Corra Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

After more than twenty years of making wines for others, Celia Welch is excited to share with you two wines she has made for her own brand, Corra. The concept for Corra came from a dear friend and colleague who suggested that a small brand could do more than just create great wine, it could be a vehicle to mentor individuals seeking to experience ultra-premium winemaking.

 Celia Welch's first interaction with grapes was under the huge oak tree in her backyard in Southern Oregon, where her siblings and she plucked grape berries from stems for their father, an avid wine collector and home winemaker. Her parents also included the family on trips through Napa and Sonoma in the early sixties, and, like most visitors, she was entranced with the beauty of the rolling vineyards.

 In 1982 with a degree in Enology earned at UC Davis in her back pocket, she set out to take a peek at a few wine regions. Her travels took her to the Pacific Northwest, the East Coast, and to New Zealand. She worked harvest in the Barossa Valley of Australia, and then settled in the Napa Valley to refine her craft. Celia had reached a fork in her career path in the early nineties, and she chose to focus on independent wine consulting. The wines she has made create a microcosm of Napa Valley. She has made wine from vineyards on Mt. Veeder, Atlas Peak, and Howell Mountain to those in Carneros, and from benchland vineyards from St. Helena to Napa.

 In 2004 came the idea and the challenge of founding Corra. It was not easy to find vineyard sources with top-quality fruit, a winery with a bit of space to spare for barrels, and a strong team of individuals with experience in different aspects of the wine business from grapevines to websites. The results of these efforts have been tremendous; two well-received wines and a project that has led to information- and idea-sharing for everyone involved. Corra, a Celtic deity representing prophecy, symbolizes this small brand's forward-looking perspective. Showing herself on earth in the form of a crane, Corra takes wing and lifts her shadow to life.