Very few things in life are both of the moment and timeless; every time you open a Corley wine, you rediscover the original experience but with more understanding than before. ~The Corley Family
I find deep, dark aromas in this wine. Upon first opening, the wine has a wonderful spicy forest floor tone on the nose which evolves into a dark and peppery blackberry fruit aromas. These aromas are enhanced by toasted vanilla and caramel notes with hints of floral and light herb tones. On the palate, the wine is rich yet lively on the attack. A full-bodied mid-palate with well-structured tannins frame the wine nicely into the finish. The finish itself is long, with medium grain tannins and lingering flavors of boysenberry, blackberry, pepper, and vanilla. - Winemaker, Chris Corley
Winemaker Notes
We’re very excited about the 2015 vintage. As of the time of this writing, the 2015 vintage represents the fourth of five consecutive years of phenomenal quality wines
from our vineyards and across Napa Valley. The fruit displayed great purity and intensity, which was translated quite well through to the finished wines. In general,
the wines from 2015 are displaying ripe fruit, great structure, and balance.
Our two blocks of Syrah, clones 174 and 470, were hand-picked then further sorted on the crush pad and co-fermented. The wine was aged in oak barrels for 24 months.
Specs
Vintage: 2015
Blend: 100% Syrah
Appellation: Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley
Alcohol: 14.2%
Production: 188 Cases
Aging: Drink now through 2028
Decant 30 minutes prior to serving
Included in the Box
3-bottles:
3x 2015 Estate Grown Syrah, Monticello Vineyards, Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley
Case:
12x 2015 Estate Grown Syrah, Monticello Vineyards, Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley
We are very proud to be a family-owned and managed winery. Our father, Jay Corley, came to Napa Valley in 1969 seeking land to plant and grow an estate vineyard. Thirty-five plus years later, sons Kevin, Chris and Stephen manage the winery: Kevin is our Winegrower and President, Chris is our Winemaker, and Stephen is our Director of Wine Sales. We are a small winery producing approximately 15,000 cases of wine annually designated MONTICELLO VINEYARDS, CORLEY RESERVE, and CORLEY.
Our over-riding philosophy is that great wines are made in the vineyards. This is why we have made such a tremendous commitment to ownership of the most suitable land for our grapes. Already satisfied with the strength and quality of our Oak Knoll estates for our Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we set out in pursuit of Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in the warmer districts of Napa Valley.
Today we farm five vineyards in the Napa Valley - our Home Ranch Vineyard and Knollwood Vineyard in the Oak Knoll District planted to Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah vines and our State Lane Vineyard in Yountville, Tietjen Vineyard on Niebaum Lane in Rutherford and Ehlers Lane Vineyard in St. Helena each planted to Cabernet Sauvignon.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Corley Family Monticello Vineyards Syrah
3 bottles for $69.99 $23.33/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $229.99 $19.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
I avoided reading anything about this before I tried it - didn’t want to be influenced by anyone else’s tasting notes. I tried a little right on opening first. It tasted just like you would have imagined from the first whiff - a bit peppery and lots of berry flavors. A little tannic, but not astringently so. As it opened up, the berry flavors smoothed out quite a bit as did the tannins. I drank this with rack of lamb on Easter and it held up to that strong flavor quite well. Would I pay $48/btl for this as listed on the website? Probably not, but I think the case price is quite a bargain.
Wine Spectator has no ratings for their syrah, but their recent cabs get favorable reviews, most 90-93 points. Several vineyards/vintages. I’m not a points freak, but this does provide some evidence that they can make a decent wine. Go ahead a crucify me for saying so. Different grape, different vineyard, etc., etc. Nevermind what “tier” this is. I get it. Have a great day all!
Thank you for the opportunity to rat another bottle! My wife, myself, and one of our neighbors (we left them a flask outside their door, still social distancing) were able to take the time to evaluate this bottle and I’ll list our thoughts below. Please let me know if anyone has any questions!
Pairing:
We seared some lamb using the following method:
^this was a pretty cool way to cook lamb, I highly recommend it.
We roasted some potatoes as well and seared some asparagus.
Day 1 (with the above meal)
Wife:
Nose: Forest floor, moss
Mouth: Bitter, lots of tannins, spicy, little bit of blackberry but it falls flat at the end. Not a very layered wine. Aftertaste is the same minerally taste you get from drinking a pellegrino.
Verdict: Did not like this wine, the bitterness overwhelmed most of the other notes.
Me:
Nose: Floral
Mouth: Very tannic, smooth mouthfeel, medium amount of dark fruits, there was a bitterness that lingered and there was some floral notes that I couldn’t quite nail down as well.
Verdict: I would not buy the wine at the current case or 3-pack price, that all being said I’m not into floral syrahs as much so that might be biasing my evaluation.
Day 2 (no pairing) We put the cork back in the bottle to let some air in overnight.
Neighbor:
Nose: Woody
Mouth: Very smooth, somewhat bitter, tasted flatter.
Verdict: Our neighbor did not like this wine, they felt that it fell flat and didn’t have a lot of depth.
Overall Verdict:
Overall, none of us seemed to be into this wine. It looks like it was well made, just might not be our taste.
@dioniseuss I can’t believe the guy in the video doesn’t like lamb fat! We render it and use it to cook other things. Yum.
Also, thanks for the review. Very useful descriptions.
Haha yeah, I got it as one of the gifts from the 12 days of Christmas Casemates event last year. It works pretty well, not super hard to clean which is a dealbreaker for me.
@ejrunion@GatorFL but then they would be cool limited edition items. but of course I’d buy one. I missed whatever deal last December thta had the decanter. I did get 2 glasses, a wine opener and stopper, a knit black hat, a sticker, and chocolates. but nit the decanter… that looks like the best prize of ‘em all. (it was a mystery you did not know what you were getting)
@dioniseuss@klezman We pretty much are fat eaters/users of all sorts but lamb fat just doesn’t do it for us either. Don’t know why really, just something about it
@ttboy23 Yeah, but I still missed the decanter. bummed! Wasn’t there like 10 days of offers, thoughsome lasted 2 days? So I think I got 4 or 5 of 'em. It was nice getting a surprise each shipment. Hopefully they will do that again for any holiday, you know, 4th of July, August, Tuesday, Sunny day, Rainy day, day that ends in “Y,” any reason, just give us stuff we like it especially now!
@dioniseuss But back to what I said earlier (later post below) about being used to the bitterness and almost appreciating it, which was tough at first (“good wine should not be easy” is my new quote). But I’m now curious about the “floral” because I don’t quite know what that tastes like. I am always on the quest for new tastes just to understand and experience them. BTW @dioniseuss that is a great user name for this forum. I assume it’s a Dionysos reference, but is the last part related to Dr Seuss or something else?
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2015 Corley Family Monticello Vineyards Syrah - $50 = 17.84%
do we know more about this wine? is it 100% varietal or are there small amounts of other fruit? Sometimes a few % viognier is added for example. this must not have been intended for retail with only 188 cases produced. hope to get winemaker comments.
the taste profile described actually sounds similar to some of the good Columbia Valley syrahs, including a peppery/bitterness factor that took me a while to appreciate. so i don’t see it as bad but maybe not what people are used to. i do think the suggested retail price includes a “Napa Valley” surcharge, similar to what they do in Walla Walla. But I would be tempted to try some just to compare to the Northwest ones.
@pmarin agree on all points. Plus I’d like to know the true number of cases (not that it makes a huge difference) but the description above says 188 and the WS capsule that @kaolis posted says 388.
@kaolis@KitMarlot Yeah I agree that actual # of cases isn’t that important but the scale of it is – below a certain number, it means it was intended either for wine club and tasting room sales only, or for some other very limited distribution (as we might be experiencing here.) actually I tend to seek out the small batch productions, just because you are likely getting something special and not “mainstream” for the retail (which tends to make mediocre but not terrible wines for general consumption).
This is why it always helps to hear from the winemaker about the history of this batch, why they made it, how they think it turned out. I’ve actually been at a tasting room in Washington where I tried a Chardonnay and thought it tasted a bit “off,” and asked the winemaker (it was a small operation so he was also doing the tasting room that day) and he agreed and say, “yeah, I think it got a bit oxidized.”
They mostly do reds as those are good in that region and I think this was an experiment that didn’t work out so well… So I didn’t buy that one, though they can be excellent for cooking if sold at a low enough price.
@novium Don’t have the stats but from my experience with the NW one as I mentioned, almost surely cellaring would be good for this especially if getting a case. It’s already 2015 so had a bit, but a few years would probably be good, and in any case decanting into the nice CaseMates decanter (that I don’t have) helps.
Tasting Notes
Winemaker Notes
Specs
Included in the Box
Price Comparison
$667.13 a Case at Corley Family Napa Valley
About The Winery
Winery: Corley Family Napa Valley
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, May 7th - Monday, May 11th
Corley Family Monticello Vineyards Syrah
3 bottles for $69.99 $23.33/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $229.99 $19.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2015 Monticello Syrah
From Wine Spectator:
Monticello Syrah Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley Corley Family 2015
Score: 87 Release Price $48
Issue: Web Only - 2019
Trim and focused, with currant and smoked spice flavors that finish with fine-grain tannins. Drink now through 2023. 336 cases made. — TF
fwiw
Very formal looking bottle. Rats?
I avoided reading anything about this before I tried it - didn’t want to be influenced by anyone else’s tasting notes. I tried a little right on opening first. It tasted just like you would have imagined from the first whiff - a bit peppery and lots of berry flavors. A little tannic, but not astringently so. As it opened up, the berry flavors smoothed out quite a bit as did the tannins. I drank this with rack of lamb on Easter and it held up to that strong flavor quite well. Would I pay $48/btl for this as listed on the website? Probably not, but I think the case price is quite a bargain.
Thanks!
Hmm… don’t really think of Napa as syrah country. Definitely interested but would like to hear from more rats or at least from the winery.
WineDavid, any comment?
Wine Spectator has no ratings for their syrah, but their recent cabs get favorable reviews, most 90-93 points. Several vineyards/vintages. I’m not a points freak, but this does provide some evidence that they can make a decent wine. Go ahead a crucify me for saying so. Different grape, different vineyard, etc., etc. Nevermind what “tier” this is. I get it. Have a great day all!
@kainc From Wine Spectator:
Monticello Syrah Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley Corley Family 2015
Score: 87 Release Price $48
Issue: Web Only - 2019
Trim and focused, with currant and smoked spice flavors that finish with fine-grain tannins. Drink now through 2023. 336 cases made. — TF
Hi All,
Thank you for the opportunity to rat another bottle! My wife, myself, and one of our neighbors (we left them a flask outside their door, still social distancing) were able to take the time to evaluate this bottle and I’ll list our thoughts below. Please let me know if anyone has any questions!
Pairing:
We seared some lamb using the following method:
^this was a pretty cool way to cook lamb, I highly recommend it.
We roasted some potatoes as well and seared some asparagus.
Day 1 (with the above meal)
Wife:
Nose: Forest floor, moss
Mouth: Bitter, lots of tannins, spicy, little bit of blackberry but it falls flat at the end. Not a very layered wine. Aftertaste is the same minerally taste you get from drinking a pellegrino.
Verdict: Did not like this wine, the bitterness overwhelmed most of the other notes.
Me:
Nose: Floral
Mouth: Very tannic, smooth mouthfeel, medium amount of dark fruits, there was a bitterness that lingered and there was some floral notes that I couldn’t quite nail down as well.
Verdict: I would not buy the wine at the current case or 3-pack price, that all being said I’m not into floral syrahs as much so that might be biasing my evaluation.
Day 2 (no pairing) We put the cork back in the bottle to let some air in overnight.
Neighbor:
Nose: Woody
Mouth: Very smooth, somewhat bitter, tasted flatter.
Verdict: Our neighbor did not like this wine, they felt that it fell flat and didn’t have a lot of depth.
Overall Verdict:
Overall, none of us seemed to be into this wine. It looks like it was well made, just might not be our taste.
@dioniseuss maybe the winery did not destem? Did wine have a bite to it?
@dioniseuss is that a casemates decanter?
@dioniseuss I can’t believe the guy in the video doesn’t like lamb fat! We render it and use it to cook other things. Yum.
Also, thanks for the review. Very useful descriptions.
@losthighwayz
I would definitely say both of us felt this wine had a strong bite. My wife thought it was spicier than I did though.
@james
Haha yeah, I got it as one of the gifts from the 12 days of Christmas Casemates event last year. It works pretty well, not super hard to clean which is a dealbreaker for me.
@dioniseuss
???
@dioniseuss @rjquillin The decanter.
Love my Casemates decanter, I got one as well!
@GatorFL Maybe Casemates needs a merch section. I would love to have a Casemates decanter!
@ejrunion @GatorFL but then they would be cool limited edition items. but of course I’d buy one. I missed whatever deal last December thta had the decanter. I did get 2 glasses, a wine opener and stopper, a knit black hat, a sticker, and chocolates. but nit the decanter… that looks like the best prize of ‘em all. (it was a mystery you did not know what you were getting)
@dioniseuss @klezman We pretty much are fat eaters/users of all sorts but lamb fat just doesn’t do it for us either. Don’t know why really, just something about it
@dioniseuss the color on that is beautiful. Might just need a few more years on the bottle.
@pmarin wow, you bought lots of wine in December!
@ttboy23 Yeah, but I still missed the decanter. bummed! Wasn’t there like 10 days of offers, thoughsome lasted 2 days? So I think I got 4 or 5 of 'em. It was nice getting a surprise each shipment. Hopefully they will do that again for any holiday, you know, 4th of July, August, Tuesday, Sunny day, Rainy day, day that ends in “Y,” any reason, just give us stuff we like it especially now!
@dioniseuss But back to what I said earlier (later post below) about being used to the bitterness and almost appreciating it, which was tough at first (“good wine should not be easy” is my new quote). But I’m now curious about the “floral” because I don’t quite know what that tastes like. I am always on the quest for new tastes just to understand and experience them. BTW @dioniseuss that is a great user name for this forum. I assume it’s a Dionysos reference, but is the last part related to Dr Seuss or something else?
@dioniseuss @novium I believe you are right about both the color and the potential (or perhaps need) for more time in the bottle.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2015 Corley Family Monticello Vineyards Syrah - $50 = 17.84%
do we know more about this wine? is it 100% varietal or are there small amounts of other fruit? Sometimes a few % viognier is added for example. this must not have been intended for retail with only 188 cases produced. hope to get winemaker comments.
the taste profile described actually sounds similar to some of the good Columbia Valley syrahs, including a peppery/bitterness factor that took me a while to appreciate. so i don’t see it as bad but maybe not what people are used to. i do think the suggested retail price includes a “Napa Valley” surcharge, similar to what they do in Walla Walla. But I would be tempted to try some just to compare to the Northwest ones.
@pmarin agree on all points. Plus I’d like to know the true number of cases (not that it makes a huge difference) but the description above says 188 and the WS capsule that @kaolis posted says 388.
@kaolis @KitMarlot Yeah I agree that actual # of cases isn’t that important but the scale of it is – below a certain number, it means it was intended either for wine club and tasting room sales only, or for some other very limited distribution (as we might be experiencing here.) actually I tend to seek out the small batch productions, just because you are likely getting something special and not “mainstream” for the retail (which tends to make mediocre but not terrible wines for general consumption).
This is why it always helps to hear from the winemaker about the history of this batch, why they made it, how they think it turned out. I’ve actually been at a tasting room in Washington where I tried a Chardonnay and thought it tasted a bit “off,” and asked the winemaker (it was a small operation so he was also doing the tasting room that day) and he agreed and say, “yeah, I think it got a bit oxidized.”
They mostly do reds as those are good in that region and I think this was an experiment that didn’t work out so well… So I didn’t buy that one, though they can be excellent for cooking if sold at a low enough price.
Did anyone get the pH on this? Or any rats have a sense of the acidity? (or just how long did the finish last?)
Sounds like it might be a decent cellar wine.
@novium Don’t have the stats but from my experience with the NW one as I mentioned, almost surely cellaring would be good for this especially if getting a case. It’s already 2015 so had a bit, but a few years would probably be good, and in any case decanting into the nice CaseMates decanter (that I don’t have) helps.
@novium @pmarin well, we ALL know what to get you for Christmas now, don’t we?!!
@novium @ttboy23 Christmas can’t come soon enough the way this year is going so far.