Meet Our New NorCal Spirits Buyer: Josh Gelfand

Any spirits lover can attest that our spirits selection runs as deep and as wonkish as you any out there. We’re thrilled to bring on a second Spirits Buyer, Josh Gelfand, who can help build on the wonderful work David Othenin-Girard has been doing. Josh is based in Northern California, so he’ll be a great counterpoint to David in SoCal. We’ve seen so much enthusiasm from our customers and growth in this category, and it’s extremely exciting to watch how it will continue to grow in the years to come.

cocktails, Wine Newsletter, SpiritsKate SotoSeptember 26, 2025K&L Wine Merchantsklwines, josh gelfand, spirits

Coming Soon from the Anonymous Wine Collective

Anonymous is without doubt one of the most exciting projects we've launched in decades at K&L. The wines have been extremely well received all around and continue to fly off our shelves as folks drink them and taste for themselves what exceptional values they represent. It's a fun game to play, trying to guess whom we partnered with on each release, and many of you have emailed me some pretty good guesses. However, the most important thing that really drives this project is the quality that's in the bottle. If it doesn't taste good, intrigue and speculation can only carry the wines so far. The wines have to deliver, and I'm really proud of what we've put in bottle. I hope you feel the same way.

Farella: Hidden in Plain Sight

The region of Combsville in Napa Valley even describes itself on the official vintners' and growers page as a hidden gem. Despite being just three minutes from downtown Napa, the region is somehow still off the beaten path for most visitors to the valley. Coombsville is one of the more recently established sub-AVAs in Napa Valley, becoming officially recognized in 2011. There is, however, a long history of grape growing in the region going back to the 1880s. To this day the iconic R.W. Moore Vineyard, planted in 1905, is still in production. It was however in the early 1980s that the modern era of Coombsville began and no winery was more instrumental in the founding of this AVA than Farella. Firstly, second generation owner, Tom Farella, wrote and submitted the petition that led to the creation of the AVA. But Farella’s importance goes deeper than simply filing paperwork.

MarBeso Wines: One of Our Domestic Buyer’s Top Small Producers

One of my absolute favorite small producers we're working with right now is MarBeso, based in the Sta. Rita Hills. I first got to know owner/winemaker Colin McNanny when he was making the wines at La Honda winery, just down the road from our Redwood City store. I admired the wines he managed to craft at La Honda, especially when you take into account that the team there produced wines from dozens of essentially “backyard vineyards” from Los Gatos to San Mateo. Colin and I became friends with a mutual enjoyment of surfing and finding great hole-in-the-wall taquerias around Redwood City.

Inspiring Winemaking at Stolpman Vineyards

The first time I encountered Stolpman was back in 2008 when I was working for Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon Vineyard. As the infamous “Rhône Ranger,” Randall sought out excellence in Rhône varietals throughout California, so it's no surprise that he ended up buying fruit from Stolpman who pioneered Syrah and other Rhône varieties in what was to later become the Ballard Canyon AVA. Stolpman’s Vineyard is planted across a series of undulating hills on the Western side of Ballard Canyon, just a few miles south of Los Olivos.

Exploring the Atlantic Coast of Iberia

When imagining Spain and Portugal, hot and arid landscapes often come to mind, with golden rolling hills dotted with gnarled old vines. The far northwestern corner of Spain, however, often referred to as “Green Spain,” defies this stereotype. Likewise, across the Miño River (or Minho River, depending on what language you’re speaking) in northern Portugal, the wine regions are defined by a cool, coastal climate with ample rainfall.

100 Years of Rioja

Rioja is one of the most historic—and dynamic—wine regions, beloved by collectors around the world. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the formal establishment of the appellation, which has continued to evolve in recent years with exciting new projects and ventures. In many ways, modern-day Rioja is where the past, the present, and the future come together in dynamic fashion.

What’s New for September: Bourbon, Bordeaux, Brunello

September brings another packed lineup of news and offers from K&L: our Top Ten Picks of the month, a tariff update and what it means for our customers, the much-anticipated 2020 Brunello arrivals, a standout Compass Box three-pack, and new Discovery Series arrivals. Here’s everything you’ll want to know this month.

K&L Discovery Series: The Gateway to the Finest in Bordeaux and Beyond

There are few moments more rewarding than opening a bottle that outperforms its price tag—when structure, provenance, and vintage align to deliver something that resonates deeper than expected. We live for those moments. And with that pursuit in mind, we’re proud to introduce a new chapter at K&L: the Discovery Series.

Kentucky Distilleries: Stories in Every Barrel

Some folks tell you, “If you’ve seen one distillery, you’ve seen them all.” I, for one, couldn’t disagree more. The equipment may look similar, but each place has its own heartbeat. The first time I drove to Four Roses, the sunny, Spanish mission-style buildings made me think I’d taken a wrong turn into California.

Newsletter: The Bordeaux Buying Guide

Bordeaux is having a moment. Between the precision of 2022, the ripe classicism of 2019, and the structure of 2016, there’s never been a better time to buy smart—whether you’re building a cellar, restocking weeknight staples, or hunting blue-chip collectibles. In this guide, Bordeaux Buyer Ryan Moses highlights where value lives today, introduces the K&L Discovery Series, spotlights top in-stock 2022s, and curates age-worthy picks for the long haul—then invites you to a high-energy, side-by-side tasting: a rare chance to experience world-class producers and vintages in one sitting.

The Heart of Value is Still in Bordeaux

One of the quiet reasons the fine wine world is struggling is that there are simply too many great wines. This may sound counterintuitive, but the more I think about it, the clearer it becomes: so many bottles now overdeliver at their price point that some of the traditional powerhouses feel less essential. Plenty of cult labels, lacking true scarcity, raised their prices dramatically over the past decade—while some deserved the acclaim and rewards, others pushed their customers to look elsewhere. And that “elsewhere” has gotten so good, it’s hard to go back.

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