As the holiday season swiftly approaches, a familiar anxiety emerges: what should you bring as a beverage to all these gatherings? How do you unite with close friends and family, who may or may not appreciate your "best stuff," while still feeling thrilled to uncork a bottle? F
Read MoreThanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I like it so much that it is worth doing twice—the first time to “test out my recommendations for the year”… or at least that is my excuse to get a preview of the main event. Everything about Thanksgiving is perfect for me: I love the sentiment of gratefulness; the opportunity to gather friends and family; the traditional spread of roast turkey, gravy, stuffing, and mashed potatoes; and double fisting with rosé Champagne and Burgundy at the table. This weekend we did just that, and I am happy to report that I have two great Champagnes and one great bottle of Burgundy that have been thoroughly tested and vetted chez Westby by me and my wife Cinnamon!
Read MoreThe Burgundies are landing fast and furiously at K&L, offering a bevy of amazing values from the fantastic 2022 vintage! With pricing finally stabilized and a good-sized crop contributing to robust supply, now is the perfect time to stock up on these bargains. We’ve just received several containers from many of our most popular direct import producers, including Domaine Jean Michel Giboulot, Domaine de la Charrière, Domaine Renaud, Château de la Maltroye, Domaine Bart, and Domaine Pernot-Belicard.
Read MoreWe have been working with Domaine Jean-Michel Giboulot for a long time, and the most exciting and rewarding part of this relationship is seeing the wines get better-and-better each vintage. This set of wines from Giboulot’s 2022 vintage is excellent. The wines definitely shine a light on the emerging quality and diversity of vineyards in Savigny-lès-Beaune. His wines come from an impressive list of vineyard holdings, and we currently carry four fantastic 2022 1er Cru Savigny-lès-Beaunes that and Burgundy lover will not want to miss.
Read MoreThere may not be a better producer we import from Burgundy when it comes to quality-to-price-ratio than Château de la Charrière. Great vintage, good vintage, bad vintage—it doesn’t matter. These guys just continue to churn out great value after great value from the humble Santenay appellation. Benoît Girardin took over the winemaking reins at his family property over 10 years ago and hasn’t looked back. He’s skillfully crafting excellent values that deftly combine a classic Burgundian rusticity with modern winemaking techniques. The wines always have beautifully defined fruit characteristics while simultaneously being unmistakably Burgundian.
Read MoreThe Burgundies are landing fast and furiously at K&L with a bevy of amazing values from the fantastic 2022 vintage! With pricing finally stabilized and a good-sized crop contributing to robust supply, now is the time to load up on the bargains in stock. We just had several containers land with many of our most popular direct import producers like Domaine Jean Michel Giboulot, Domaine de la Charrière, Domaine Renaud, Château de la Maltroye, Domaine Bart, and Domaine Pernot-Belicard. What separates 2022 from the last few vintages is the consistency in the quality of both the whites and reds—these wines are EXCELLENT! They are beautiful and fruit-forward with excellent balance, great acidity, and fine tannins. These wines will be enjoyable in their youth as well as worthy of your cellar.
Read MoreWines from the record-breaking 2022 vintage have arrived, with classics and up-and-coming appellations ready to deliver excellent value.
Read MoreAt the heart of it, most of us are looking for wines that simply outperform their price point. Whether it is the everyday $20 cellar defender that goes head to head with the trendy $50 blue chip, or the First-Growth rival at a Super-Second price. Admittedly, I spend most of my day trying to find these wines, whether personally or professionally. Here are some of my favorites…
Read MoreToday's Burgundy Newsletter shines a spotlight on several direct-import favorites and their recent releases that have just arrived in stock. The Chardonnays of 2022 are the focus with Sylvain Langoureau's superb St-Aubins, Paul Pernot's ultra-classic Puligny-Montrachets, Mâconnaise value stunners from Château Vitallis, and Chablis QPR performers from Seguinot-Bordet. The old-school 2021 red Burgundy vintage is highlighted by a quintet of astounding 1er Beaune offerings from Albert Morot for simply unbelievable pricing.
Read MoreWith a history that dates back to 1590, Domaine Seguinot-Bordet’s roots in Chablis run incredibly deep. Jean-François Bordet oversees the day-to-day operations at their 16 hectare estate. The 2022 vintage in Chablis was much like the rest of Burgundy, it was one of the hottest vintages in recent memory. Yet, with few hiccups after May it, was a relatively easy growing season that resulted in a much larger crop than 2021 or even hot vintages like 2020, 2019, and 2018.
Read MoreChâteau Vitallis is in the town of Solutré surrounded by Pouilly-Fuissé vineyards in southern Burgundy’s Mâcon region. They can trace their origins back to 1835 when the Dutron family took over the domaine. The same family is still at the helm, with Denis Dutron in the driver’s seat and his son Maxime managing the winemaking responsibilities. They have an envious selection of vineyard holdings scattered across appellations focusing mainly on Pouilly-Fuissé.
Read MoreFinding excellent 1er Cru red Burgundy that is both delicious now and can age gracefully for less than $60 a bottle is difficult to say the least—but this quintet from Albert Morot fits the bill!
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