TN: Two Drew MorningDew Piots...(short/boring)

Tried these two last night:

  1. Drew PinotNoir MorningDewRanch/AndersonVlly (13.3%) 2013: Med.dark color w/ little bricking; strong black cherry cola/PN/black cherry light earthy some toasty/Fr.oak/smokey slight w-c some complex deeper nose; fairly tart/tangy some smokey/toasty/Fr.oak strong black cherry cola/PN/black cherry/bit spicy some complex flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long strong toasty/Fr.oak/smokey strong black cherry/cola/PN finish w/ gentle tannins; probably as good as it’s gonna get; quite a nice PN but not the bright cherry character of many AndersonVlly Pinots.

  1. Drew PinotNoir MorningDewRanch/AndersonVlly (13.4%) 2019: Med.color; strong brighter/cherry/black cherry/PN lighter toasty/Fr.oak/bit smokey bit simpler/fresher nose; more tart/tangy light toasty/pencilly/oak bright/spicy/cherry/black cherry/PN less intense bit simpler flavor w/ light tangy tannins; med.long lighter/fresher brighter/cherry/black cherry/PN some toasty/pencilly/oak bit simpler finish w/ light tannins; speaks more of AndersonVlly and more bright cherry PN fruit; can use a few yrs & should put on weight. $70.00

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. Drew is the wnry of Jason & Molly Drew. He’s one of the darlings of SweetAlice and the natural wine cabal. Yet his wines are always clean & never show any natty character whatsoever.
    His speciality is PinotNoir, which I tend to like a lot. However, I don’t find them that distinctive, one from the other and they have a strong sense of Drew winemaking style. I buy his wines mostly for his Syrahs, which I like quite a lot. And his Albarino is one of the best around.
    Tom

Interesting notes Tom. I’ve only ever had the 2011 of this wine, and it has twice been my favorite Pinot of the year 2019/2020. Maybe it’s just a magical year for the vineyard in Drew’s hands (otherwise regarded as a bad to not very good vintage?!). I do usually find the Valenti Syrah and Valenti Pinot very compelling. Though I do find the pinots distinctive, they are not as easily parsed as those at Witching Stick, Phillips Hill, and for the most part Baxter. Really happy to try out the Morning Dew from Phillips Hill (2018). I definitely agree on the very nice Albariño

Tom, where did you get the impression that Drew was a wine that was favored by Alice Feiring and/or others who promote natural wine? I can’t recall ever seeing Drew mentioned by Feiring or being categorized as a natural wine. They’re low-intervention and ferment with native yeast, their estate vineyard is certified organic, and they might be considered natural by some but I’ve never seen them directly connected with the natural wine movement. They were one of the wineries that used to pour at IPOB but that was years ago and that group had no connection with the natural wine movement.

Well, Ken… I just seem to recall SweetAlice heaping praise on Jason one time in the past… but I could very well be mistaken.
Tom