Our Buyer Alex Pross lays it all out for us in our latest Burgundy newsletter: 2017 is still whistling Dixie, 2018 is great if you go with producers you trust. All in all, some excellent wine is currently on our shelves from this beloved region.
Read MoreRecently, I had the opportunity to visit Beauregard Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Winemaker and Owner Ryan Beauregard pointed out that the best way to understand his wines is to see the place. And to his point, there is so much more to these wines than just aromas and flavors. Instead, they tell a story of time and place, history and character, woven together by the hands of a talented winemaker.
Read MoreThis week, staff members in all three stores were treated to a special winemaker tasting and training with Alfred Tesseron, the man behind the wonderful Pontet Canet estate in Pauillac, Bordeaux, and from the Tesseron family in Cognac. The occasion for his visit was to introduce us to his brand-new project on the other end of the winemaking world—our end of the winemaking world, in fact—Napa Valley. Tesseron is releasing the very first vintage of his Napa wine called Pym Rae, and it is as exceptional as one might expect from this talented, venerated winemaker.
Read MoreThis weekend, Cinnamon treated us to local Dungeness crab from Half Moon Bay, and I brought home a bottle of the 2013 Franck Bonville "Millesime" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne to have with the noble crustacean.
Read MoreWe are excited to welcome Clos de Luz to our shelves, a producer from Chile that is new to our Direct Import program, but definitely not new to the game. Their family has owned their estate south of Santiago since 1892, and their vines are among the oldest Carménère in the world, from a valley known as the birthplace of Carménère in Chile. These bona fides help them create vibrantly rich reds with depth of flavor that operate on a tightrope of acidity.
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This coming February will mark twenty years for me here at K&L, and I feel truly blessed as I look back at a great 2019. It was very difficult for me to narrow this list down to just ten most memorable Champagnes, as I have been lucky enough to have had so many great bottles over the last twelve months. Most of the wines on this list I drank, not just tasted, and I am pleased to report that after all this time in the business, my enthusiasm for Champagne has not faded at all.
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It’s that time of year that tends to fill us all with both nostalgia and optimism, when we reflect on our past year and peer into the future… and in our world that means we talk about booze! Here’s what the Hollywood staff chose for favorites of 2019 and predictions for 2020.
Read MoreK&L was founded on a love for Bordeaux, so what better category to dive into as we round the corner on a new decade? In this week’s newsletter, our resident Bordeaux aficionados dig into favorite vintages, favorite estates, favorite bargains… everything the Bordeaux lover needs to start the year off right!
Read MoreIt’s here—that time of year when Champagne gets the limelight it deserves: New Year’s Eve! Though you can definitely drink Champagne any time of the year (and should), you can’t drink anything but Champagne on New Year’s Eve. The gods demand it. You’re morally obliged. Hammurabi put it in his code.
Read MoreLast night, I opened a bottle of the Krug Grande Cuvée 168 Ème Édition Brut Champagne as the aperitif for Cinnamon and my father. We paired it with some excellent pistachio paté that Clyde had given us as well as the Jamon Iberico that Cinnamon gave me for my birthday. Krug Grande Cuvée is one of the world’s great wines, and unlike most of the other great wines of the world, it is a wine that is defined by time as much as it is by soil or grape varieties.
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Champagne may claim the spotlight at this time of the year, but there is a myriad of great sparkling wines made all over the world. If your New Year’s Resolution includes trying new things, start 2020 off with some sparkling wines from off the beaten path. We’ve collected five of our favorites from all corners of the globe that we think you’ll really enjoy! Cheers!
Read MoreThis past week, I was treated to not just one, but two great 2012s from the great house Louis Roederer. This producer has been making great wines since 1776 but is never content to rest and is now pushing the envelope harder than any other major house in Champagne.
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