Napa– Plenty of Room for Wineries Big and Small

One of the great joys for those of us who enjoy wine is discovering lesser known labels and sharing them with friends. At the same time, there is a lot to be said about larger wineries that make good wines consistently. I am especially grateful for the larger wineries when traveling, since artisan producers are less likely to have national distribution.

On a recent weekend, I had a great study in contrasts between Cabernet powerhouse Pine Ridge Winery, which produces some 70,000 cases a year, and Corison Winery, another outstanding Cabernet producer but one that makes only about 3,000 cases a year. That’s a big difference. The beauty is that there is plenty of room for both — and many others, too.

Pine Ridge, located just north of the city of Napa on Silverado Trail, has about 20 current release wines, ranging from a mellow white wine, Chenin Blanc – Viognier, to the complex and highly regarded (and expensive) Fortis, a Bourdeaux blend using the best grapes from Pine Ridge’s Stag’s Leap District vineyards and select blending grapes.

Of the wines tasted on this visit, my favorite was Pine Ridge’s 2006 Epitome Cabernet Sauvignon, a hearty, big wine that stood up beautifully to the garlic-marinated grilled lamb that Pine Ridge Chef Eric Maczko paired with it. This wine is made exclusively with grapes on Pine Ridge’s ridge that are exposed to the warmest temperatures, making the vines work harder to produce the fruit. The result is a more concentrated grape, with intense flavor — and a very low yield of grapes per block. Pine Ridge wines range in price from about $40 to $125 per bottle.

Our next winery stop on this Napa trip was at Corison, just south of the town of St. Helena on Route 29. Corison was founded in 1987 by Cathy Corison and her husband, William Martin, and remains a family-run business, despite the enormous notoriety that Corison’s wines have earned. Unlike Pine Ridge, Corison’s product range is small – her main wines are two Cabernet Sauvignons and a Gewürztraminer.

But Cathy Corison herself controls the wine from the soil to the sale. She has her own technique for determining the optimal time for harvest, which is the most crucial decision for a winemaker. Corison’s consistent winning product shows that she clearly is doing something right. (Pictured: Grapes that will become part of Corison’s 2010 wines. Photo by Doug Levy.)

On this visit, we sampled Corison’s 2000, 2001 and 2006 Napa Cabernet and the 2005 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet. Kronos produces Corison’s most prized grapes. The current releases, the 2006 Napa Cabernet and the 2005 Kronos Cabernet, are $70 and $98, respectively.

As with other fine wines, these Corison wines benefit from time in the bottle. Even the 2000 tasted just a bit softer than the 2001, although both wines were outstanding. (Wines from 2001 in Napa are generally regarded as among the better ones.) The 2005 Kronos would be a perfect wine to go with a grilled steak dinner. Just make sure it is a very good steak. (I splurged a little and bought a half-bottle of the 2000 Cabernet to add to my cellar.)

For those of you who want to learn much more about California cabernet, Cathy Corison is co-instructor of a New York Times on-line course on Napa cabernets. The course fee is $125, and the “course package” of wines is available on Corison’s web site for $300.

(This article originally appeared on MoreMarin.com and the Marin section of SFGate.com on June 23, 2010.)