THE STORY
In April, Corral Wine Co. hosted its members for a magnum party. With a beautiful display of delicious foods provided by Carmel Valley Creamery, it was a fabulous event. We sampled and savored 5 of Corral’s wines in magnum format. Very cool. My takeaway was that wine bottled in magnums has the chance to develop differently than in a 750 ml bottle. We even took one home! Yowza! Congrats to the Corral team for their excellent wines and a terrific event.
My last post about Corral Wine Co. was here: Oops – We Joined Another Wine Club: Corral Wine Co.! I’ve written about them several times – just type “Corral” in the Decanting Monterey search bar.
THE WINERY
From their website: “In 2017, in a barn in Corral de Tierra, California, we barreled our first batch of estate Pinot Noir. We’re still in that same barn, but we’ve made even more varietals from some of the best grapes on the Central Coast.
“We’re a family-owned operations – we’re not fancy, but we make good wine.”
THE WINES
Today I am presenting 5 Corral Wine Co. wines. The first 4, I have reviewed before but I am providing updated reviews today. Winery notes come from the tasting sheet or their website. Any errors are mine and mine alone. As a rule, I do not correct typos from the wineries’ notes.
2022 Corral Estate Pinot Noir, Bell Ranch, Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County, $68/$180 (#1695)
Winery Notes: “Rich concentrated aromas of red fruits such as dark cherry, and strawberry with hints of cranberry, savory spices, and fine toasted oak. Slight aromas of cassis, leading way into sweet baking spices. Full of flavor this wine has a nice balance to it with aromas and flavors of cherry, clove, and baking spices with a nice long finish.”
My Review: Pretty in the glass – “vintage red”. Saddle leather on the nose. Nice palate of cherry and leather. I have to say tasting this wine on this day was an eye-opener, perhaps our favorite of the 3 pinot noirs we tasted that day. April 2026
2022 Corral Pinot Noir, KW Ranch, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, Monterey County, 14.5% ABV, $58/$160 (#1533)
Winery Notes: “Nice rich aromas of dark cherry, casis, and forest floor and earthiness leading into ripe dark berries and a hint of leather and sweet baking spices to finish. Its refined richness and bold elegance lead way into a rich mouthfeel and layers of soft tannin and subtle sweetness for a nice long finish.”
My Review: Garnet in color. Violet and mellow cherry on the pleasant nose. Rich cherry jam countered by leather on the complex palate, finishing with subtle tannins. A richer flavor than most SLH Pinot Noirs, slightly sweet on the front with a little lingering menthol on the finish. Consistently one of our favorite SLH Pinot Noirs. February and March 2025 + April 2026
2022 Corral Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, Monterey County, $64/$160 (#1696)
Winery Notes: “Classic SLH Pinot Noir with aromas of darker fruit, ripe cherry and a freshness made up of sandalwood and a slight earthiness, sweet spice, and a warm richness. With a nice rich and lush mouthfeel and a long lasting finish.”
My Review: Dark ruby in the glass. Delicious plum and spice on the rich, slightly earthy nose, followed by dark fruit and caramel on the palate. I like this one. March and April 2026
2022 Corral Cabernet Sauvignon, Armory Vineyard, Adelaida District, Paso Robles AVA, San Luis Obispo County, $87/$218 (#1745)
Winery Notes: “Dry farmed since day 1 allowing a nice rich dark fruit driven wine with intense color and concentrated aromas of bing cherry, plum, and spices with hints of peppercorn, cedar, wilder herbs, leather, and a dusty finish. With rich flavors of plum, blueberry cobbler, dark chocolate, violets, and hints of tobacco leaf.”
My Review: Beautiful purple in the glass. Clove, dark plum, blackberry, blueberry and a touch of menthol on the nose. Smooth, rich, dark palate with eucalyptus notes on the finish. I enjoyed this wine. March and April 2026
2022 Corral Petite Sirah, Paso Robles AVA, San Luis Obispo County, $140 (#1754)
My Review: Dark garnet in the glass. Cassis on the nose. Intense palate of intense concentrated dark fruit. I couldn’t help myself and took one home. April 2026
THE TASTING ROOM
“We’d love to pour for you at our Tasting Room in Carmel Valley Village: 19 East Carmel Valley Rd. Suite A, Carmel Valley, CA”
Open Sunday – Thursday 12-5 p.m., Friday – Saturday 12-6-ish p.m.
© Decanting Monterey 2026
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