Alabama-founded Crimson Dynasty has earned some of the highest international marks a label can receive — and it did so across its entire portfolio.
Crimson Dynasty Wines, the premium collection created for The University of Alabama family, has received “Highly Recommended” ratings from Decanter for all three of its wines. The international publication awarded 94 points to the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon and 93 points each to the 2024 Pinot Noir and 2024 Chardonnay.
For a brand that shipped its first bottles less than a year ago, sweeping the portfolio is an unusually strong debut. Decanter has covered the international wine industry for more than 50 years, and its ratings are followed by collectors, sommeliers, retailers and distributors worldwide.
The company behind the wines was founded by Mountain Brook businessmen Butch Burkett and Bill Rodrigues, who formed Collegiate Wines, LLC to build premium wine brands connected to university communities. Crimson Dynasty is their first wine portfolio.
“We wanted to create wines that Alabama alumni and fans would be proud to share with their families, friends and clients,” Rodrigues said. “We also wanted the wines to stand on their own merit alongside highly regarded wines from anywhere in the world.”
The wines are crafted in Napa Valley by Jean Hoefliger, the Swiss-born winemaker whose career spans Bordeaux, South Africa, Italy, Spain and California, and whose wines have earned multiple 100-point ratings. His involvement was central to the founders’ goal of building an authentic wine company rather than a licensed novelty product.
The distinction mattered to Burkett and Rodrigues from the start: the Alabama connection might introduce someone to Crimson Dynasty, but the wine had to be good enough to bring that customer back. Getting there meant navigating alcohol licensing, regulatory compliance, interstate shipping, e-commerce, fulfillment and University approvals — an industry the two businessmen learned from the ground up.
Decanter wine journalist Jonathan Cristaldi reviewed each wine individually. The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, from Napa Valley, led the collection with dark fruit, earthy complexity and a mineral-driven finish. The 2024 Pinot Noir, which Cristaldi described as the kind of wine that encourages conversation, offers red berry fruit, baking spice and refined tannins. The 2024 Chardonnay, produced from Alexander Valley fruit in Sonoma County, brings tropical and stone-fruit flavors together with freshness and subtle richness.
A royalty from every bottle sold benefits The University of Alabama and its student-athletes — a structure that lets customers support the University through a purchase they would make anyway.
It also represents the broader model behind Collegiate Wines: giving universities a new source of royalty revenue without requiring them to enter the wine business themselves. The company handles production, compliance, e-commerce, fulfillment, customer service and marketing, while the university relationship gives each collection its identity and community.
Much of Crimson Dynasty’s growth so far has happened face to face in Alabama, at alumni gatherings, charitable events, business functions and wine festivals — where customers can taste the wines and meet the people behind them. Because the company sells directly to consumers rather than through retail, those events have functioned as its storefront. They also appear well in search for terms like “Alabama wine” and actively post their events on social media.
To mark the Decanter recognition, Crimson Dynasty is running the largest promotion in the company’s history: 25% off any purchase of three or more bottles through July 31.
The offer covers the full collection, including the three-bottle presentation set — the Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in an engraved wooden box — that has become popular for weddings, holidays and milestone gifts.
“We are proud of the Alabama story, but we have always known the wine had to earn its place at the table,” Burkett said. “These ratings help demonstrate that the quality is real.”
Crimson Dynasty Wines are available at CrimsonDynastyWine.com, with updates on Instagram at @crimsondynastywine. The 25% promotion on three or more bottles runs through July 31.
