MONTICELLO Napa Valley is a family run winery; their first vintage dates from 1980 an estate grown Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery was originally founded as Monticello Vineyards by Chicago born John Jay Corley and his wife Marilyn with the purchase of 80 acres of land in the southern part of the Napa Valley in 1969 (today what is known as the Oak Knoll District). Interestingly, long before Jay purchased property in Napa and well before building the winery – he wrote his thesis while studying for his MBA at Pepperdine University (in Malibu) on planting a vineyard and building a winery in the Napa Valley. But before he moved to Napa Valley, he was a linguist for the U.S. National Security Agency, a businessman in Southern California and later a private investor.
Before Jay had vines planted here, the property was home to old prune and walnut trees. Prior to founding Monticello Vineyards, Jay sold grapes to a number of wineries including Domain Chandon and Robert Mondavi. Today the family owns or manages some 135 acres divided between 5 vineyards in Napa Valley of which up to 85 acres are planted to vines at any one time. Vineyards under their ownership are certified and farmed organically. Founding winemaker was Alan Phillips who crafted the early Monticello Vineyards wines at Rutherford Hill Winery (until Monticello Vineyards’ own winery was completed).
In the early 1980s Jay was also involved as an owner in short-lived wine brand called Chateau Nouveau with two other partners, Jack Clark and Perry Pasterick. The wines were made at the old Shown & Sons Winery, on a property now owned by Heitz Cellars (Trailside Vineyard) adjacent to Conn Creek Winery. Incidentally the original Shown & Sons winery building is still standing on the property; it was used by Heitz Cellars as barrel storage for many years.
Jay died in early 2016; today his three sons are actively involved in the day-to-day operations including winemaker Christopher (Chris) Corley who has worked at the winery since his teenage years and learned everything he knows about winemaking from on the job, Vineyard Manager – overseeing their own in-house team and also President of the company (Kevin), and the Director of Wine Sales (Stephen).
Chris used to live on a remote part of Spring Mountain near St. Helena. This property felt like old Napa Valley, and is located far away from the traffic so often associated with the valley floor. In addition to a vineyard, it was a working ranch with chickens, sheep, goats and gardens. Unfortunately the Glass Fire of 2020 burned through the property but he and his wife were were able to evacuate their sheep right before the fire. These animals now live on the Monticello Vineyards property and have since produced additional animals; they are used for ‘mowing’ the grass during certain times of the year among their vines.
A photo we took of our photo used in a magazine ad for Monticello Vineyards!
The MONTICELLO Napa Valley administration building is a model of Jefferson’s Monticello and was completed in 1984; it is also used for private parties and tastings by appointment. And during particularly rainy winters sometimes the basement on this building can flood (seen by the stains that are left on the wooden floor). Coincidentally there was also a town called Monticello which is now buried under many feet of water beneath Lake Berryessa (eastern Napa County) and during extremely low water levels an old stone bridge can sometimes be eerily seen below the surface of the lake.
What was the home of Lewis Cellars for many years, until they moved into the old Robert Sinskey Winery space, is a winery and vineyard site located slightly south and across the other side of Big Ranch Road. This property is also owned by the Corley family and is named the Knollwood Vineyard. Kevin Corley helped oversee the construction of this winery. A piece of Napa Valley trivia: Tony Soter, founding winemaker at Etude made several vintages of the early Etude wines at this winery. And in addition to these properties, Monticello also sources from a limited number of small family owned vineyards also within Napa Valley.
Monticello, Virginia Connection
Upon visiting this winery, you can’t help but notice the similarity of their administration building (also home of their wine library, a commercial kitchen and other tasting spaces) to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia; this is because the winery was modeled after that famous residence. Their Napa Valley winery ‘Monticello’ is a 1/3 size replica of the actual building but in homage to Monticello’s location on top of a hill, Corley’s Monticello was built slightly above the valley floor – on an 8-foot rise. Visitors from the east coast often query as to why the Napa Valley Monticello is located on the wrong coast!
To answer that, one has to understand Jay’s admiration of Thomas Jefferson. While most known for being the 3rd president of the United States, Jefferson was fascinated by wine and was a collector of European wines (he maintained a wine cellar on the lower floor at Monticello) and was wine adviser to several US presidents including Washington, Madison and Monroe. Some years he imported up to several hundred bottles from Europe.
Jay was also a Virginian – and in searching his own family records, he discovered his family originally settled in Virginia in the 1640’s. Incidentally, Jay’s family have been farmers for several centuries. Jefferson was a prolific gardener and along with the extensive vegetable gardens on the property maintained a greenhouse, flower garden and numerous species of trees were grown on the property (including one section named Mulberry Row).
Monticello is located about an hour and 20-minute drive from the airport in Richmond Virginia (RIC) or about 2 hours from Dulles Washington Airport in Washington DC, (IAD). Tickets can be purchased online or in person – a Monticello day pass includes a guided tour of the first floor of Jefferson’s iconic home. An additional ticket can be purchased for tours of the upper floor. Shuttle vans leave regularly for the approximately 1/2 a mile ride up to the home. Highlights of the house tour include the main parlour, the dining room, seeing the library which at one point housed over 6,500 books, Jefferson’s bed and room where he died and Jefferson’s polygraph (while Jefferson wrote with one pen, a second pen duplicated his writing creating a second copy – he wrote nearly 19,000 letters over his lifetime).
A trail connects the David M. Rubenstein visitor center (tickets, shopping and a cafe) with the home and other attractions on the property – and it is an easy hike almost all downhill from Monticello back to the visitor center. Guests are free to wander around the house at their leisure and visit other attractions on the property on their own.
Other highlights include, on a clear day a gorgeous lookout point above the gardens from the Garden Pavilion, a small brick building with plenty of windows that was often used by Jefferson – reading books or simply admiring the expansive view. Also worth visiting, is a small cemetery containing Jefferson’s grave site, an exhibit in the South Wing next to the house about the properties’ most famous slave, Sally Hemings who had a child with Jefferson and the excavated kitchen, also in the South Wing.
The original Monticello plantation was 5,000 acres and was privately owned until 1923; today the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc owns more than 2,500 acres. Allow at least several hours for a visit.
Select Wines
Monticello produces several brands of wines; Monticello Estate label which are affordable, approachable young and food friendly wines and are wines from grapes grown on their estate. Corley label includes reserve and limited production premium wines which are usually produced between 150 to 550 cases annually of each wine, including several single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. And in a very unusual offering for a Napa based winery, they also produce Montreaux, a Brut sparkling wine from a Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend (non-vintage). This wine is very much hand crafted with all the riddling done by hand and has been produced by the family since the 1980s. This is a very limited production wine each year, usually around 150 cases.
Total production of all their wines each year is usually around 15,000 cases, although this has been as high as 30,000 cases. Another sizable part of their business (that visitors to the property typically won’t pick up on), is their custom crush business where some of their winery space is rented out to smaller producers who do not have a winery of their own. Over the years during our visits to this property, sometimes we recognize various custom crush clients.
Whites
Jay enjoyed wines made in Burgundy and therefore decided to focus his initial efforts on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the first two varieties grown and subsequently used for the early Monticello wines.
The 2021 MONTICELLO Chardonnay is medium gold in color; the grapes for this wine were harvested in four separate lots and were fermented in 24 micro-batches in both oak barrels, stainless steel and concrete tanks. The bouquet offers aromas of hazelnut, toasted almond, warm popcorn butter, pineapple, vanilla, caramel, baked Golden delicious apples, creme Brule, pineapple guava and apricot. The palate mirrors the bouquet to some extent with flavors of honeycomb, warm butter, caramel, pineapple, apricot, yellow peaches and nectarines and a nutty character including roasted almond, hazelnut and toasted oak – especially noticeable on the finish. This wine features a creamy, almost oily character with its highly supple texture. It is rich in flavor, texture and brightness and features a persistent fruit filled finish.
The 2014 MONTICELLO Chardonnay reveals a layered and an enthusiastic bouquet. Notes of pomelo, almond (along with a general nutty aromatic character) initially show. As this wine breathes is becomes more floral with prominent notes of orange blossom and honeysuckle. The wine is aged in 70% stainless steel and 30% new French oak. It is well balanced on the palate with a somewhat creamy rounded and silky mouth feel – almost a bit oily but not overly viscous. And that is an important textural distinction. The finish lingers with flavors of popcorn butter and slight notes of a lemon zest. We have enjoyed several vintages of this wine over the years – and looking back over our various tasting notes, it seems to be made in a fairly consistent style from year to year.
Reds
The 2020 MONTICELLO Cabernet Franc Oak Knoll District is medium to deep ruby in color; the bouquet is immediately savory and spicy with aromas of old leather, red plum, cracked peppercorn, red cherry, and old cedar box. On the palate there are flavors of red cherry, raspberry, currant, cranberry and red plum. The mouthwatering and slightly tart red-fruited finish is accompanied by grainy and still edgy tannins 4 years post vintage. Still in it teenage years, this wine will do well with some decanting and or additional bottle age.
The 2019 MONTICELLO Merlot was aged for 24 months in French oak barrels with about 33% in new oak. It is medium ruby in color; the bouquet is an enticing and elegant aromatic union of cola, raspberry, red cherry, plum with a subtle note of cinnamon, dried rose petals and tomato skin in the mix. Both on the bouquet and the palate, the oak takes a back seat to the fruit. On the palate there are flavors of raspberry, cherry, red plums and currant along with a light herbal (but not green) note. Full of energy, its lively acidity delivers a refreshing brightness. The mellow tannins offer a light and continued dusty grip on the red-fruited finish. Medium bodied. For some reason we thought of pairing this bottling with meat loaf.
The 2019 MONTICELLO Corley Reserve Block 2 Clone 4 Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll District Tietjen Vineyard is deep ruby in color; the bouquet is scented brightly with aromas of red cherry, current and red plums. There are also some dessert spice notes at play here, including of clove, caramel and vanilla. The sweetly fruited and ripe palate offers flavors of raspberry, dark mulberry, dark chocolate, clove and nutmeg. The tannins are ripe yet also grainy and still gritty at this age. They linger with a firm grip with a dusty character in tandem with the fruit for quite some time on the extended finish. For reference, we tasted the wine five years post vintage.
The 2013 MONTICELLO Corley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a standout wine from a ‘robust’ vintage. It is a blend of grapes from their State Lane vineyard in Yountville and two other vineyards they lease and manage the vines on including in Rutherford and St. Helena. This vintage immediately reveals rich aromatics that one comes to expect from premium Napa Valley grown wines of this variety. Its aromatics include prune, plum, cherry pie/crust and sweet dark chocolate. The bouquet is highly attractive. It sports a ppleasing mouth feel upon entry with dark berry flavors. Big but balanced, not bold. Well layered and textured tannins anchor a long finish. This is a beautiful wine.
Their first vintage of Pinot Noir from Dijon Clone 777 is from 2013. Not a lot of producers grow Pinot Noir in the Oak Knoll district, but this is another example of the diversity of terroir characterized by this part of the valley; in part, the Oak Knoll District is known as an area that supports a diversity of types of grape varieties. The 2013 MONTICELLO Block II Dijon Clone 777 shows a sweetness on the bouquet including notes of clove, raspberry and toasted cedar plank. This is a bigger wine of this varietal then is often made in Napa. At the winery, they sometimes refer to this as the “Cab lovers Pinot Noir”. Shows a red cherry and a cranberry tartness framed with noticeable tannins that linger for some time. Plenty of fruit and more structure then often found in wines from this varietal.
Their Proprietary Red has been released each year since 1999; this wine is very popular, reasonably priced for the quality and ages extremely well. We tried several older vintages (2004 and 2007). The 2007 MONTICELLO Proprietary Red is drinking very well with 10 years of age. This was the only vintage of their Proprietary Red to date that did not contain any Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is typically predominately a Cabernet Franc blend.
The 1983 MONTICELLO Cabernet Sauvignon was tasted from a double magnum bottle (3L) – despite the front label mentioning: contents 750ml. The color is holding up well; it is medium ruby. The aromas offer notes of old leather, tobacco spice, old cedar, sage, creosote bush and assorted dried fruits, including cherry, cranberry and currant. This is still very much red fruited across the palate, offering flavors of currant, cranberry, sour cherry and plum. It lingers with a mouthwatering freshness and persistent tartness and a sour character. Bright. It shows its age, but at the same time it is still surprisingly youthful with a tight character due to its high-toned acidity and texture. The tannins are felt as grainy and gravelly and linger for quite sometime. This wine is still very much drinkable 41 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. A treat. 12.5% alcohol.
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“Good Wine is a Necessity of Life for Me” ~ Thomas Jefferson. This quote is proudly displayed on the entrance to the tasting room.
Their tasting room is cozy, comfortable and personable and is located right next to their barrel room. A number of their staff have been here for several decades, refreshing considering the often-high turnover at many Napa wineries that maintain an open to the public tasting room. If the weather is nice, the several acres of gardens outside their tasting room also provide a very relaxing and quiet venue for enjoying the wines (incidentally planted to the same vegetation that Thomas Jefferson grew at Monticello).
In conjunction with Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company, the Corley’s developed the Monticello Blend which is sold at the Roasting Company and on the Corley Family Napa Valley website. The original roasting location is in the city of Napa and a second location was located in St. Helena until permanently closing in 2024. This coffee is a blend of 40% Guatemalan (light roast), 20% Colombian (lighter roast), 20% Natural Ethiopian (medium roast) and 20% French (dark roast). Smells dark, with aromatics of chocolate and recently charred wood and reminds us of camping trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains hanging around a barely burning campfire on a brisk fall morning while someone next to is drinking coffee.
In addition to their walk-in tasting, MONTICELLO Napa Valley offers a variety of sit down more personalized tasting experiences (usually held in the Monticello house) including an Estate tasting, Reserve tasting, a Cabernet Sauvignon only tasting and a Library tasting (wines often 10+ years old). These experiences are by appointment only. And MONTICELLO Napa Valley is one of approximately 15 wineries in the valley that the Napa Valley Wine Trolley frequents.
In addition, MONTICELLO Napa Valley is group friendly and provides numerous memorable experiences. Some of these include a Cellar Wine Blending, Musical Wine Blending and a Sensory Wine Blending – all held with their winemaker. Bridal parties (but not weddings) can be hosted on the property with the beverage of choice one of their sparkling wines. Tastings incorporating food are also popular among groups including the Croquet Experience + Lunch. And special corporate gifts can be arranged through the winery including custom etched bottles.
MONTICELLO Napa Valley keeps a limited library collection of their older vintages, some of which are for sale through their website. For more information, to join one of their Ambassador wine clubs (4, 6 or 12 bottles shipped 4x yearly), or visit Chris Corley’s blog, which remarkably has been consistently active since 2008, visit: www.monticellonapa.com
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