In this episode, Jeff reviews two samples from Cornerstone Oregon before the Thanksgiving holiday…
Wines Reviewed:
Cornerstone Oregon 2012 Chardonnay and 2011 Pinot Noir
Stay Rad,
Jeff
What wine will you be pairing with your Thanksgiving feast? Leave a comment, and let us know.
After taking a good week off from the blog to battle this cold, I’m feeling much better (Thanks for asking).
In order to get back into the swing of things, I decided to open up another one of my samples from Cornerstone Cellars while doing a little cooking…
Cornerstone Oregon 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
Color: Light burgundy red with a light tomato hue at the rim.
Nose: Tomato skin (hmmmm), leather, strawberry, cranberry, and fig notes with a nice spice rack blend to round things out.
Taste: Wow! Delicious fruits of strawberry, blackberry, and cranberry. There’s a great component of allspice and leather that transitions into a long, luscious, velvety finish, and a great acidity that makes it a very food-friendly wine.
Score: Here’s what I love about Pinot Noir. It’s so subtle… It’s so reserved… But… It’s so complex… If you take the time to think about it. This effort from Cornerstone Oregon is a shining example of how great Pinot Noir can be. I love this wine. 92 (I gave the 2009 vintage of this wine a 91+)
Now…
On to the food…
Farmers Market Fresh Ahi Tuna Tower of Green Onion, Chiles, Cucumber, Mango, Cilantro, Lime, and Stagecoach Vineyard Olive Oil topped with Edamame Cakes on an Okonomi and Sriracha Glaze
I guess I went a little overboard on the food, but that Pinot got me real excited.
I was very happy with how both the dish and the pairing turned out.
The wine brought out the freshness of the cucumber in the Ahi Tower, which could have been overwhelmed by the savory/spicy dish. The savory flavors of the tuna bumped up the previously muted flavors of cola/sassafras in the wine.
With a wine this food-friendly, there was no way I was gonna waste a single bite of this dish…
And I didn’t!
Stay Rad,
Jeff
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
After spending the morning in the wine cave at Del Dotto in Napa, Kara and I headed North on the 29 to the Cornerstone Cellars tasting room in Yountville.
Cornerstone Cellars
Upon arrival, we met up with managing partner, blogger, and all around great guy, Craig Camp, who hosted us in a tasting of their current releases…
Stepping Stone 2011 North Coast White Rocks: A dry white blend of Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer, the White Rocks brings flavors of subtle grassy notes and pineapple. There’s a good acid and weight to this. 87
Stepping Stone 2010 Napa Valley Riesling: Nose of honey suckle and minerality. There’s a good medium light weight to this bone dry white. 87
Cornerstone Oregon 2010 Willamette Valley Chardonnay: Toasty nose of lemon and vanilla. There’s a good, creamy mouthfeel that is complimented by a balanced lemon acidity. I love this wine. 91
Cornerstone Cellars 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc: Pretty nose of papaya and peach. Good lime flavored acidity and subtle grassy notes. 90
Stepping Stone 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: A nice, light Pinot Noir that smells of pepper and strawberries. On the palate, the pepper spice is balanced with hints of cola, cranberry, and leather. This is some good stuff. 90+
Cornerstone Oregon 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: Toasty nose of tomatoes and cherries are complimented by the taste of cola, cherries, sassafras, and cranberries. There is a great balance to this wine. 91+
Cornerstone Cellars 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Dark burgundy in color, this wine has a pretty nose of strawberry and black fruits. This Cabernet has some fantastic structure with its smooth, chalky tannins. The wine has plenty of pretty black fruit, and a long finish of black olives (which may be due to the 5% Merlot blended into the wine). I’m a fan. 92
Cornerstone Cellars 2008 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine is hella dark. It has a pretty nose of menthol and dried cherries. On the palate, it is all tannin, acid, and spice. This is definitely and age-worthy cab. Craig also poured us a splash of the 2006 to show how it ages. The wine will definitely showcase some herb notes and the tannins pull back over the next few years. This is a great wine. 92+
Cornerstone Cellars 2009 The Cornerstone Red Wine: This is THEE wine that showcases what good fruit and good winemaking can do in Napa Valley. This wine features 95% Cabernet Sauvignon from the famed Oakville Station/To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, along with equal parts Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The wine is dark red, verging on black. It features a nose of strawberry shortcake and boysenberries. The palate has great fruit of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and plum. There is a nice long acid, good green notes of bell pepper, and chalky, bike tire-like tannins. This a fantastic wine. It has the chops to go toe-to-toe with some of Napa’s finest. 93
Before we took off, Craig brought out some Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from To Kalon for us to sample…
Yum!
The next time you’re in the Napa Valley, you’ve gotta check out Cornerstone.
Stay Rad,
Jeff
Stay Rad 