United States · California

Corison

Cathy Corison established her Rutherford estate in 1987 after winemaking stints at Chappellet and Staglin, building a reputation for what she calls 'the elusive middle'—Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that prioritizes balance, restraint, and ageability over the hedonistic extraction that defined much 1990s-2000s Napa wine. The Corison Cabernet Sauvignon is the core wine (280 lots, $139, 2016 peak), while the Kronos Vineyard single-vineyard bottling—from a heritage block of Cabernet planted in the 1970s on gravelly alluvial soils—is the prestige label ($332, 47 lots, 2013 peak). Sunbasket Vineyard averages $127 (26 lots). Prices reach $1,554 for the rarest Kronos lots. Total activity: 353 lots at $164 average. The Kronos premium—more than double the standard wine—reflects old-vine complexity from vines first planted during the early Napa Cabernet era. Corison's consistent critical acclaim, particularly from Wine Spectator and The Wine Advocate, sustains secondary demand for a domaine that produces only around 5,000 cases annually.