Corley Family 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. In 1969 our father, Jay Corley, began searching for an appropriate site to grow wine grapes and quickly recognized that the best wines in the United States were made from grapes grown in the Napa Valley. Since his personal interest was in Burgundian-style wines, he chose to initially focus on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and therefore acquired land in what is now known as the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley in 1970. The Oak Knoll District is in southern Napa Valley, just north of the town of Napa, and with its cooler temperatures, the Oak Knoll District is ideal for growing these varietals. In 1980, we hired a winemaker to oversee the harvest and crushing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes for our MONTICELLO VINEYARDS wines. In 1982, we moved into our state of the art winery on our Home Ranch Vineyard and also produced our first CORLEY RESERVE wines. MONTREAUX Brut followed in 1983, Pinot Noir in 1984, Merlot in 1990, CORLEY Proprietary Red Wine in 1999; Cabernet Franc in 2003 and Syrah in 2004. 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. Jay, Kevin, Chris and Stephen invite you to visit us in Napa Valley on our Home Ranch Vineyard. – Description from Kursulla    (hide)