Drew's Wine List

NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace Brut  Vintage:  NV Region:  Alsace, France Winery:  Lucien Albrecht Varieties:  Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Auxerrois Price:  $15 Rating:  91 Points My Rating:  90 Points The Review:  Hopefully everyone had a nice weekend and was able to properly celebrate "Open that bottle of Virginia wine night." I hosted a small tasting with my roommates, and we had the 2018 Barboursville Cabernet Franc as well as the 2017 White Hall Viognier- both were great! Now it's back to your regularly scheduled programming. A couple of weeks ago, my mom opened this bottle for me at dinner at the suggestion of one of the people at a store we shop at. I was intrigued because Cremant d'Alsace is always a great option (it's a great way to get Champagne quality sparklers, made in the Champagne method, for a fraction of the price), but it's not usually something a whole lot of people will suggest! Just as a quick refresher- "Cremant"...

  2018 Barboursville Barbera Reserve  Vintage:  2018 Region:  Virginia, USA Winery:  Barboursville Varieties:  Barbera Price:  $20 My Rating:  88 Points The Review: Saturday, March 27 is Open that Bottle of Virginia Wine Day! Now, I don't know if that's an internationally celebrated holiday, but those of us from the Commonwealth can certainly indulge and #buylocal- something I admittedly don't do enough. To honor this upcoming "holiday," I'm gonna take a gander at the first Virginia wine on the blog! Virginia has really been on the up and up and has been receiving quite a bit of international recognition in recent years. From wineries like Breaux and King Family, to bigger names like Barboursville and RdV, to some incredibly successful newcomers with hot-shot interns, Virginia wine is starting to finally catch the eyes of the wine world. In fact, the legendary wine critic responsible for the Judgement of Paris, Steven Spurrier (recently passed, Go...

2019 Alfredo Maestro "El Rey del Glam"  Vintage:  2019 Region:  V.T. Castilla y León, Spain Winery:  Alfredo Maestro Varieties:  Garnacha (aka Grenache) Price:  $23.99 My Rating:  94 Points The Review: This week's wine is a little bit of a splurge, but it doesn't fall too high above my $20 threshold, so I'm gonna allow it. I also just quite frankly think it's good enough to warrant the extra 4 bucks! I picked up Alfredo Maestro's "El Rey del Glam" at the suggestion of a friend and after scouring the Earth in search of it, I finally found it at Ellwood Thompson (in Richmond). I'm hoping that y'all will be able to find it at a specialty store (either wine or grocery), but these sorts of small production wines that overproduce oftentimes get snatched up very very quickly. So to be upfront, there is a non-zero chance that you won't be able to find this. Nevertheless, I hope you'll still keep your eyes peeled for it, and it's made ...

  2020 Kirkland K Vine Rosé  Vintage:  2020 Region: Washington, USA (Buckshot Vineyard) Winery:  Charles Smith in collaboration with Kirkland Signature Varieties:  Syrah Price:  $9.99 (at Costco) My Rating:  89 Points The Review: I came up with my New Year's Resolution about 5 minutes ago, and it's to drink more rosé once it gets warmer out. It's the perfect summer bevvie, and I just feel like people don't drink enough of it. Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to tell you that it can be super underwhelming at times, but there are also times where it just works perfectly. Think about a cookout... burgers, mac and cheese, and rosé? Dang, I'm hungry. As you all probably know by now, this is an unofficial Charles Smith and Kirkland fan page. So, when I heard about this collab between two of my favorite things, I just had to have it. I'm also proud to say that I've taught my mom well enough that she spotted the label and immediately knew that Charles S...

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...