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Brabo Wine Tasting Bar in Old Town Alexandria

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Written by:

Janelle Becerra

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Following the Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, we spent a few days traveling around Virginia wine country. While walking around Old Town Alexandria, we couldn’t resist having lunch at the very inviting Brabo Tasting Room, adjacent to the beautiful Lorien Hotel and Spa.

The tasting room offers a nice selection of red and white wines available by the taste, the glass, or the bottle. The list of wines also includes sparkling wines, dessert wines and a wide assortment of beer. The surprise to us was that there was not a single Virginia wine on the list. We mentioned to our server Bryan how delighted we’d been with all the Virginia wines we’d sampled at the conference, and he promised to pass the word on.

The lunch menu has quite an array of gourmet items to choose from including mussels,
“Napa’tizers,” meats and cheese, sandwiches and salads. Bryan was very helpful in making suggestions for wine and food pairings.

I tried a taste of the ’09 Mount Nelson Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, and the ’09 Scott ‘Dijon Clone’ Chardonnay from Arroyo Secco, California. Both wines were crisp and delicious, on a day that was in the mid 90’s, and went quite well with my spinach salad that included hard-boiled egg and bacon.

Joe had a taste of the ’08 Adega Abertal Albarino from Rias Baixas, Spain, and an ’05
Bodega Weinert Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. Both wines were delicious with his grilled Portobello sandwich that was dressed with aoili and piquillo peppers.

While we were finishing lunch, Bryan sent over the General Manager, Gonzague Muchery, to talk with us. Gonzague is from a small town in France and was quite charming. He took us on a tour of the hotel restaurant and the “Butcher’s Block,” a wonderful deli and wine shop. He wants the deli to have a European market feel, and indeed it does. There are many ready-made meals, picnic items, fresh meats and cheeses, and a huge selection of wines for sale. If we lived anywhere near this deli, we’d be frequent customers for sure.

If you’re going to be Alexandria any time soon, be sure to visit Brabo and the Butcher’s Block. You won’t be disappointed.