Picnic Wine – Fourth of July Wines! – Red, White and Blueberry Wine?

SHE Says:  I wonder if there is such a thing as blueberry wine.
HE Says:  Yes. I’ve seen it. I’ve tasted it once or twice.
SHE Says:  Maybe we should have some for Fourth of July dinner?
HE Says:  No.  It’s very sweet, more like an after-dinner liqueur.
SHE Says:  And your point is…? We don’t have time for after-dinner wine?
SHE Adds:  We do have time for after-dinner wine, but no time for blueberry wine to be shipped. Tomasello’s Blueberry Wine 

SHE Says: It’s a Cornerstone 4th of July for us this year.  Cornerstone Napa sent over some Stepping Stone wines that we think are PERFECT for this Fourth of July weekend feasting!

Our dinner:  Fish tacos made with grilled salmon, grilled mahi-mahi and some seared ahi or ahi-ahi as he likes to say.  Made up a batch of some spicy mango salsa, and will serve it with some Asian cole slaw.  And in a totally different direction, slow-barbecued Memphis style baby back ribs.  Mmmm!  Gonna serve them with grilled asparagus, grilled corn, grilled potatoes (get the theme?) and…

HE interrupts:  And She will be attempting a new creation – grilled sage leaves. Something about sage leaves, olive oil, salt, pepper, wood chips and the grill.  No worries, we have a fireman in the neighborhood – we are prepared – and curious.
SHE says:  You just wait….you just wait.

HE Says:  Until then… we have three excellent Fourth Of July wines for you from Stepping Stone, the younger, wilder sister wine  from
Cornerstone Cellars in Napa Valley.

SHE Says: They’re so cute! They look like “Three Little Maids From School”

HE Says: And we’re moving on to describe the three wines..

Stepping Stone 2010 Rocks, White Wine, Napa Valley

Stepping Stone 2010 Riesling, Napa Valley

Stepping Stone Napa Valley Rosé Corallina (Syrah)

Picnic Wine – 2010 Stepping Stone (from Cornerstone Cellars) Rocks! White Wine, Napa Valley

2010 Stepping Stone (from Cornerstone Cellars) Rocks! White Wine, Napa Valley  

HE Says:  Cornerstone is onto a really rockin’ idea. They’re going to make a blended white and a blended red wine from the best varietals of the vintage.  It won’t be the same proportions, or even the same grapes, year after year.  This allows the winemakers lots of freedom to experiment and the ability to put out something really different and special.

For 2010, the Stepping Stone Rocks! white wine is an intriguing blend of chardonnay and muscat. I don’t think this is a combination I’ve come across before — if so, it was a long time ago.  This combo really works.  It has a hint of white peaches on the nose, making me think they added some viognier to it, but they didn’t.  The wine has a pale color, and is soft and smooth.  It has nice fruitiness, and sweet tones from the muscat grapes, but it’s not a sweet wine by any means. This wine does really rock!  I gave it a 15+, which is very strong for a white.

SHE Says:  Memories of Juicy Fruit gum come to mind.  This one sings opera – she is a soprano.

HE and SHE both say: A Sunday brunch wine, and perfect for a salad dinner and a picnic.  In fact, that’s what we expected and why we chose it for our 4th of July picnic!

Click here for more Picnic Wines from Stepping Stone at Cornerstone Cellars.

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Picnic Wine – Stepping Stone 2010 Riesling, from Cornerstone Cellars, Napa Valley

Picnic Wine – Stepping Stone 2010 Riesling, from Cornerstone Cellars, Napa Valley

HE says: I haven’t had too many California Rieslings in all my years of tasting. This Riesling comes from the Carneros region in the South of Napa, a long ways away from Germany or the Alsace region in France.  True to form, the aromas are wonderfully flowery — very similar to the Rocks wine with notes of white peaches.  The wine is very different in flavor tho.  This Riesling is very dry and crisp, with a nice minerally finish.  The acidity will make it great for all our spicy and tangy barbecue flavors.  This Riesling is not sweet in any form. I rated it a very nice 14.

SHE says:  You’re very serious for a white wine, must be the German genes.

Thanks for reading!  Click here for links to all of our 4th of July Picnic wine descriptions. 

2008 Montes – Sauvignon Blanc, Leyda Vineyard, Leyda Valley, Chile

Montes, Sauvignon Blanc, Ltd. Selection

HE and SHE both say: Well, here we are, in South America again. Only figuratively speaking this time. A Chilean Sauvignon Blanc we picked up at Costco for about $10.  It was made by Montes, a pioneer in the Chilean wine industry, and the writeup seemed promising, so let’s give it a shot.
2008 Montes – Sauvignon Blanc, Leyda Vineyard, Leyda Valley, Chile, Limited Selection — (a very long name) –

After we’ve been drinking the wine for a few minutes . . .

HE SAYS: Smell it — what do you get?

SHE SAYS: Occasionally I breathe wine up through my nose!  (Purely by accident. Just thought you should know.)

HE SAYS: Uh, OK.  What do you taste? I taste a distinct citrus fruit. (And then he looks at SHE daring her to guess which citrus.)

SHE SAYS: (Visibly sorting through her limited mental notes on citrus) I’m going to guess. . . that the citrus you taste . . . must be . . . lemon?

HE SAYS: Grapefruit.

SHE SAYS: Ha, ha, ha!!!! So wrong again!  ( She lets one of her famous laughs rip through the night air and slaps the table.)

HE SAYS: This is a very nice sauv blanc. The nose was maybe a bit of butterscotch and grass.  Taste is grapefruit and light tropical flavors, nicely balanced with a crisp amount of acid. A good food wine, especially with shellfish. Quite nice, especially for the price.  Score: 15

SHE SAYS: This is a happy, friendly wine! Welcome to my summer table any day.  It would even be great with breakfast.

HE says: About Montes Premium Wines.  Aurelio Montes pioneered much of the quality production in Chile.  His Montes Alpha M line of premium red wines from the Apalta Valley garnered great accolades and really put Chilean wines on the map (and table) for the rest of the world. This Sauvignon Blanc is from the Leyda Valley in Chile, which is a new Denomination of Origen, about 6 miles from the Pacific Ocean.  This wine is fermented in stainless steel and has never touched oak.

SHE SAYS: They have a picture of a llama on their site, so I can’t wait to visit.  Can we consider a llama instead of a dog?