I love wine travel as much as wine itself, and there are certain roadways around the world which, for me, might as well be paved with golden bricks. There’s Burgundy’s Route des Grands Crus, of course, which runs from Dijon to Santenay and passes through the greatest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards in the world; there’s Italy’s Via Aurelia, an old Roman road that hugs the Mediterranean Coast from Rome to Nice; and then there’s the route to Cornell Vineyards, a winding mountain pass known as Spring Mountain/St. Helena road. Start in St. Helena, head west, and soon you’re in a dense thicket of world-famous Cabernet Sauvignon producers: Philip Togni, Keenan, Lokoya, Smith-Madrone, Pride Mountain…and, just after you’ve crossed the Napa/Sonoma County line, Cornell Vineyards.
Some 20 years ago, Vanessa and Henry Cornell found this remote property, perched at 1,900 feet in the Mayacamas Range, with a history of vine cultivation dating back to the area’s earliest settlers. After converting 20 wild acres to meticulously farmed Cabernet vines, they enlisted a dream team—headed by the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle “Winemaker of the Year” Françoise Peschon—to craft classically styled, critically acclaimed wines. Although our Private Client Services team has gotten a crack at these cult bottlings in the past, we’ve never had an opportunity to feature Cornell in a Daily Offer—until today. “Courtship” is an estate-bottled ‘second wine’ in the Bordeaux mold (think “Forts de Latour,” “Pavillon Rouge de Margaux,” etc.) and, at this price, represents a golden opportunity for collectors and casual drinkers alike. Take up to six bottles and run for the hills, because micro-batch mountain Cabernet of this pedigree usually climbs well into three figures!
Our subscribers know “Cornell country” quite well, eagerly snapping up wines from neighbors like Pride Mountain (whose vineyards also straddle the Napa/Sonoma county line). The soils combine sedimentary loam and gravel mixed with volcanic deposits, at altitudes that often climb above the “fog line” that makes this one of the coolest sub-appellations in the Napa Valley. The relatively mild temperatures at altitude, combined with intense luminosity, combine to create wines that are intense and concentrated, yet balanced and complex.
The Cornell Vineyards—which, sadly, were damaged by the “Glass Fire” that tore through Napa and Sonoma last fall—fall within a relatively new Sonoma AVA (American Viticultural Area) called the Fountaingrove District, which was once famous for a “cult” winery of a different sort—that of utopian spiritualist Thomas Lake Harris, who ran a sizable ranch and winery in the area in the late-1800s. Like the Cornells, consulting winemaker Françoise Peschon, perhaps best known for her tenure at Araujo Estate (1993-2013) jumped at the chance to work in such a unique terroir. In her profile of Peschon for the San Francisco Chronicle, Esther Mobley included the following nugget about Cornell:
“I love wines that take on their environment,” Peschon says. “I want to foster ecosystems — microcosms.” She was drawn to the Cornell Vineyard in Sonoma County’s Fountaingrove AVA, for example, whose Cabernet she makes with winemaker Elizabeth Tangney, because the wine reflects its rugged mountain habitat: mint, peat, tea leaf.”
Today’s 2017 is, according to owners Vanessa and Henry Cornell, the result of a more than decade-long “courtship” between them and their land, which they first started developing in 2001. It is a debut release, of which a mere 313 cases were made, with deep, savory, beautifully concentrated estate-grown Cabernet (97%) placed front and center. It was aged for 20 months in 40% new French oak, and, while it may go without saying, I’ll say it anyway: The wine drinks like something twice, even three times as expensive. It garnered all the gushing critical acclaim one could ask for, thanks to its combination of immense depth and vibrant, mineral-laden energy—a Spring Mountain signature. In the glass, it displays an opaque ruby-black core moving to a magenta rim, with a kaleidoscopic fruit profile that includes red, black, and blueberries, black plum, cassis, and huckleberry layered with a Pauillac-esque array of savory notes—cedar, tobacco, sage, tar, and dusty earth. The tannins are incredibly fine and well-integrated and for all its concentration, the wine is nimble, taut, and fresh. Decant it 30-60 minutes before serving in large Bordeaux stems or lay it down for 10+ years—or, in a perfect world, do both! Whenever you decide to pull the cork, the choice will be between something that highlights its rugged mountain character (a grilled ribeye would do) or its silky sophistication (maybe a duck confit). I’m sure you’ll figure it out—and what a time you’ll have. Enjoy!
