Open: Year-round
In 1991 Mike Dragutsky was touched by the dream to make great wine and founded Cornerstone Cellars. In 1979 Craig Camp gave up his career in journalism to become part of the story that flows from the vine to the glass. In 2008 they joined forces to intertwine their talents and vision and Cornerstone Cellars was reborn in the Napa Valley and Oregon's Willamette Valley. Today they are joined by winemakers Kari Auringer in the Napa Valley and Tony Rynders in Oregon.
In late 2007 Dragutsky and Camp began the drive to make wines at Cornerstone Cellars that are defined by their elegance, dedication to terroir, appropriate alcohol levels and that are crafted to enhance meals. Today they've recruited Auringer to join as our Napa Valley winemaker as they knew she shared their vision of balanced wines, driven by acidity and freshness. Today's Cornerstone Cellars style is inspired by Camp's European wine background, starting as an importer of Burgundy, Bordeaux then by three years working at wineries in Italy. This passion for balance combined with the entrepreneurial spirit of founder Dragutsky define the vision of Cornerstone Cellars as defined in their mission statement:
Vineyard, Vintage and Variety
"Excellence is never enough, we have to go beyond and establish an ever higher goal each vintage. Our goal is to craft wines that are not only exceptional, but memorable. Each of our wines expresses the essence of vineyard, variety and vintage, which combine each harvest to create something never to be exactly repeated."
In 2008, Cornerstone Oregon was born in the Willamette Valley as a collaboration between Cornerstone Napa's Craig Camp and renowned Oregon winemaker Tony Rynders. While longing to make pinot noir and chardonnay, Camp firmly believed that the Napa Valley was no place to make classically styled, elegant wines from these varieties. As a result a totally separate project was born as we believe it is more important where the vines put down roots than where we do.
What we believe:
Cornerstone Cellars wines are the combined personal vision of Dragutsky, Camp and our winemakers of what makes a wine great. The symbiosis of their personalities are realized in our wines.We are not about statistics and points, terroir is terroir and every vineyard must find its own balance.There is no finer place in the world to grow cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot than the Napa Valley. It is both an honor to be able to craft wine from such outstanding fruit and it our responsibility to make each wine to the very best of our ability.We make pinot and chardonnay in Oregon because we think it is a world class place to grow those varieties that the Napa Valley is not. It's more important where the vines put down roots than where the winemakers do.We do not make wine for everyone. We make what we believe in, not what the mass market demands. We will not be a slave to the fashion of the moment, we make wines we love to drink. What makes a great wine does not change; it's not like having hemlines to go up and down according latest whim.
