Female winemakers, while they seem relatively unheard of, are quietly becoming more prominent, with approximately a fifth to a quarter of the vintners in the Sonoma County and Napa County wine country being female. In fact, a female was named winemaker of the year last year by Wine Enthusiast magazine. Cathy Corison is one such female vintner having an impact with her own winery in Napa Valley, Corison Vineyards.
The Corison Vineyard - corison being derived from the original Spanish, corazon, or heart, is a small lot producer specializing in cabernets, either wholly derived from her own thirty-six year old vines or augmented with grapes from some of the best local wineries throughout northern California wine country. While her name isn't as recognizable as some of the local wineries surrounding hers, she is making a name for herself by the fine wines she has been producing, and that has drawn her praise from critics and afforded her a growing following.
After getting a degree in biology, Corison went on to attain an enology master's degree from the University of California, Davis. She then spent the next thirty years producing fine wines for other local wineries before establishing her own vineyard in 1987 with her husband who runs the business side of the vineyard. He was also responsible for designing the barn-like tasting room structure at the winery in Napa Valley wine country. Together they have established a product and experience befitting their passion for wine, and doing such with corazon.
