Lamoureux—Champagne Three Miles From Burgundy!

Today I traveled to the very far south of Champagne, in the Aube department to visit my friend Vivien Lamoureux at Champagne J.J. Lamoureux in the beautiful village of Les Riceys. This is the southern tip of Champagne and only three short miles from the departmental border with Burgundy. Here the soil is not the pure white chalk of the Marne area, but rather nearly the same Kimmeridgian clay as in Chablis. Notably, Pinot Noir is king in this area, as Chardonnay buds too early and is at high risk for frost on all but the steepest and most perfectly east-facing sites.

La Montre est Bonne

My new French phrase for my first week in Champagne is “la montre est bonne,” an expression that means “everything looks good right now” for a good vintage in 2022. After the disastrously low yields of 2021, the generous set on the vines now is a site for sore eyes. The vineyards in Champagne are far ahead of schedule, with flowering happening as I type in many places, and the flowers are already here in Sacy, where I took the picture below. A big harvest would do a lot to stabilize Champagne, because currently stocks are low due to a big increase in global demand, the horribly short 2021 harvest, and the self-inflicted wound of tight yield limits in 2020.

On the Trail in Verzenay with Champagne Lallement

It is great to be back on the road in Champagne—the weather here has been properly hot (even warmer than in California), and, just like us, they have not had enough rain this year. The vineyards are going crazy, and the growers are having a hard time keeping up with their precociousness. Today I was visiting producers on the Mountain of Reims and was very impressed with one wine in particular, the 2013 Jean Lallement et Fils Brut.

2021 Bordeaux: Defying the Narrative

I’ll cut straight to the chase. The 2021 Bordeaux vintage is exponentially superior to what the narrative implied in the weeks and months leading up to En Primeur week. And, as of today, there’s still hope that first-tranche pricing will be grounded and we’ll have a meaningful futures campaign on our hands.

An In-Depth Dive Into Burgundy's Best Buys

Today's Newsletter takes us on a multi-stop jaunt through Burgundy with intrepid K&L buyer Alex Pross. Perhaps more than any other region in France, Burgundy has been subject to the viccissitudes of economics and Mother Nature the past few years, so an already tight market has gotten even tighter. But luckily for us, in addition to some indefatigable reference-point producers, Alex keeps a deep stable of top-tier direct-import hidden gems that bring us both exceptional value and impeccable class.

A Grand Finale and the Highlights of En Primeur

Now back home, Ryan Moses reflects on the recent en primeur Bordeaux trip and the daunting question… “What was the wine of the trip?”

A Big Difference: What’s the Price?

A few years back, I mused about the lingering question that Clyde would often ask of châteaux representatives, sometimes up front, sometimes after a sip—“so…what’s the price?” It is a good question, something that is perhaps more apropos than ever. But it feels more poignant now for a much different reason. My last trip with Clyde would have been back in 2019, when it looked like “up” was the only direction for a 2018 vintage that provided a lot of upside, but existed in a world that seems so far away from today. Now inflation, a pandemic, and supply chain issues put an immense amount of pressure on every part of the equation, and no one knows where prices will go.

Some Perspective: 2021 and Beyond, Right Bank

Today was the first major tasting day in Bordeaux for the K&L team, and it provided the kind of perspective that adds so much value to this kind of trip. Although Merlot was a big problem in the Right Bank for the ’21s due to mildew and frost, there is a huge variation in how these calamities affected any given winery… it hardly begins to tell the story.

Corned Beef and Crozes

For St. Patrick’s Day, I knew my friend was bringing Corned Beef (here’s the recipe she used), so my wine pairing was the 2018 Ferraton Père et Fils "La Matinière" Crozes-Hermitage. I adore Northern Rhône wines—and a Crozes-Hermitage for $19.99 was an immediate draw! Not only is the pricing off the hook, its pedigree is, too: it’s organically and biodynamically farmed thanks to major investment in this estate by Rhône giant Michel Chapoutier. Critics reap praise and scores on this estate. I had to try it.

Serious Red Wine from Champagne: Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants

Last week, I had an exceptional opportunity to drink the rare and tightly allocated 2016 Bollinger “La Cote aux Enfants” at home with dinner. This is a wine that I have only ever had thimble pours of in tastings in the past and I am not sure when I will have another opportunity to drink it freely again. This special red wine is normally saved for Michelin-starred restaurants—it was quite a thrill to have it with homemade chicken pot pie chez Westby!

Secret 2010 Vintage from Lamoureux

We have been working with Vivien Lamoureux from Champagne Jean Jacques Lamoureux for seven years now, and their wines have always been not only a great representation of the terroir of their village, Les Riceys, but also a great value. Now, with the world inflating around us, and especially the prices of Champagne shooting up, these wines are a real steal… Especially Vivien’s $36.99 tête de cuvée bottling, the Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Trilogie" Brut.

France, ChampagneGary WestbyMarch 8, 2022K&L Wine Merchantsklwines, on the trail, champagne, jean lamoureux

Dazzling Aromatic Whites from Germany, Austria, and Alsace

Today's Newsletter brings us many of the greatest white wines in the world, all from undisputed masters of their craft. To make matters even more compelling, they also represent some of the greatest values in long-term, cellar-worthy wine you'll find anywhere.

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