*Sample Received*
The year 2010 and my visit to the Cornerstone Tasting Room. I had been sampling their wines for some time and drinking through their portfolio and just amazed at the quality and consistency of each vintage. Cornerstones Cabernets come from some of the best vineyards and in each bottle you feel and smell the character of the soil/vines. Kari Auringer is indeed creating some very memorable wines.
Tonight I opened the 2014 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon to pair with my beef stew recipe. I will also tell you I do not decant. I love to see the wine open in the glass and evolve just like it would age in the bottle. I'm swirling and smelling for 20 minutes at 10 minute intervals to take in the beauty of the aromas. A rush of ripe blackberries when first opened intermingled with spice and a dusting of cocoa powder. Allowed to open at 20 minutes the fruit and spice have married together and then there is this small puff of cedar. Just beautiful on the nose.
The mouth is amazing with intense chewy dark fruit clusters bursting from the seams . As the layers of dark fruit and spice gently caress the mouth along comes a hint of red berries, chocolate and vanilla oak. A sophisticated elegant cabernet. The pairing with the beef stew you ask. Heaven!
Make sure on your next visit to Napa you stop at one of the tasting facilities to enjoy your own sip or 10 of Cornerstone Cellars.
Cheers
Dan
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