NVL wineries
CORLEY FAMILY in NAPA VALLEY Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence BY LAYNE RANDOLPH
W
hen Jay Corley came to the Napa Valley fifty years ago, he came to buy land to grow an estate vineyard with an eye to an eventual winery. He had not worked in the wine industry before, and Napa Valley was not what it is today, so it was not a foregone conclusion that a Napa winery would be a successful venture. A new winery was more than likely to fail, even with André Tchelistcheff as a consultant. “In the 1970s, it was a peculiar thing for a Los Angeles businessman to get into the wine industry without having family in the business already,” Jay’s son Stephen said. “Dad challenged himself by starting a vineyard BPTFP.” BPTFP – “Before the Paris Tasting and the French Paradox” – is Corley’s way of describing Napa Valley before the seismic shift that occurred in Napa Valley in the 70s and 80s when two significant events catapulted Napa Valley wine and the wine industry forward. Jay Corley was a grower in the 70s when the Paris Tasting (or “Judgment of Paris”) 92
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took place. During a blind tasting in Paris, a panel of French judges selected an American Chardonnay as the grand winner over some of the most prestigious French wines. That was when everything changed for American wine –Napa was already the domestic leader in winemaking, and the victory pumped new energy into the California wine industry, particularly in the Napa Valley. As Napa Valley was quickly expanding, another event shook the wine world. The phrase “French Paradox” was coined in the late 80s based on a scientific study of French patterns of low rates of cardiovascular disease despite high saturated fat consumption. The research and subsequent opinion drew a link to red wine and pointed to the wine’s beneficial health effects – and overnight, wine sales went through the roof. These two events are historical markers in the genesis of Napa Valley, and the vintners who were already on board benefited immensely. “They raised the
tide for all boats in the Napa Valley,” said Stephen. Jay’s prescient decision to start a vineyard and winery BPTFP set it in good stead to grow for decades. When Jay passed away in 2016, only four years before the winery’s 50th year, his family vowed to take the winery through the second half of its first century. While several original Napa Valley family wineries still exist, it is rare to find one where members of the actual family still run the day-to-day business. But the Corley family – a seven sibling bunch – keeps it real. Today, Jay’s sons Kevin, Chris, and Stephen manage the business: Kevin is President and Winegrower, Chris is the Winemaker, and Stephen is Director of Sales and Marketing. Stephen said, “My brothers and I have the luxury of executing a vision that’s already in place. We can spend our time trying to make it better rather than figuring out who we are. What we do is an extension of what Dad did originally.”
