Cornerstone/Page/Revolver

Yountville, CA

 

 

 We had some time on a Saturday afternoon so headed to Napa with the intention of just a couple of stops and not going further than the Oakville Crossroad.  I gave my partner a couple of options.  We could do a couple of Sparking Wine tastings (Domaine Chandon and Domaine Carneros) or we could just stay in Yountville and stop at a couple of spots, or we could go up to the Napa Wine Company right at the Yountville Crossroads and Highway 29. 

We chose to go to Domaine Chandon.  We have always kind of avoided Chandon because we have heard it was always so crowded.  We certainly have no trouble drinking the brand but just had not had the need to go there.  We pulled into the gorgeous property and the immense parking lot with many limos   but despite the crowd we thought we would stop anyway as after all we had the Winery Finder 2 for 1 Tasting Application (even though I was having trouble getting it to load properly).  What a place this is.  The grounds are amazing.  It almost looks like the buildings are surrounded by a golf course. It reminded me of the Master’s at Augusta.  Well it was very crowded.  We were amazed as it looked to me that this must be the ‘must stop’ for recently turned 21 female wine tasters and they were all dressed for a party.  I am sure you can make appointments for more personal tastings but at the main tasting bar it was three deep at least.  It would certainly be a challenge to even get a taste.  This was certainly unlike what we have seen at other Sparkling Wine establishments but we’ll hold judgment until we visit again to see how things really work.  We decided not to stay but we are not disappointed that we checked it out.  Maybe if you are headed there on a weekend the way to go is with an early appointment.  It did look like the appointment outside tastings might be much more appealing.

 

So we headed to (downtown) Yountville and searched out Cornerstone Cellars.  We had seen them at the Rhone Ranger event and knew they had been in town for some time and we had a 2 for 1 Tasting coupon.  Apparently tourist season has started as it was difficult to find a parking spot.  We finally found one and after having a little trouble finding the tasting rooms (really almost impossible to miss) we stumbled into what we thought was Cornerstone Cellars.  It was not.  Another tasting room is right next door called Page Cellars/Revolver Wine Company.  Regardless of the fee we were ready to taste wine.

Page/Revolver is a bit of a (tastefully done) Rock and Roll themed establishment.  The winery was founded by Bryan Page with the first vintage in the late 90’s.  Bryan came with a food/restaurant background and after touring many of the Chateaus throughout Bordeaux became a fan of St Emillion (French Bordeaux classifications that I don’t quite understand) which led to a passion of creating at Napa Style St Emillion blend.  The Page wines are of the traditional Bordeaux styles and blends while the Revolver label includes wines of varying and Non-Bordaux varietals. 

 

The wines were good.  We had a Proprietary White blend, a Rose, a Proprietary Red and a Petite Sirah.  We also tasted the Vine/Vein Cabernet which was excellent.  This wine is collaboration with Mike Dirnt, the Bassist and co-founder of the band Green Day.  This was a dark and intense 2009 wine, certainly capable of aging for some time but at $150.00 a bottle it did not make it into our wine cellar. Christiana was our gracious host and the tasting fee was $20.00

We moved next door to Cornerstone.  Cornerstone is actually two labels.  The lower end label is called Stepping Stone while the higher end label is Cornerstone.  Cornerstone has roots back to 1991 when their first Howell Mountain Cabernet was produced.  The current winemaker, Jeff Keene, of New Zealand, joined in 2008 and the winery has blossomed.  The Tasting Room has several seating arrangements but we chose the bar seats looking right out onto Yountville’s Main street.  Partly because of the two labels, Cornerstone has quite a variety of wines to taste.  Everything is Napa grapes other than a Pinot and Chardonnay made of Willamette Valley grapes. 

We really enjoyed the White and Rose wines.  I think this had to do a little bit with the fact that the tasting bar faced the bright sun.  The wines were cool and crisp.  And it is a bonus that the Stepping Stone label was reasonably (but not quite everyday) priced.  Our first taste was the Pinot Gris.  Then we had the (bone dry) Rose, both very good and both $20.00.  We tasted several reds and my favorite was the Cabernet Franc at $35.00.  We were poured the Cornerstone Howell Mountain Cabernet which was a powerful wine and which we liked very much and then asked for the Stepping Stone labeled Cabernet which did not match up with the first wine but at $35.00 was a good wine. 

We had a really nice chat with our host, who has a plan to open a small brewery in Santa Rosa, and despite this being just a tasting room and not a full blown winery facility, had a really nice tasting experience here.

 

We were hungry and both tasting rooms suggested we stop at the food truck parked in the parking at of Pancha’s (Napa Valley’s really only dive bar) just up the road.  We had a couple of Fish Tacos and we were ready for one more tasting.

 

What we liked- Yountville is like the first stop in the Valley and so easy to get to.  Both Tasting Rooms were very casual and the wines good.

 

What we bought- Three bottles of last year’s Stepping Stone Rose at Cornerstone.  A steal at $10/bottle.

 

Vitals- 

Page/Revolver

(707) 944-2339

www.pagewinecellars.com

Cornerstone Cellars

(707) 945-0388

www.cornerstonecellars.com

 

Both at:

6505 Washington Street

Yountville, CA  94559