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Since its founding in 1991, Cornerstone Cellars in Napa Valley has built its reputation exclusively through making red wine, most of it, high quality Cabernet Sauvignon. All that has changed recently with the release of their first ever white wine under the Cornerstone label, the 2009 Cornerstone Cellars Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Having been seriously impressed with their latest Cabernet efforts, I was intrigued as to what this new bottling might have to offer, and happily, we recently received a bottle for review. We gave it a week in the cellar to rest up after its cross-country journey and then poured glasses to pair with a rotisserie chicken dinner. Here are my impressions:

2009 Cornerstone Cellars Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 13.9% alc., $25: Pale in color, with a rich core of fruit reminiscent of grapefruit and peach laced with a good dose of mineral, a subtle note of fig and an underlying herbaceousness that adds interest and appeal. Medium-full bodied, with good length and ample acids that make it an excellent food wine, but it will also serve well as an aperitif. The herbal-mineral elements set the tone here, but without that rich core of fruit, it wouldn’t mean a thing, because it just wouldn’t have that swing.  An elegant expression of Sauvignon Blanc, rather than the grapefruit and gooseberry on steroids style that seems to predominate these days, more Old World than New in style, and that’s just fine with me. Produced from a fully mature vineyard (20+ years) from an old clone in a dry-farmed St. Helena vineyard, and harvested in the cool of the morning on the 9th of September. Gently pressed to extract only the highest quality free-run juice, followed by an extremely cool, gradual fermentation in stainless steel for over a month, then racked into mature barrels for sur-lie aging. Find this wine

Reporting from Day-twah,

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Related posts:

1. 2006 Celani Family Vineyards Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
2. 4 New Wines from Cornerstone Cellars
3. 2006 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs in Magnum
4. 2004 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc
5. Tasting Leelanau: Shady Lane Cellars

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