Posted By : Chris Corley

The Napa wine industry is a pretty charitable group. Most of the industry people we are familiar with are generous with their time and resources, and are eager to help those who may be in need of help. There are all sorts of ways that wineries and wine professionals donate their time, services, resources and wine to help a multitude of worthy and important causes throughout our valley, and even beyond.

Winning Bidder Andrew Drilling Down On His Personal Blend

Today we spent a wonderful morning with a group that had the winning bid on one of our charitable auction lots. Their winning bid entitled them to a winemaker-led blending seminar in our Reserve Room, and a beautiful white tablecloth lunch in our Jefferson House Dining Room, prepared by one of our favorite local restaurants, Hurley’s. In addition, the winning bidder will take home four cases of the blend they came up with this morning.

Events like this make everyone feel good. The winning bidder is excited to spend a wonderful day at Monticello with his family and friends, and will have 48 bottles of wonderful wine to enjoy that they have created themselves from our barrel lots. The auction is excited to have created a winning platform which brings together bidders and wineries in uniques ways such as todays session. We are excited as a winery to have our guests enjoy our facilities, and get a taste of what happens behind the scenes in putting together a winning wine. Everybody involoved is deeply satisfied knowing that all of our efforts have resulted in a good sum of money being raised for local health services.

We at Monticello would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and hopefully we can all take a moment this weekend to reflect on what truly matters to all of us. For me, the health and love of family is the core. Everything else emanates from that center. Happy Easter!

Posted By : Chris Corley

When  I was a kid (well at least when I was a younger one than the one I am now), I used to like going to the vineyard with my dad. We lived in St. Helena and the vineyards are just north of Napa, so there was always a little bit of drive to get there. Back then, the drive from St. Helena to Napa kind of seemed like a big deal and the eucalyptus trees along Highway 29 just south of Yountville were always a marker for me for some reason that would only make sense to a kid riding along with his dad.

Back then the vines seemed huge to me, and indeed they were. Grown in the old school California sprawl, the shoots were incredibly vigorous and created a tangle of huge leaves and tendrils that would stretch across the wide rows and intertwine with each other. The strength of those tendriled bonds was undeniable, and it could be a challenge for a kid to work his way through a tangled row.

Most vineyards don’t look like that anymore. They’re much neater, more manicured and tended to with perhaps more precision and the increased knowledge that comes with each additional footprint in the field. I’ve got to say though that I personally have a nostalgic nod towards those old school fields. We grew up around and in them as kids, at least until we got our drivers licenses and our range increased dramatically. Its sort of like looking back at your old pictures and enjoying all the fond memories of the long hair and goofy clothes you used to wear … even though the memories are great, you don’t necessarily want to do it again.

This year, we’re replanting two of our best sites at the front of the property, Blocks I and II. Block I has produced some fantastic Chardonnays over the years. Planted to a clone we refer to as our ‘Heirloom Clone’, which we believe traces its lineage back to the old Wente Borthers selections, the wines had a wonderful balance of ripe fruit, vibrant acidity and a unique musque characteristic that was appealing. As wonderful as the wines were, the block eventually succumbed to a couple of maladies, and replanting became the primary option. We’ll be replanting this block with Dijon Clone 96, a selection that we have had great success with as well on other parts of the property, and we look forward to many years ahead of wonderful Chardonnays again out of Block I.

We are also replanting a portion of Block II, on the northwest corner of the property. In recent years we have been growing Cabernet Franc in this block with great results. We’ve been very happy with the full dark berry flavors, slight nod of pepper and rich firm tannins that we’ve extracted from these grapes. We’re looking forward to the addition of Cabernet Sauvignon in this block. This will be the first Cabernet Sauvignon we’ve grown on the property in decades. When our dad was first transitioning these fields from the previous owners old prune orchard into vineyard land, he had planted some Cabernet Sauvignon in this very block. Convinced by others that it would be too cool to grow great Cab Sauv there, he moved our Cabernet production to the warmer regions upvalley. With the planting of this new block of Cabernet Sauvignon in the same block he had chosen some 30 years ago, he feels somewhat vindicated in that early instinct, and we couldn’t be more excited about what we’re anticipating coming out this block. We’ve chosen Clone 4 Cabernet Sauvignon for this section and are confident that within the next 4-5 years, we’ll be producing a vineyard designated Home Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon to join our three other vineyard designated Cabs from Yountville, Rutherford and St. Helena.

Ironically, I still trudge through the vineyard just like I did when I was a kid. Although then the vines were a tangled jungle taller than me. Now they are a manicured wall of organized shoots. Then the clusters jumbled and hung wherever they wanted (I think this is where the word ‘clusterfuck’ originated!). Now they are neatly positioned along the fruiting wire. Then, like now, we grew grapes and made wine the best way we knew how. Then, like now, we were in awe of this wonderful process. Then we had long hair and the vines were wild-maned. Now we’re trimmed up a bit, and the vines are more manicured. Inside though, its still the same. I still feel like that little kid in the vineyard …

Posted By : Chris Corley

We’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to drive across our wonderful country this summer. In the spirit of Thomas Jeffersons great explorers, Lewis and Clark, we have set out on the great Corley Family Expedition of 2012. Granted, we’re going in the opposite direction and have had full hookups at most of our campsites along the way. We also have roadmaps and a GPS, but don’t give me a hard time, its still a lot of fun!

Our road trip them has been the ‘All-American Road Trip’ and we’re aiming to see as much of the country as we can and share with our kids what makes our freedoms special, unique and not to be taken for granted.

We’ve taked a route through the northeast California, The Great Sandy Desert of Oregon, along the Snake River across Idaho, over the Teton Pass where we spent a wonderful few days in the Tetons floating in the Snake and riding horseback. We continued through Cody, Wyoming where we visited the gravesites of Jeremiah ‘Liver Eating’ Johnson and the reassembled cabins and saloons frequented by Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. We dropped down into the Black Hills of South Dakota and ran across a stone-face group of guys at Mount Rushmore. We rolled through the cornfields of South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and felt like we coul see the corn growing as we move east and the weather warmed and the ground greened.

We’re in Green Bay visiting relatives for the Fourth of July today. We visited Lambeau Field, arguably a birthplace of American Football. Even though I’m a 49ers fan and would have liked to have melted on the cheeseheads in the Pro Shop, there is a lot of football history on that site. From here, we’ll work our way over to Canton, OH to visit the NFL Hall of Fame, then through Gettysburg, PA and on to Washington DC to visit the Capitol, Memorials and the Smithsonian. Ultimately, we will visit Geroge Washingtons and Thomas Jeffersons homes at Mount Vernon and Monticello. Along the way, we’re encouraging our kids to understand what it all means while still having a lot of fun.

I can remember going on some pretty fun RV road trips with my family when I was young. These are some great memories of my youth. Theres a freedom being on the open road that is so liberating, so exciting. As I’ve been driving along on this trip, I’ve been thinking about what it takes for us to be able to enjoy that freedom. A lot of people have worked hard, suffered, risked family and fortune, even died for us to be able to pursue our individual happiness.

I’d like to post the original text of the Declaration of Independence today and ask that you take a little time to read and reflect today. Then lets all enjoy a hamburger, cold beer and some fireworks while remembering what today is really about.

Guest Blog : Posted on January 26, 2012 by Ray

This is a guest blog post by Vintage Wine Taster and good friend Ray Conti. Ray and his wife recently took a trip to the Monticello winery on Big Ranch Road in the Napa Valley. They escorted two friends who own a dairy near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Posted By : Chris Corley

On January 10, 1982, Dwight Clark made The Catch. It was immediately the defining moment and iconic image of the rising star of the 49ers. At this same time, the inaugural 1981 vintage of Monticello Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon was residing in small french oak barrels in Napa Valley. Ultimately, the 49ers won their first Super Bowl, and our 1981 vintage ended up being labeled in red and gold. For both the 49ers and Monticello Cellars, the 1981 season was the culmination of perseverance, execution and a dose of good fortune. For both the 49ers and Monticello Cellars, the 1981 season marked the beginning of a wonderful run for the red and gold …

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Posted By : Chris Corley

We’re currently in Costa Rica and have enjoyed a nice week in Playa Pochote, which is considered a town here, but really is more like 100 or so locals that live near each other and a campground where the ‘ticos’ from San Jose come to beach camp for the weekend. The local services in “town” include a payphone.

I had zero expectation of finding any local wines in Costa Rica, so didn’t even think much about it. I was ready to spend my time guzzling Imperial lagers in the sun and looking forward to the fresh fish. To my surprise, when we went to the little village market in the next ‘town’ called Tambor, the fellow in the store directed towards the the surprisingly well stocked wine aisle, where I found several Costa Rican wines.

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Posted By : Chris Corley

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting the VIP guests of the ‘Live In The Vineyard’ event that congregated in Napa for a long weekend of Music, Wine and Food. What a great time. Billed as ‘An Intimate Pairing of Music, Wine and Food’, ‘Live in the Vineyard’ is the brainchild of the ebullient pair of friends Claire Parr and Bobbii Hach-Jacobs. Its a unique semi-annual event that brings fans from across the country out to Napa Valley for a weekend of live music, winery visits and food & wine presentations. Check out the official website at www.liveinthevineyard.com .

We have had the pleasure of hosting two events this year at Monticello. In April, we had our guests come out to Monticello for a livefire barbeque, live winemaking demonstrations and live music. It was a wonderful experience. The smiles and enthusiasm of the guests, many who had not been to Napa Valley before was infectious and a thrill for us as hosts. The weekends concerts in April at The Uptown were also fantastic, as we got to see Lenny Kravitz, Michael Franti and Colbie Caillat among others.

The Fairchilds Warming Up in The Jefferson House at Monticello

This past weekend, we hosted a wonderful group of people as well, VIP winners of the radio contest that brough people from afar. Chef Lisa presented seasonal ‘superfood’ recipes in our winery cellar oriented towards awareness of ‘City of Hope’ www.cityofhope.org , which is an NCI-recognized cancer research and treatment organization. In addition to our wine presentation on the crush pad, we enjoyed a live concert in the cellar from ‘The Fairchilds’ www.thefairchildsmusic.com , headed by Cyril Niccolai www.cyrilniccolai.com . The music sounded really great in the cellar, and it was a nice exclamation point towards the end of harvest to have a concert in the cellar. This past weekends concerts at The Uptown included Daughtry, Christina Perri and Safety Suit.

We’ve been presented with two Fender Squier guitars signed by all the artists from the last two LITV events … Lenny Kravitz, Colbie Caillat, Michael Franti, Hanson, Default, Parachute, Cyril Niccolai just to name a handful. What a totally cool and unexpected treat for us at Monticello!

Ruby Corley, Future Wine Rock Goddess

It was lot of fun to have all the guests in from out of town. Their enthusiasm spread and was a reminder to us how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful place, which was brightened even more by all the smiles and laughter over the weekend.

Posted By : Chris Corley (from 30,000 feet)

Our family has been in Napa a pretty good long time. We’ve been growing grapes for 40 years and making wine for 30. Our dad settled in in the beginning of this current incarnation of Napa Valleys history which I would submit began in the mid to late 1960s. We’re still innovating and learning and always looking for and creating ways to do what we do better, but for the most part, we’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t.

When you’ve done something for a long time, eventually people will seek your opinion, and value your advice on how they might be able to conduct certain aspects of their business. We don’t do a lot of consulting … we’ve got plenty of grapes and barrels of our own to keep ourselves entertained, but every now and then a project will come along that sounds like so much fun, we jump in. One such project is in the Valle de Guadalupe of Baja, Mexico.

2011 will be the fifth vintage of our consultancy in Baja. The wines are tasting great, and we’re confident that the producer will soon be releasing the best wines that Mexico has to offer. The trips to the vineyard and winery are enjoyable, although the days are long. The people are friendly and the food is fantastic, some of the best meals I’ve had over the last several years have been in Tijuana.

Working on these types of distant projects would have been difficult when our dad, Jay, first started Monticello in 1969. The travel would have been slower, communication would have been limited to landlines and perhaps the pony express. It would have been extremely challenging, perhaps impossible to oversee the dynamic details of a winemaking operation from a distance.

Fast forward to 2011. My brother, Stephen, has done a wonderful job with our internal computing, setting us up with remote access to our desktops and funneling all of our communications to our phones. With Wi-Fi everywhere, it is increasingly easy to stay connected and function in real time, even if the project is 600 miles away and across an international border.

I can’t imagine that our dad could have ever imagined that someday we could be sitting on an airplane, with full internet access to their desktops and being nearly as productive at 6 miles up as we are behind our desks (of course I’m just sitting up here in the sky writing a blog post, but you get the idea). For that matter, the internet alone wasn’t even on the radar.

All that said, the technology won’t necessarily make our wines any better. It will, however, make it easier for us to make more of those better wines, and to explore areas that may have previously been out of reach for us.

Time for me to sign off as the plane lands in about 15 minutes …

Posted By : Chris Corley

I’ve spent a lot of time trudging around the vineyards with little plastic baggies lately, mostly collecting grape samples and checking out the fruit as it gets closer and closer to harvest. For that matter, I’ve spent a lot of time trudging around vineyards my whole life, although when I was a kid, it was usually with a skateboard in hand, and with less wholesome motivations than crafting tasty beverages from pristine clusters of shimmering fruit.

Four Fingers

I’ve grown very fond of plastic baggies over the course of the last 25 years. They always seem to be oriented something that is appealing to me. Over the course of my life, I have tended to associate good things with plastic baggies. As with most aspects of life, my tastes have evolved. I used to be content with the thin sandwich baggies and would be really happy if it was two-fingers deep. Now, my tastes have shifted and I prefer the zipper style freezer quart bag. With age comes higher expectations, so I now fully expect to see four-fingers of product in my baggies. I also don’t like to find herbal or green aromas in my sample baggies now, although 20 years ago, this was appealing.

As I do each harvest, I’ll keep stomping through the vineyard with my baggies in hand, pulling samples waiting for that special day to pull the fruit. Maybe this year I’ll drag an old skateboard behind me just for old times sake …

Posted By : Chris Corley

Today, we’re looking forward to fireworks, swimming with the kids and maybe a barbeque this evening. I wanted to write a short piece about the 4th of July. The more I thought about what to write, the deeper the days meaning became to me. I took a little time to read The Declaration of Independence this morning, and it became very clear to me that there were no new words to be written today. I hope you can take a few minutes to read this incredible document and reflect on the events that transpired on this day 235 years ago. Then enjoy your freedom to have a hot dog and cold beer.

Cheers,
Chris

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

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IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.