Drew's Wine List

  2016 Chateau les Aubiers Cotes de Bordeaux Vintage:  2016 Region:  Bordeaux (Blaye), France Winery:  Chateau les Aubiers Varieties:  80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec Price:  $6.99 (at Costco) Critic Rating: 91 Points My Rating:  91 Points The Review: I must admit, I've recently been on a bit of a more traditional region wine kick... Burgundies, Tuscans, and of course, Bordeaux. Normally I try to be adventurous in my wine drinking- lesser-known regions, maybe a weird grape, or the occasional "natural wine"- but I'm loving my explorations of these classic regions (they're famous for a reason!). This wine today, however, allowed me to get a little mix of a classic region, but less traditional farming practices and winemaking techniques (it's very cool if you're a nerd that is interested in agricultural practices, but I'll spare you the details). Also, it was $6.99 at Costco and it normally retails for ~$40! As the home of some of the most w...

2015 Seigneurie de Posanges Bourgogne Blanc Vintage:  2015 Region:  Burgundy, France Winery:  Seigneurie de Posanges Varieties:  Chardonnay Price:  $15 (at Wegmans) My Rating:  90 Points The Review:  If you're looking for the world's most famous Chardonnay, Burgundy is the place to go. It offers a little bit of everything- slightly oaked and balanced Chardonnays, as well as crisp and minerally unoaked Chardonnays. Either way, the fruit notes and balance are essential to these wines. What you're not going to find here is super over-the-top buttery Chards like you might occasionally have stumbled upon coming out of California. Burgundian winemakers do everything in their power to not have anything outshine the expressive nature of the grape. Like all French wines (except for wines from Alsace... longish story), Burgundian wines are labeled by region instead of grape. So, unless you want to fight centuries of French snobbery and arrogance, it's your job a...

2017 Tenuta Di Renieri Chianti Classico Vintage:  2017 Region: Tuscany, Italy (Chianti Classico DOCG) Winery:  Renieri Varieties:  Sangiovese Price:  $16 (at Total Wine) Rating:  93 Points My Rating:  91 Points The Review: After two of the most legendary vintages in Tuscan wines ('15 and '16), the renowned region was bound to have a little bit of a slowdown. The 2017 vintage was met with its share of challenges, but many famous producers still managed to put out a great product as they always do. Now while I would totally encourage you to go seek out a 2015 or 2016 Tuscan wine (Castellani, a producer I've already written about has an awesome 2015 Chianti Classico), I drank the 2017 Tenuta di Renieri Chianti Classico for Christmas dinner, so I wanted to write about it. I've also always personally thought that making a good wine during a perfect vintage doesn't really say anything about the winery... If you make bad wine in a perfect vintage, you just suck. I...

2014 Sur de los Andes Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage:  2014 Region:  Mendoza, Argentina Winery:  Sur de los Andes Varieties:  50% Malbec, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon Price:  $12 (found it at Wegmans) Rating:  92 Points My Rating:  90 Points The Review: Perhaps one of the most interesting wine regions to watch right now is Argentina. Up until the 1800s, Malbec was one of the main grapes of Bordeaux. However, in the mid-1800s an insect known as Phyllorexa swept across America and Europe and destroyed pretty much all the vines that were planted. Since Malbec was so finicky in France, the growers never bothered to replant it. Conveniently at the same time, Argentina began pumping tons of money into viticulture and winemaking in order to compete with their arch-nemesis, Chile, who had experienced success with wine production. The French were more than happy to help Argentina establish their wines (there weren't wine jobs in Europe at this point), and they saw...