On the Trail — the K&L wine journal: notes from the road by the people who buy the wine
Latest from K&L
New this week from the people who taste, travel and buy for K&L — our buyers, writers and contributors.
Glen Scotia: The Art of the Quiet Comeback
Campbeltown had 30 distilleries in the 1880s and has three today. Stephanie Manning drove the length of Kintyre, a day after Storm Amy, to taste through casks at Glen Scotia. She came back with a 10-year first-fill Oloroso hogshead and an argument for very long fermentations.
Breaking New Ground: Faultline's New Small Batch Rye Whiskey
Our first small-batch rye came from an unlikely mash bill: 51% rye, 49% barley. It has the spice of an American rye and the stone fruit characteristics of a Speyside. Stephanie Manning on the five barrels, the Madeira finish, and why 111 proof was the right strength.
Yann Chave: From Crozes to Hermitage
Two vintages into a Direct Import relationship with one of the great singular producers of Crozes-Hermitage, organic since 2007. Keith Mabry on five wines: the estate Crozes, the 60-year-old vines behind Le Rouvre, a new Blanc, the first St-Joseph Yann Chave has ever made, and the Hermitage.
A Châteauneuf for Any Season
Grenache may lead the conversation in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but plot selection, soils and winemaking take these wines in very different directions. Keith Mabry on three of them: the translucent Grenache of Piedlong, Isabel Ferrando's precision, and Beaucastel's Mourvèdre-heavy 2023.
Roc des Pins: The Next Generation of the des Pins Family
Léon de Pins grew up at Château de Montfaucon. Roc des Pins is his own project, and the first two wines are deliberately contrarian: a Tavel dark enough to pass for a light red, and a Cinsault bottled on its own rather than hidden in a blend.
Château de Montfaucon: One of Our Rhône Family Favorites
Keith Mabry has been buying Château de Montfaucon for more than two decades. The estate is now fully organic, the range runs from the returning $15.99 La Côte to the late-released 2020 Baron Louis, and Léon de Pins has a project of his own.
Wine regions
Every region we buy from, with the buyer who covers it.
Vintage guides
Year by year, region by region: the buyers’ notes on what to drink now and what to hold.
Germany
GermanyPrograms
The things only K&L does: our own labels, our own imports, our own series.
Anonymous Wine Collective
California vineyards we can’t name, prices we can. Wines from some of the state’s best-known estates, bottled under our label because the producer can’t put theirs on it at this price.
Discover AnonymousDiscovery Series
Fifteen wines chosen to teach something — a grape, a place, a vintage — bottled under our label with the buyer’s notes.
Direct Imports
The producers our buyers visit, choose and bring in themselves. One page per producer, one directory per country.
Wine clubs
Two bottles a month, chosen by the buyers, with the story behind each.
Our own labels
Seven names we put on bottles ourselves, each with the buyer behind it.
Buyers & writers
Who writes here, what they buy, and where to find them.
K&L news
Stores, events, the Champagne Tent, Open Cellar and fifty years of K&L.
Discover Our House Labels
For fifty years, K&L has been in the business of finding the best wine and spirits for the best prices. We've built deep relationships across the industry, and that's been the secret ingredient in the K&L sauce. In the 80s, co-founder Clyde Beffa realized that some of his friends in California had made more wine than they could sell; he could buy the juice at a discount and pass along the savings to the customers—as long as he didn't reveal his sources. Thus Kalinda was born, and we started our foray into private labels. Since then, we've expanded to a family of them: Bordeaux and Italy bottled under our Discovery Series; French country wines blended as Rendez-Vous; a Grand Cru Champagne bottled for us as Maison 76; California wineries we can't name under the Anonymous Wine Collective; and casks we picked ourselves in Scotland and Kentucky. Every bottle below exists because a K&L buyer stood in a cellar and said yes.
50 Years. 50 Tastings. The Best Bottles of Summer 2026.
This summer, our NYC store is pouring 50 days of free tastings at 270 Madison Avenue. Mouton-Rothschild. Cristal. Pingus. Dal Forno Amarone. No ticket. No sign-up. Just show up between 2 and 5 PM, May 26 through July 23. Meanwhile, our buyers are sharing what they're actually drinking this season. Aaron Hughes on the domestic rosés worth the fuss. Ryan Woodhouse on six Sauvignon Blancs built for summer. Jonathan Goldstein on the spirits worth stocking right now. Half a century of buying relationships. This is what it looks like.
Next Stop: The Story Behind K&L NYC’s “Subway Bag”
A casual idea turned into a fully licensed love letter to New York. Here’s the story behind K&L NYC’s new “Subway Bag,” told by the designer who made it happen.