STiRM: Minimal Intervention, Maximum Value
Wines that offer great value are a key focus for me whenever making buying decisions at K&L. Sure, some folks' definition of value might be quite different than mine, and not all great wines can necessarily be cheap. However, there’s something so satisfying when you find a wine that is just darn delicious for a great price. Even better (at least in my opinion) is when that delicious wine also happens to come from a small artisanal producer, hand-crafting wines from interesting vineyards in a non-interventionist style, with a great sense of place and authentic purity. This is exactly what I find in the wines of Ryan Stirm.
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One of the Most Unique and Beautiful Properties in All of Napa Valley
Quintessa is a distinctive Napa Valley estate dedicated to preserving its natural landscape and biodiversity. The vineyard, featuring diverse soil types and organic farming practices, produces a singular wine that captures the complexity of its terroir. The 2021 vintage continues this tradition with a refined, elegant expression marked by exceptional purity and balance.
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Preserving California’s Old Vine Heritage One Glass at a Time
"If you want to taste California history, you want to chase down these old vines," declares community icon Chris Cottrell of Bedrock Wines. He shared his passion with the K&L NorCal team this week while seated beside some century-old, own-rooted Zinfandel vines at Stampede Vineyard in Lodi, California. Earlier that day, the K&L NorCal team dug their feet into the sandy soil of Contra Costa County's Evangelho Vineyard as well, which was largely planted in the 1890s and still on original, pre-Phylloxera rootstock.
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That’s a Wrap: Culver City’s Grand Opening Gala
On June 29th, we celebrated what has been several years in the making… the grand opening of our fourth retail store! We really love what we do—we’ve been at it for nearly 50 years!—and we are thrilled to be able to share our passion for wines, beers, and spirits with L.A.’s Westside. We started as a small family-run liquor store in Milbrae in 1976, and the same two families are still at the helm of what is now four Northern and Southern California stores, along with bustling eCommerce, auctions, international imports, wine clubs, storage, tastings, and more! We are Californians through and through, and it’s incredibly exciting to bring local K&Ls to more corners of this beautiful state.
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Napa Valley Vinters Annual Auction and Sneak Peek at Epic 2023 Vintage
Just a few months after February’s Napa Valley Premiere event, the influential non-profit organization Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) hosted their second and final major fundraising auction of 2024 as May segued into June. The annual auction included a barrel auction and a live auction event, featuring wines from 2023, 2022, and 2021—all still in barrel.
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Obsidian Ridge Crafts Exceptional Cabernet from Geologic Magic
Earlier this week I was lucky enough to be invited to the inaugural Volcano Camp at Obsidian Ridge Vineyard in the Clear Lake Basin. K&L’s partnership with Obsidian Ridge predates my 12 years with the company. I have long been a huge fan of their wines, and we have stocked them every vintage. However, up until this week I had never made it up to the vineyard in person. Now, let's be honest, it's not exactly a convenient place to drop in to when you're passing by! The vineyard sits on a remote mountain ridge in between Cobb Mountain and Mt Konocti in Lake County. At 2,975ft, the vineyard is the highest in the Mayacamas range.
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Introducing the Stunning Sparkling Wines of BxT
I first tasted a bottle of BxT sparkling wine during a fantastic wine dinner at Heitz Cellars last Fall… I was immediately intrigued by the quality of the wine and the fact that I had never seen nor heard of the wines before. Then came the revelation that BxT is actually a small passion project from Tom Sherwood, who just so happens to be the husband of immensely talented Heitz winemaker Brittany Sherwood.
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Benchmark Producers to Start Your Wine Collection
Whether you are collecting for investment or for decades of enjoyment ahead, there are certain tried-and-true benchmark producers that are always the wisest of bets for your wine cellar. I’m pleased to share a few thoughts on some of my personal favorite producers, all of whom I hold in the highest regard. These are among the finest in their regions and provide exceptional value at their level. If you are looking to start a wine collection, you absolutely cannot go wrong if you start with wines from any of these estates.
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The Wide World of Cabernet Sauvignon
It's easily the wine world's most famous red grape, and while most wine lovers have a general conception of what constitutes a "typical" Cabernet, a deep dive into the history and diversity of this incredible varietal quickly reveals that there's no such thing as typical Cab. From Bordeaux to Napa to the farthest reaches of the Southern Hemisphere, Cab thrives and offers wine enthusiasts nearly unlimited opportunities for exploration, so we invite you to join us a trip around the wide world of Cabernet Sauvignon.
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A Renewed Excitement for Napa Valley Cabernet
In July of 2022 I moved with my family to Napa Valley. Despite the Bay Bridge commute testing me at times, the move has been incredible for getting to know the U.S.’s most iconic wine region much more intimately. Observing from afar, it’s easy to lump all of Napa Valley together as an adult “Disneyland” of homogenous, over-priced, over-hyped wines with little sense of place. However, when you get to spend lots of time here—the more you explore, the more back roads you turn down, the more vineyards you walk—it becomes increasingly clear that despite the commercial success and sometimes inflated price points, Napa Valley is undeniably a phenomenal, distinctive, and radically diverse place to grow grapes.
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Around the World with Cabernet
Cabernet Sauvignon’s origins are believed to stretch back to France’s Aquitaine region in the 1600s. But it wasn’t until the late 1990s that U.C. Davis researchers determined through genetic testing that this beloved grape is a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Sequencing the genome in 2007 unlocked even more valuable insights into the origin, breeding, and characteristics of one of the most beloved cultivars on the planet.
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Rare Napa Cult Cab Collectibles Have Hit Our Auction Feed
This week on the blog, we are celebrating the inimitable Cabernet Sauvignon grape, and we are excited to kick it off by featuring the wines of an impeccable collection of super-rare Napa Cult Cab at our auction. Not only do these have perfect provenance—the collector is the original owner; the wines were purchased directly from the winery and stored in a professionally managed cellar—these are mostly 100 point wines that we just don’t get access to very often.
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