The 2015 school year has begun and with it comes a busy schedule in our house. Long days at work and school lead into nights of sports practices, PTA meetings and homework! I am sure you can relate. Whether you have grade school kids or not we all live busy lives. All this rushing around makes cooking and having a relaxed sit-down family dinner difficult at best. I try to cook as often as possible but sometimes I need something faster. However, I do not want to sacrifice nutrition for takeout. Furthermore, when I am able to cook a quality weeknight meal I don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen. There is hope! Busy weeknights do not have to suffer from poor food choices and low quality wine. Here are some great weeknight meal suggestions paired with two delicious and versatile wines!
I have shared with you many of the outstanding wines being crafted at Cornerstone Cellars and now I have two more high quality wines of great value to make your weeknight meals fun! Why fun? Because these two wines are delicious, versatile and perfect for stepping up your busy weeknight meals. Plus, they both Rock!
2014 White Rocks! by Cornerstone: This wine is a blend crafted of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Orange Muscat. It poured a soft yellow with green highlights into the glass. This wine is like a basket of fresh fruit delivered to your door: tropical fruit, stone fruit, citrus and melon with white floral notes and honeysuckle exploding out of the glass and onto the palate. It offered a creamy and smooth texture that was quite lively and delicious, adding a touch of marzipan to the bounty of fruits and flowers. It had a round acidity that was mouth-coasting with a lingering, dry finish. Truly a perfect food wine to make your weeknights rock! SRP $15.00
2013 Red Rocks! by Cornerstone: This wine is a blend crafted of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Pinot Noir. It poured a deep rich ruby into the glass. This wine has everything going for it, ripe fresh red and black berries, plums and cranberries along with a touch of cherry cola, savory herbal notes, ending with a clean toasted walnut/tobacco flavor. Light and lively with lots of complimentary flavors. It offered a rich, round acidity, well integrated tannins and a mouth-watering, lingering finish. Hard to find a California wine that delivers this much palate pleasing flavor and texture for under $20! Sure to add “rock” status to any weeknight! SRP $15.00
As I said both of these wines are very versatile and quite enjoyable; your food pairing options are limitless. A few quick and healthy weeknight meal suggestions to pair with 2014 White Rocks! include: Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich with Pickled Celery, Chicken Schnitzel with Smashed Mustard Potatoes and steamed Haricot Verts, One Pan Broccoli-Bacon Mac N’ Cheese and Thai take out. Each of these meals are healthy, delicious and perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. Furthermore, the 2014 White Rocks! was so versatile it paired beautifully with all of these diverse meals!
A few quick and healthy weeknight meal suggestions to pair with 2013 Red Rocks! include: hamburgers on the grill, homemade spaghetti with meat sauce, steak salad, and Friday night pizza! And these are just a few suggestions from food I have made lately, the 2013 Red Rocks! is so versatile it will pair with many more meals. You simply cannot go wrong with Cornerstone Cellars 2013 White Rocks and 2014 Red Rocks! These are wines to buy by the case and have on hand for every day, special occasions, and cook outs. And now that football and hockey season have begun and the holidays are right around the corner Cornerstone Cellars has you covered with the delicious, versatile and well-priced Rocks! wines.
Craig Camp explains the Cornerstone Cellars Rocks! wines inspiration: When I decided I wanted to make a “house wine” that met the standards of our Cornerstone Cellars club members blends were the natural direction for me to go. It sounded like fun to create some wines that were not tied down to varietal labeling restrictions and just let our creativity go wild. So Rocks! was born and we could not be happier or more surprised by the success of what started out as such a small project. If anything the wines are better than ever. As Rocks! grew many more wines became available to us and the blends became more complex, delicious and fun. All are ready to drink tonight and at just $15 these wines are all exceptional values. We wanted to create wines that were good enough to satisfy our demanding Cornerstone Cellars customers for those days and meals when something simpler, yet still delicious was the right choice. We are confident they do indeed rock!
Like Craig, I do believe these wines Rock! And I feel confident you will agree. Additionally, last Christmas I gave several people Rocks! wine as a gift because it is so delicious and tastes well beyond its price point. Order your own cases of White and Red Rocks (and don’t forget Rosé Rocks!) direct from Cornerstone Cellars.
One last thing, if you will be in northern California on October 10 be sure and attend the Cornerstone Cellars Harvest Party featuring incredible barbecue, your favorite Cornerstone wines and their new releases. Purchase your tickets in advance at the Cornerstone Cellars web site.
My Song Selection: Since these two Cornerstone Cellars wines Rock! and will spice up your weeknight meals as well as any occasion I am pairing them with one of my favorite rockin songs from one of my favorite rockin bands to make your weeknight truly rock!
Get your own bottles of Cornerstone Cellars 2014 White Rocks! and 2013 Red Rocks! and let me know what song you pair with them. Cheers!
