Expensive wine 49: Cornerstone Cellars Chardonnay Willamette Valley 2010

The Willamette Valley in this wine ?s name is important, because Cornerstone is more than just an Oregon producer. It ?s actually better known for its Napa Valley wines, including a high-scoring cabernet sauvignon that makes the wine geeks giddy.

In some hands, this kind of secondary project might be an afterthought. But Cornerstone does its Oregon wines proud, and they seem to receive the same sort of attention and care that the Napa wines get.

The chardonnay ($35, sample, 13.5%) is, not surprisingly, more California in style than Oregon ? richer and oakier. But the fruit (somewhere between citrus and green apple) still shows through, along with the minerality that should be there in well-made chardonnay. All of this is complemented by a long, juicy finish.

I ?m not quite sure elegant is the best adjective for the wine, in the way a white Burgundy can be elegant. If the latter is Catherine Deneuve, then this is Katharine Ross in ?Butch Cassidy. ?