2nd Annual Wine & Cupcake Pairing
"We just hosted our 2nd Annual Wine & Cupcake Pairing. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to taste and cast their votes. It was a competitive day of tasting, brain power and decision making over the favorite cupcake flavor in addition to the best wine and cupcake pairing. May the best cupcake win...
To give you a little background, Kevin Corley's daughter, Isabella, introduced three amazing flavors to pair alongside our Monticello wines. At the start of the day, she and her brother, Hayden, teamed up in the Jefferson House kitchen to ice up the cupcakes and to add special toppings such as crispy bacon and sugared pearls.
Guests joined in on the fun throughout the day and voted on which of the three flavors best suited their palates. Creative minds and adventurous wine tasters helped us decide on the best.
Here are the final results of the cupcake and wine pairing competition. Now you can try them at home after making your next trip to Monticello Vineyards:
Lemon Buttercream Cupcake (1st Runner Up)
Suggested Pairing
2011 Monticello Vineyards Estate Grown Chardonnay
Maple Bacon Cupcake (Winner!)
Suggested Pairing
2009 Monticello Vineyards Estate Grown Merlot
Red Velvet Cupcake (2nd Runner Up)
Suggested Pairing
2010 Monticello Vineyards Jefferson Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon
Although it was a close call, Maple Bacon won for the second year in a row by a single vote!
It all came down to our cupcake tie breakers!
Jul 11, 2013 at 2:54 PM
PermalinkMustang Day at Monticello Vineyards
The Corley Family with Stephen Corley ('90) and Kevin Corley, Father of Hayden Corley ('17), hosted Southern Methodist University's 4th Annual San Francisco Alumni Chapter Wine Tasting at Monticello Vineyards this past weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze to keep it cool yet comfortable for an outdoor party in the Napa Valley.
The event took place on the East Lawn and included activities for the whole family. Everything was decorated in red and blue to honor the SMU Mustangs including a giant SMU banner to welcome the guests at the registration table where they were greeted by Kurt Pottkotter, SMU Executive Director, National Major Giving Programs.
The wine tasting and entertainment lasted from 1pm to 4pm with the live band New Copasetics on the terrace, a face painter and balloon artist to entertain children and Gerard’s Paella hauling their huge pan of ingredients to create their famous mixed paella.
Monticello poured the 2011 Estate Chardonnay, 2010 Estate Pinot Noir and 2010 Jefferson Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon while guests mingled with Stephen and Kevin Corley throughout the day.
It was a real treat for me to be a part of, as well, being a graduate of the class of 2009. We look forward to future events with the SMU Mustangs. Pony up!
Jun 18, 2013 at 3:49 PMA Grape Liaison of Promiscuous and Forbidden Fruits
"Posted By : Chris Corley
Can we be enlightened on interpersonal relationships and social mores by a promiscuous 17th century grape? I propose that we can. Some time ago, perhaps in the late 1600s, probably in the southwest of France, and maybe under the light veil of a moonlit night, a dark-skinned grape called Cabernet Franc had an intimate liaison with a fair-skinned grape by the name of Sauvignon Blanc.
CABERNET FRANC
A relationship of this nature likely would be frowned upon at that time by many, so this was a daring rendezvous for these two grapes. Cabernet Franc was bold, masculine and well-endowed with a spicy demeanor. Sauvignon Blanc was alluring, feminine and tantalizingly fragrant. How could they resist one another? They couldn't. The offspring of that romantic intermingling was called Cabernet Sauvignon, certainly a personality that we are all familiar with here in the Napa Valley.
SAUVIGNON BLANC
Today, I am enjoying a glass of our newly released 2010 Estate Grown Cabernet Franc, and as I revel in its dark, spicy fruit, bold texture and long finish, I am thinking to myself ... Has Cabernet Franc tamed his libidinous ways? Should I be worried about our own Cabernet Franc that is planted right next to our Chardonnay in Block 4? What romantic adventures are going on in our vineyard when the afternoon breeze picks up, the sun begins to fade into the Mayacamas, and the shoots and tendrils begin to intertwine? Ahh, too much to think about ... I'll have another glass of Monticello 2010 Estate Grown Cabernet Franc! "
Comments (286)A Virginian in France ...
"Posted By : Chris Corley
Considering that our family winery and vineyard is named Monticello and that our father built a beautiful representation of Jefferson's Charlottesville home at the winery, one might correctly presume that we have an affinity for Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson's many accomplishments and brilliant mind have been well documented over the last 300 years, and we'll leave the details of many of those for future discussions. Today, I'm thinking about his time spent from 1784-1789 as Ambassador to France. He accomplished a great deal for our country during those years, and he also developed and refined his love of architecture, gardening and his appreciation for wine while there.
He was well ahead of his time when he determined that America would need to import vine cuttings from France to make truly world-class wines. Unfortunately, they did not have the knowledge of the phyloxerra root louse that we now have, so it took some time for his foresite to ring true. Today, much of Napa Valley is planted to cuttings originated in France. His efforts in growing French winegrapes at Monticello in Charlottesville were met with difficulty, largely due to phyloxerra, but his conceptual forward thinking was brilliant. The years this well-educated man from the forests of Virginia spent in France were very impressionable on him in many ways.
As I write this, I'm enjoying a glass of our newly released 2010 Estate Grown Syrah. Interestingly, this is a wine made from French cuttings Syrah 470 & Syrah 174 , a portion of which was aged in Virginian oak barrels. The wine is dark, rich, brooding and has a finish as long as the Appalachians. The years this well-balanced wine from the fields of Napa spent in a Virginian barrel were very impressionable on it in many ways.
I'm enjoying this new release today, not just hedonistically, but also with a subtle nod to history and a good man. Here's to TJ and to our new release of Monticello Vineyards 2010 Estate Grown Syrah!"
New Releases Bring Friendly Faces
"With only a few days remaining before the official release of the 2010 Estate Grown Syrah and the 2010 Estate Grown Cabernet Franc, several wine club members spent an afternoon at Monticello Vineyards sampling their newest wine club shipments before their arrival in the tasting room this Friday.
Guests started the afternoon with a taste of the NV Montreaux Brut on the lovely Terrace of the Jefferson House. Jay Corley, himself, briefly joined the wine club members with smiles and memorable stories of the family and winery. It was a beautiful day to relax surrounded by friends, a garden of roses and delicious sparkling wine.
After savoring a last sip of bubbly, the party passed through a room of barrels and candlelight on their way to the Reserve Tasting Room. Chris Corley guided everyone through a tasting of four Monticello Vineyard wines while sharing his wealth of knowledge and passion for the art of making wine for his family's estate.
Following the tasting, the group headed to the Jefferson House dining room for appetizers and the opportunity to revisit wines from the tasting. Each guest had a unique story to share about their connection with the Corley family and their estate wines and walked away with an experience beyond expectation.
Both the 2010 Estate Grown Syrah and 2010 Estate Grown Cabernet Franc already show great potential with intense aromas and layers of flavor that you don't want to miss! For more information, check out the tasting notes for each.
See you in the tasting room at the official release of these fantastic new vintages on Friday, May 31, 2013 just before Auction Napa Valley!"
Reflections ...
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!
In Memoriam : Mark Heinemann
"Posted By : Chris Corley
Recently we lost a good man, friend and member of our industry, Mark Heinemann. His smile and good cheer will be sorely missed by all those that knew him.
Mark was a little older than me, but I can remember Mark all the way back to our elementary school fifth grade camp trip to Occidental. Mark was a counselor the year that we went.
In recent years, I would enjoy talking with Mark about new barrels for the year or joining him and the team at Demptos for one of their events. The vibe was always warm and welcome.
Mark was a good man, whose life was cut short far too soon. We'll keep Mark and his family in our thoughts and send them all the positive energy we can to help them through this difficult time."
Napa Valley's 'Super Seconds'
"Posted By : Chris Corley
There are lots of ways for a winery to measure its success. High ratings and positive reviews provide feedback on wine quality. Sales of individual wines and customer comments also create a dialogue between the producer and the consumer. Gross revenue, profit margins, case sales by geographical region and percentage of sales direct from winery are some of the many metrics that we track to measure how we are doing.
Some other important measures that we keep track of may be somewhat unique to a winery of our small size. Employee retention, for instance, is very important to us. We have a few staff members that have been with Monticello for over 30 years, several for over 20 years, and a large number of staff that has been with us longer than 10 years. Our newest member on the production staff has been with us for 7 vintages. These are important numbers to us. Employee retention extends our family at the winery. Along that line, family involvement is another measure. We currently have five family members working full time at the winery, covering the four main areas of grapegrowing, winemaking, sales and administration. This is also very important to us as a family-owned estate winery.
All that said, we sometimes can condense our goals into somewhat more simple terms. We strive to make great wine and sell it at a fair price.
Recently, we were happy to see our efforts recognized in Steve Heimoff's recent blogpost naming Monticello as one of Napa Valleys 'Super Seconds', a reference to our winery being an elite producer of great wines selling for a fair price. Please follow the link to read Steve's full post at his blog ...
http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2012/12/17/elite-value-in-napa-valley-call-em-super-seconds/comment-page-1/#comment-274151
Cheers, Chris"
Planting For The Future & Walking Back Through Time
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 …
Independence Day
"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.
Transcript of Declaration of Independence (1776)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. 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. The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated: Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Column 6 |
"
