Drew's Wine List

2019 Martín Códax Albariño Vintage:  2019 Region:  Rías Baixas, Spain Winery:  Martín Códax Varieties:  100% Albariño Price:  $12 Critic Rating:  89 Points My Rating:  88 Points The Review:  Happy Monday (for you; it's Sunday for me right now)! I noticed that I hadn't written about that many whites recently, which I'll chalk up to the cold weather. Just as beer drinkers will switch over to heavier/heartier beers in the winter, many wine drinkers tend to drink mostly reds in the cold, so I'm having to rely on some older notes for today's wine because I want to avoid only writing about reds. The Martín Códax Albariño is an example of the most famous Spanish white grape, from said grape's most famous region, by said region's most internationally recognized producer. Year after year, it is one of the most solid examples of Albariño from the Rias Baixas region in Northwestern Spain for a fair price every year. One of the cool things about Albariño...

NV Paula Kornell Brut Vintage:  NV Region:  California, USA Winery:  Paula Kornell Varieties:  80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir Price:  $18 Critic Rating: 94 Points My Rating:  93 Points The Review: Ladies and gentlemen, I've done it! My endless quest for cheap sparkling wine that could pass for good Champagne has come to a (temporary) pause with the discovery of Paula Kornell's California Brut. I've been reading about this wine for a couple of months now, and it's been on my radar, but I hadn't been able to find it until a few days ago. I found it at a Kroger, and I'd be shocked if other stores (especially Wegmans) don't start carrying it soon. This wine is the first effort of Paula Kornell, a descendant of a Champagne family turned California winemakers, and boy has it gotten some good press. It's received several high scores and was listed as Wine Enthusiast's #5 best wine of 2020, thus marking the inaugural release quite the success. It's major...

NV Lini 910 "Labrusca" Lambrusco Rosso   Vintage:  NV Region:  Emilia-Romagna, Italy Winery:  Lini Oreste & Figli Varieties:  85% Salamino, 15% Ancellotta Price:  $15 Critic Rating: 88 Points My Rating:  87 Points The Review: Apologies for the slight delay in between blogs! Got caught up in the first week of classes. But now that I'm settled in a bit more, I think it's the perfect time to talk about good ole' Lambrusco. Commonly misconceived as being sweet garbage (at least in America), Lambrusco actually has varying levels of sweetness and presents a unique opportunity to crush a fizzy red wine. In fact, usually, it's dry! And yes, I didn't mistype- it's a fizzy red. It can also be a fizzy white and a fizzy rose, but it's got a surprisingly complicated naming system that I'm quite unfamiliar with. Maybe one day... Usually classified as being "frizzante" as opposed to "spumante" (which would be more like a normal sparkli...