Champagne Winners for a Holiday Season to Remember

It's that time of year when our Champagne program shines, and this year we have more direct-import standouts than ever to make your holidays sparkle. Recent reloads from a trio of DI favorites will have long-time fans stocking up, while the iconic Billecart-Salmon's current releases offer holiday luxury at nearly any price point. Finally, Champagne buyer Gary Westby's "boots on the ground" approach pays off once again with a pair of new direct-import additions that are sure to garner legions of fans once the wines make it to your table.

The Best Values in Grower Champagne: Baron-Fuenté and Gilbert Jacquesson

I don’t think that there are two producers in the U.S. market that can compete with Baron-Fuenté and Gilbert Jacquesson for value. While we have seen big, and sometimes downright gross, price increases from so many of the big names, the prices of these two producers have remained stable at K&L for many years. We celebrate that regularly at home by drinking a little bit more of both of them, and I hope this holiday season you will join me and the staff of K&L in enjoying an extra bottle every now and then. Why not!?

New Champagne Discovery: Cordoin Didierlaurent

Even though I have been travelling to Champagne two to three times every year for 23 years, there is still so much to discover. This May, one of the biggest discoveries I have had in a long time came in the sleepy Marne River town of Port-a-Binson at Champagne Cordoin Didierlaurent. There I met Pierre-Emanuel Cordoin, vine grower and winemaker for this 21-acre estate and tasted his fantastic wines.

Champagne Petiau: Trépail Super Star

We have a new direct-import producer in stock, from the famous perle blanche de la Montagne de Reims—the white pearl of the mountain of Reims—the 1er Cru of Trépail... Up until now, most of their sales have been at the cellar door in France, and this is the first time the wines have been available in the U.S. Since we buy direct from Lorène Petiau, the prices are amazing for our K&L Champagne fans.

Billecart-Salmon’s Stunning Champagnes Are Perfect for the Holidays

Established in 1818 with the marriage of Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon, Champagne Billecart-Salmon is perched at the pinnacle of Champagne’s Grand Marques. Located along the Marne River in the renowned village of Marieul-sur-Aÿ, it is still family-owned and operated 205 years later. Seventh-generation vigneron Mathieu Roland-Billecart is now at the helm alongside sixth-generation mentors Antoine Roland-Billecart, Deputy General Manager, and Jean and François Roland-Billecart.

Champagne Aspasie: Always Number One in Our Hearts

If my memory serves me correctly, we are approaching our 20th year since initiating our very successful small-estate Champagne import program, care of Gary Westby! It was an immediate hit, and to this day it still surprises me how well the wines beautifully balance high quality and extreme value. As many of our long-time customers know, the nonvintage bottling from Champagne Ariston Aspasie was our first direct import for this program. Paul Vincent Aristan and his wife Caroline have been with us from the start.

Thanksgiving Champagne!

When I think of being thankful this time of year, one of the first things that pops into my mind is my gratitude to the farmers who feed us and grow the grapes for the wines that make our lives so much better. The first person who comes to mind is Paul-Vincent Ariston, the boss at Champagne Aspasie in the tiny village of Brouillet. He is one of the hardest working men I know, and one of the most patient. At home this year we will be starting off our Thanksgiving festivities with his excellent Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne $34.99.

The Annual Champagne Summit Dinner Sparkles with Billecart's Brightest

Earlier this week, the K&L Champagne team kicked off our annual staff summit with a dinner hosted by Billecart-Salmon. It has become a welcome tradition to start off our yearly survey of all the grande marque producers with a sushi dinner at my place featuring the wines of this great house. Christian Esser, who just returned from a visit to Billecart, and Eric Lecours presented the wines and treated Scott Beckerley, Michael Benoit, Philip Roufail, Will Langhi, Cinnamon and me to a great spread from Kanpai sushi in Palo Alto.

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Back on Our Shelves: Champagne Boulard-Baquaire

This past May I had the chance to drive all the way up to the very top of Champagne to the village of Cormicy. I was there to visit Christophe Boulard at Champagne Boulard-Baquaire, and it had been too long since I had seen him and visited the winery. Now, his wines have just come back in stock, and I would like to share their story with you.

A Much-Awaited New Cuvée from Ruinart

This Wednesday I was invited to dinner at Selby’s by Louise Bryden, head of research and development and part of the winemaking team at Champagne Ruinart. She is touring the West Coast for the release of the Ruinart Blanc Singulier Brut Nature, the first new cuvée to be released by Ruinart since the non-vintage blanc de blancs over 20 years ago. It was a fantastic evening, and we were even served by the Ruinart Challenge winner—Lindsey Young from Selby’s—who had taken the prize that very morning in San Francisco!

Champagne Dreams Made Possible with Friends

I have the great fortune of belonging to a Champagne tasting group that meets quarterly. Since August 2019, we have been having our get-togethers. Everyone in this group is an absolute Champagne fiend. Luckily, we have never had to suffer through an even slightly mediocre tasting. Yes, a couple of bottles have been corked here and there, but, amazingly it’s only been very, very, few—especially considering that we taste 15-plus bottles per meeting. This last one, a week ago, was another stunner.

K&L Wine Merchants

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