A dear friend sent us holiday tidings, and some photos of one of his wine selections over the holidays. He graced his table with a wonderful forty year old bottle of MONTICELLO Cabernet Sauvignon.

🍷The winemaker in me would normally wax poetic about the decanting of this forty year old library wine, the time for breathing, that beautiful forty year old cork that came out in one piece, the opening up of the tertiary aromas and flavors, and textures that can only be created by the hands of time. My friend is a lifelong wine pro, that bottle was in the perfect hands that evening, and I know he enjoyed it! I’m glad he did, and was honored that he selected this wine for a special dinner.

🔨 I could go on and on about the wine itself, but what really settled into my mind was to think about where the soul of a wine resides.

💡In recent months, my perspective on this has evolved. I’ve long believed throughout my career, that the soul of our wine and legacy of our family business lived in the land that we were stewards of … the soil, the vines, the grapes … and in the wines that we grew and crafted with love … in the tanks, the barrels, and wineglasses we shared with all.

❤️ I was mistaken. The soul of our wines, the legacy of what our dad started more than fifty years ago, the true and authentic energy, lives in the hearts of those of us that have embraced it wholly, from the beginning, in my case for my entire life. For many that came later, the energy is neither true nor authentic.

 🕊️ I’ll continue to proudly carry that soul and legacy with me in my heart as strongly and as authentically as I have for the last forty years, since I first started working in the cellar as a teenager.

 🕊️ I’ll continue to proudly carry that soul and legacy with me in my heart, embracing it, sharing it with everyone, imparting it on every wine I grow and craft in the future, and passing it along to my next generation.

📖 While a forty year chapter has been closed in a most profoundly disappointing manner, I’m looking forward to new chapters and growth, and exciting new opportunities.

👊🏼 Press On! “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.” – Calvin Coolidge

*This was our dad’s favorite quote. It graced his desk for years, and has been a mantra for me throughout my life. Press On!

👁️ Stay tuned!

www.chriscorley.wine