Welcome to Part 2 of the K&L story, where we delve into the decisions that kept the K&L boat afloat all these years, and that have made it the unique, multi-faceted enterprise that it is today.
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What’s the trick for long-lasting friendship? If you are Clyde Beffa and Todd Zucker, owners of K&L, the trick seems to be going into business together. Todd and Clyde met in 1947 when they lived across the street from one another in San Mateo. Legend has it that some sand was flung at their first meeting (they were two), but they nonetheless became thick as thieves. And, after 42 years in business together, they still are.
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Last night, Cinnamon and I enjoyed a fantastic bottle of 1996 Lynch-Moussas with a very nice piece of New York steak and I was moved to share a little bit about this Pauillac. I found this wine to be fantastically elegant, well balanced and restrained. It was a true gentleman of a claret, and seems in its prime at 23 years old.
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A lot has changed in Napa Valley over the last forty years. Today, if you’re looking to start a winery, you better have a few million dollars in your pocket. But back in 1974, when John Williams arrived on a Greyhound bus from New York, all you needed was little determination, a lot of hard work, some good friends and a motorcycle to sell.
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Grower/producer Pascal Lallement’s delectable Premier Cru Champagne from Chamery in the Montagne de Reims is textured and rich with incandescent energy. And for $34.99, it is an insane value for the price.
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If you received our February wine club shipment, or if you went to our Loire tasting a few weeks ago, you might have had the opportunity to try the wines from Aurore Dezat. This small producer from Sancerre makes three wines, two Sancerre blanc and one Sancerre rouge, and is a relatively new sensation with our staff. We just started working with her a few years back and each year, her wines get better and better.
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This past weekend, Cinnamon and I took a little mini-break up to Tomales Bay. We stayed at Nick’s Cove and made a trip out to the Hog Island Oyster beds, and we brought along a range of wine from star direct import producer Bruno Michel to have with our meals. It was a great success, and I thought I would take a moment to tell you all about them, as some of them are exceedingly rare and won’t last long.
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Our New Zealand Buyer, Stefanie Juelsgaard, just returned from a two week trip Down Under. She had the chance to stop in and visit with Te Whare Ra (a.k.a. TWR), which is one of our favorite small producers from Marlborough. Owned by a husband-and-wife team, Jason and Anna Flowerday, TWR makes some amazing, hand-crafted wines from their organic estate vineyard.
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There are perks to working with the good folks at K&L Hollywood. Namely: they feed me. On Sunday, in honor of Valentine’s Day, Keith had us over for a fondue soirée fit for kings, and Clarissa brought not one but three desserts, including a cake made from aged Moët & Chandon. The others came bearing phenomenal libations. It was a decadent lovefest of the very best kind: one celebrating our long-term romance with cheese and wine.
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We’re thrilled to welcome our Bordeaux guru Ralph Sands to the blog, where he revisits vintages past and looks with excitement toward the future.
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The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend, and LA is playing in it for the first time since the Rams came back to town. Though I’m not much of a football fan, I am a fan of LA, so I thought it’d be great to mark the occasion with another thing I am a fan of—food. And what better, more perfect Super Bowl food is there than chili?
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Last night, Cinnamon treated us to some excellent sushi from the local restaurant Kanpai. We paired our meal with the 2006 Charles Heidsieck Brut Champagne, which was just released after 13 years of aging. It was a magical combination for a weeknight treat, and I can’t recommend the wine and the pairing enough.
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