Sommelier’s pick
Who: Lexey Johnson, sommelier at B&B Butchers and Restaurant
Background: After five years spent working at Vino Vino in Austin, Johnson returned to her hometown of Houston and soon landed her current posting. Her now husband, Eric, a chef when they met, steered her toward wine, thinking “it had the potential to be much more than a hobby.” A Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, she’s studying for her Advanced Somm status with the ultimate goal of becoming a Master.
What: 2013 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino Why: Johnson acknowledges she “fell in love with the winery and the winemaker when I had the chance to visit it last spring. Donatella has such a compelling personality, and her wines match that vivacity. The
dove on the winery’s label symbolically represents Donatella’s decision to fly away from her family’s winery (the estate dates from the 1600s) to make wines that fully expressed her own character. While employing modern technology, she has great respect for tradition, as demonstrated by her decision to salvage and make a wine from the ancient Sienese indigenous varietal foglia tonda.” This Brunello, “with a backbone of structured, integrated tannins, has notes of dark red berry fruit, earth and spice. It’s elegant and complex, yet extremely approachable, with subtle vanilla tones and a pervasive finish.” Pair, she says, with either B&B’s 28-day dry-aged rib-eye “or one of our burgers for a laid-back lunch.”
Price: $135 for a bottle at B&B Butchers, 1814 Washington