Stay Rad

When I visited the Cornerstone Cellars tasting room in the Napa Valley a few weeks back, Craig Camp (wine guy extraordinaire at Cornerstone) talked quite a bit about how his wine is meant to be paired with food.  A week later, I received a few more samples from Cornerstone.  Some wines I’ve tasted before, and some I’ve yet to try.

So…

I’ve decided that I’m going to taste all of these samples with a home cooked meal.

I am calling this series “The Cornerstone of a Tasty Meal”.

Enjoy!

Now…

Let’s check out the first wine…

Stepping Stone by Cornerstone Oregon 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Color: Light burgundy.

Nose: Fruits of strawberry and tomato along with a bunch of mushrooms.  This wine smells fresh and Earthy.

Taste: Strawberry and tomato up front, surrounded by a leathery mouthfeel and spices of black pepper.  This wine has a long, mouthwatering acidity that makes it a great food-pairing wine.

Score: A great, complex, food-friendly wine.  91 (When I originally tried this wine at the tasting room, I gave it a 90+.  Good to know that my palate is pretty well calibrated.)

Now, on to the food.

I just got some HUGE beets from the farmers market, so I decided to chop ’em up and roast them with olive oil, salt, and pepper…

Into the oven at 425 for 30 minutes.

These beets came with some HUGE stalks and greens attached to them.  Rather than throw them away, I decided to chop ’em up and saute them in some good olive oil, green onions, and cherry tomatoes…

Beet greens and stalks.

Here’s how I plated the dish…

Roasted Beets on a Bed of Beet Greens and Stalks with Cherry Tomatoes and a Balsamic Reduction

And here it is up close…

Pretty much the same.

First of all, the dish was fantastic.  When you roast beets, there is this great play between Earthy and sweet flavors.

With the wine, it was off the hook, son!

This was a great pairing of Earthy meets Earthy.  The sweetness of the beets and tomatoes also amped up the fruit in the wine.

Very good.

You should try this.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

Tags: Cornerstone Cellars, Cornerstone Oregon, Craig Camp, Roasted Beets, Sauteed Beet Greeens, Stepping Stone 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

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