant’s wine list. Looking to further her wine education she moved to California and enrolled at the University of California Davis, ultimately graduating with a degree in viticulture and enology. Her first wine job was for Opus One as a vineyard researcher collecting data relating to roots and soils. Later she worked for a vineyard management company – helping oversee numerous vineyards. Today she is a vineyard consultant working with vineyards throughout the Napa Valley, including a number in the eastern part of the county, the Russian River Valley and select vineyards in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Her vineyard management philosophy is to farm as organically as possible.

Combining her love of travel with viticulture and Chris’s winemaking skills, between them both they have worked on a number of international wine-based projects including an intriguing project in Taiwan (Weightstone Vineyard Estate & Winery) in which she oversaw the shipping of numerous winemaking and viticulture supplies to Taiwan as well as a number of vineyard workers from California. They have also consulted for vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California.

Jules and Chris’s former estate property, purchased in 2015, was located in the Spring Mountain Appellation. Situated at an elevation of about 1700 feet among forested slopes well above the valley floor, the property feels remote yet is only about a 15-minute drive from the center of St. Helena. The site is 40 acres of which 5 of are planted to vine including 4 rows of Cabernet Franc with the remainder planted to 4 clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. And Jules was intimately familiar with the site long before they purchased this property; she helped plant the vineyard back in 2000. This feels like old Napa Valley, a working ranch tucked into the hillsides with chickens, sheep, goats and gardens – far away from the traffic so often associated with the valley floor.

NOTE: the property that Jules managed and the site of their home for a number of years on Spring Mountain was unfortunately burned in the Glass Fire of Fall 2020. They were able to evacuate their sheep right before the fire. These animals were moved to the Monticello Vineyards property in Oak Knoll; they are used for ‘mowing’ the grass during certain times of the year among their vines. Julianna and Chris no longer live here or produce wines from the vineyard.

Select wines
Currently Jules and Chris produce wines bottled as Barrelhead, CrauforD and Chris Corley. The focus of CrauforD’s production is on hand crafting limited premium production Napa Valley wines including their original wine, the Highlander Sauvignon Blanc, and the ever popular whimsically named Kilt Lifter Zinfandel, Piper Doon Cabernet Franc and the Tattoo Cabernet Sauvignon. Despite the grapes for these wines coming from premium mostly Napa Valley based vineyards they have kept their prices very reasonable by Napa Valley standards and these bottlings always over deliver in terms of their price to quality ratio.

Jules also runs her own label, Jules Melange which focuses on a white and red blend and a rosé. Conveniently Chris is the winemaker. Jules enjoys working with wines bottled under this label because it gives her a chance to work with varieties that are not always associated with the Napa Valley – and be creative, especially with the final blends. And these are wines that won’t set your budget back – they are very reasonably priced for the quality.

CrauforD
Whites
The 2024 CrauforD Sauvignon Blanc ‘Highlander’

The varietal composition of the Jules Melange Vin Blanc changes every year – with the base varietal being Sauvignon Blanc. The 2016 Jules Melange Vin Blanc is a blend of approximately 1/3 Sauvignon Blanc, 1/3 Chardonnay and 1/3 Albariño. Jules loves working with older vine Albariño and is fortunate to have access to a small vineyard source in Calistoga as well as in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. This wine is straw golden in the glass offering pretty aromas of both tropical and citrus nuances. Initially shows notes of passion fruit, melon and floral nuances including citrus blossom as the wine opens further. Balance and texture define this wine – it is a pleasure to drink with its supple almost oily at times mouth feel across the palate. But there is also good acidity to balance out the textural weight. And Jules defines Melange on the back of every bottle, “Melange – a distinctive and delightful blend of seemingly inharmonious elements”. The label is an image of grape flowers in bloom. And rather than bottle with a screw cap or cork, the wine is bottled with a glass vino seal enclosure.

Reds
Cabernet Franc
The 2023 CrauforD Cabernet Franc ‘Piper Doon’, Knollwood Vineyard Napa Valley

The 2013 CrauforD Cabernet Franc Piper Doon is 100% varietal sourced from a single vineyard in the Oak Knoll District along with 4 rows of Cabernet Franc from their Spring Mountain property. The bouquet shows aromas of ripe blackberry, raspberry and as the wine opens a thread of mocha/vanilla dessert spice sweetness along with tobacco leaf. A robust vintage in general from the Napa Valley in its youth, this wine needs time to open. Medium bodied on the palate, flavors of red cherry and currant show anchored by a finish with some textural grip but not an overly muscular finish. Fruit along with black pepper and some cedar spice linger. Only 48 cases of this wine were produced. And for those interested, the name is a play on the “We have a Piper Down” scene from the film, So I Married an Ax Murderer.

Merlot
The 2022 CrauforD Merlot ‘Ben Nevis’, Knollwood Vineyard Napa Valley

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 CrauforD Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Tattoo’ Knollwood Vineyard, Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is a harmonious interplay between fruit and barrel. Its scents include blackberry, dark plum, boysenberry, cherry and dark mulberry with additional layering of mocha, espresso, toast, dark chocolate and the resulting smells of walking into a humidor. Delivers layers of flavor including dark plum, black cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and dark mulberry. Finishes with a light but supporting influence from the barrel including a note of dried tobacco leaf and dark chocolate. The tension between texture, acidity and flavor feels pleasant; the tannins are well-tumbled, fully ripe and linger with a light chalky feel which gently outpaces the fruit on the finish. Medium bodied. Medium plus acidity. In terms of personality, this wine falls solidly in the center of being a crowd friendly expression of the variety. This wine over delivers for the price and is showing in a sweet spot, three years post vintage and should continue to show well for the next 5-10 years. And it pairs extremely well with MC Hammer’s, U Can’t Touch This.

The 2017 CrauforD Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Tattoo’, Spring Mountain District Napa Valley

The 2006 CrauforD Tattoo Cabernet Sauvignon is bottled with a glass VinoSeal. A coravin won’t work so well on this as we quickly discovered, hidden underneath the black stock capsule. For reference we tasted this bottle 19 years post vintage. Its color is deep ruby and nearly opaque with a noticeable transition to brickish colored hues at this age. The bouquet has mostly transitioned to tertiary with aromas of dried fruits including blackberry and cherry, with additional notes of baked plum, boysenberry, dark mulberry, old cedar box, pipe tobacco, toast, dark chocolate and mocha. The palate perhaps shows a bit more primary than the bouquet with flavors of red cherry, dark currant, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry, Coral cherry at the peak of its ripeness, Pakistani mulberry, one of our favorite springtime fruits and a finishing note of pipe tobacco. The acidity is bright and balanced and has kept the wine relatively fresh over its nearly two decades; the finish lingers with well tumbled, fully coating tannins sporting a lightly gravelly and chalky grip, lasting beyond the fruit. Pair with roasted rack of lamb.

Barrelhead
The 2019 Barrelhead Cabernet Sauvignon, Heinemann Mountain Vineyard, Spring Mountain Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque; very much ripe, primary scented and offering a darker fruit personality at 6 years post vintage, this wine smells like cherry pie, blackberry jam, dark plum, dark mulberry and boysenberry. And riding shotgun as a well mannered passenger are its non fruited aromatics including baker’s chocolate, cocoa powder, mocha, pipe tobacco and old cedar box. Fresh, bright, balanced and coiled with plenty of energy at this age, this wine tastes like both red and dark fruits. Its flavors include cherry, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry, Persian mulberry, currant, cranberry and cocoa powder. It finishes with well textured tannins, broadly dispersed across the palate and lingering beyond the fruit with a gravelly and grainy character. Finishes savory, bright and juicy. In terms of a pairing, we wouldn’t mind enjoying this wine with the ‘Famous’ 21 Day Dry-Aged New York Steak at Coles Chophouse in downtown Napa. Using a boxing analogy this wine punches in a higher weight class and over delivers for the price point. Drink this wine with the song, Foxy Girls in Oakland by Rodger Collins.

Chris Corley
The 2022 Chris Corley Cabernet Sauvignon, Family Reserve is deep ruby and completely opaque; a playful union between fruit and barrel, this wine smells like blackberry, cherry pie, boysenberry, dark mulberry and plum with layers of mocha, expresso, cocoa powder, sweet pipe tobacco, old cedar box (an aromatic that reminds us the smells when we open the jewelry box our grandmother gifted us before she died) and milk chocolate. For reference, we needled and nosed this bottle three years post vintage; at this age be patient – the fruit will become more expressive as it is exposed to oxygen. A ripe but not over ripe expression of the variety (a characteristic of this warm and challenging vintage), this wine tastes like dark raspberry, blackberry, cherry, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry and dark chocolate. The balanced acidity keeps the wine on its toes, fresh and vibrant. This wine finishes with fully ripe, resolved and rounded tannins; their texture persists in tandem with the fruit, broadly coating the palate with a dusty but gentle grip. If this wine was a personality at a party, it would be a beautiful brunette, outgoing and radiating both inner and outer beauty.

NOTE: this review has been identified as needing a *major* update including tasting notes for current release wines.

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Total production of all the CrauforD wines is around 700 cases per year with most of the wine sold direct via their wine club. The wines are selectively available in the New York and New Orleans markets (based on a family friend who owns a distributor).

For more information, and or to join their “whats under your kilt” wine club (with access to some exclusive events), visit: www.craufordwine.com