By Corley Family
Proprietary Red Wine 2005

Tasting Notes
This wine's opening stanza is a medley of blueberry, blackberry, floral, and sweet oak tones. The chorus is lovely - the tannins laying down a solid rhythmic bass line. At the same time, the berry aromatics and dark fruit flavors entertain with an "echo" of jam evoking some of the old-school boogie-woogie piano jams. The finish is sweet, lingering, and smoky - like the last song of the evening in a downtown jazz club.

Vineyard
With the exception of the co-fermented lots, which served as the foundation for the blend, all of the lots were fermented and sent to barrel individually. As is my tendency with this wine each year, the blend was put together in stages throughout the barrel-aging process. Incremental blending can be thought of as putting together a piece of music. Typically you start with a base melody or rhythm, upon which the rest of the song is based. That's your catchy riff - and to that, you layer the rest of your jam down. The co-fermented lot of Cabernet Franc and Merlot was the riff that I jammed to.

Winery
The allure of winegrowing led Jay Corley to Napa Valley in 1969 to purchase land for our first vineyard. Today, we farm five Napa Valley vineyards in the Oak Knoll, Yountville, Rutherford, and St. Helena appellations within Napa Valley.

Details
Winemaker: Chris Corley
Blend: Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon
Music Pairing Suggestion: Minnie the Moocher, Cab Calloway
[Information provided by J.H.N.]

CORLEY FAMILY Proprietary Napa Valley 2005
Score: 91
Country: California
Region: Napa
Issue: Web Only - 2015
Rich, supple, graceful and refined, offering a core of plum, currant and savory, loamy earth. This holds its own and gains on the finish, where black licorice notes muscle in to join the tannins. Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.-2005 California Cabernet blind retrospective (September 2015). - JL

Corley 2005 Proprietary Red Wine Red (Napa Valley)
Rating: 91 - Cellar Selection
Designation: Proprietary Red Wine
Variety: Red Blends, Red Blends
Appellation: Napa Valley, Napa, California, US
Winery: Corley
Bottle Size: 750.00 ml
Category: Red
Date Published: 12/31/2008
Reviewed by: Virginie Boone
This Bordeaux-style blend, which this year contains a bit of Syrah, seems to vary vintage to vintage. The '05 is based on Cabernet Franc. It shows a fine structure and is very dry and tannic, but needs time to soften. However, the oak-infused black cherry, black currant, violet and anise flavors are impressive. [...].

2005 Monticello Vineyards Corley Proprietary Red
Producer: Monticello Vineyards
From: USA, California, North Coast, Napa Valley
Color: Red
Type: Table
Sweetness: Dry
Variety: Proprietary Blend
Rating: 90
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Issue Date: 28th Jun 2015
Source: 219, The Wine Advocate
Drink Date: 2016 - 2021
The outstanding 2005 Proprietary Red Corley is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a heck of a value, especially from high-priced Napa Valley. It offers up loads of perfume, especially flowers, red and black fruits, and forest notes. It is soft, round, opulent, medium to full-bodied, and very seductive. [...]