CHRIS CORLEY WINES | Napa Valley
S54 E11 | A Lifetime in the Making …

2015 | A Ten Year Retrospective

CORLEY | Cabernet Sauvignon
State Lane Vineyard | Yountville
95 points | Decanter Magazine

⏳ One of the great pleasures of a life in wine is to revisit vintages past. For Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, I’ve always greatly enjoyed the ten year tasting. Many of the wines I’ve made over the decades are in a wonderful ‘sweet spot’ of aging at ten years. They still have aspects of their youthful dark fruit and robust tannins, yet a softer patina is settling in on the midpalate and finish, the tertiary flavors that only time can develop are beginning to settle in.

🍇 2015 was a terrific vintage … it was a warm, early season following several years of drought. Our harvest was early, with small, concentrated berries resulting in powerful, voluptuous wines. These wines are aging magnificently, and while I consider them in a ‘sweet spot’ right now, they will continue to develop and age gracefully for at least another 10 years.

🍇 STATE LANE VINEYARD : Around 1985, Jay Corley formed a group to purchase this iconic vineyard on State Lane in Yountville. This vineyard remains a separate entity from the family winery estate Jay founded at Monticello. Historically part of the Beringer Brothers vineyard portfolio, our dad saw the terrific potential of this site to produce robust and full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon that had the power and depth to age gracefully for decades. For decades, I’ve continued to make these wines from State Lane Vineyard with this long term perspective.

🍷STATE LANE 2025 : We’ve pressed out all of the 2025 State Lane Cabernet Sauvignon. As is typical for the wines from this vineyard post-fermentation … this wine is inky black, dense in structure, powerful fruit and framed by robust tannins. It will age in french oak barrels for 24-30 months, racked frequently to allow it to breathe, and to soften and round out the tannins. The 2025 wines will be released in Spring 2028.

🍷 STATE LANE 2015 : I recently enjoyed this wine from the libary. We decanted about 30 minutes before the first glass, and enjoyed this wine for hours throughout the night. It was wonderfully complex, and continued to evolve over several hours in the decanter, as we kept returning to revisit and enjoy. Terrific dark black berry, and cassis. The modest oak in the background added layers of mocha and vanilla. On the palate, it is richly textured and voluptuous, the tannins resolving beautifully and gracefully.

🎗️2015 was our Dear Ol’ Dad’s final vintage. These wines from 2015 have always been very special to me, as these memorial wines were my winemaking fare thee well to Pop. I’ve enjoyed following their progress, and raise a toast to Dear Ol’ Dad every time we pull a cork!

🎭 ‘Don’t be sad because it’s over. Smile because it happened’ – Dr. Seuss

🛠️ My new website is under construction, but please stay with us here to keep updated on our exciting new projects, as our family explores and charts new paths ahead!

Chris Corley Wines
http://www.chriscorley.wine