A farewell to a true friend, a great winemaker, and a champion of Champagne.

Laurent-Perrier’s Grand Siècle is in a class of its own. A true tête de cuvée, it makes up a tiny proportion of Laurent-Perriers total production. The tank room for Grand Siècle, which I have been lucky enough to visit on many occasions, is less than half the size of our sales floor in Redwood City. It has always been composed of three years, all of which that have been selected to make vintage Champagne at Laurent Perrier. This process allows them not only to produce tête de cuvée of remarkably consistent high quality but also of remarkable maturity, given the abundance of reserve wines inside.

This past Sunday evening, the K&L Redwood City team got together for our annual summer barbeque and bottle share party. We were using this occasion to bid farewell to our dear colleague Cameron Price, who is returning to Paris with his wife. In the past year, he has made a big impact around here, and we are all going to miss him a lot. So we toasted him, again and again with every type of wine imaginable. I was barely strong enough to wheel out our recycling bin the next morning!

Last night, we were treated to an incredible after-hours staff seminar on the Champagne of Krug. Mr. Roberto Loppi, the new Krug ambassador for the US, presented the history, the savoir-faire and the wines of this top Champagne house to our Redwood City crew. We packed the tasting bar with our team and learned a lot about what I consider to be one of the greatest producers of wine in the entire world.

Last night, we drank a bottle of the fantastic 2007 Thiénot "Black Ball" Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne and I have to say that I was very, very impressed with it. This Champagne, which is sourced entirely from Thiènots' own estate in the Grand Cru's of the Cotes de Blancs, is fermented all in stainless steel at their ultra-modern facility just outside of Reims in Taissy. I had tasted this several times before, but this Champagne is for drinking, and sure enough, the 2nd glass was better than the first.