Southern Hemisphere wines are more exciting than ever, and K&L Buyer Thomas Smith has assembled a tour de force of the best on our shelves. Whether you’re looking for exquisite cool-climate Pinot, skin-contact summer sippers, or the most exciting producer to come out of South Africa, Thomas has got you covered.
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.
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.
I just returned from the most over-the-top wine trip of my life—and it wasn’t even to a wine-producing country! Champagne Krug invited me, along with about 80 of their top ambassade from around the world, on a two day “Highlands Quest”—filled with more great Krug than anyone has a right to drink in a lifetime. I still don’t think it has all sunk in…
We’re excited to find gorgeous wines in 2021 that are worthy of many collectors’ attention, but the fact remains that this is a unique vintage that any collector should consider with care. It is a vintage where the best vignerons toiled endlessly to craft something that vastly outperformed expectations. We often adore those vintages at K&L, where sneaky-good finds sometimes outshine the more obvious picks.
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.
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.
Travelling to the 2021 En Primeur tastings is a study in contrasts—while the vintage we’re about to taste (2021) is largely defined by its multitude of challenges, the past half-decade is full of brilliant wines that speak to the precision and refinement of modern Bordeaux. So, before we even delve into the 2021s, it is worth looking back and putting this run in perspective.
I have a friend named Julie who loves to cook and treats me with divine meals at the drop of a hat. Last week she invited me over for pre-Easter lamb, so I wanted to bring a special bottle. Hollywood staffer/Bordeaux specialist Jacques and I conferred, and we decided I should go with the 2010 Haut-Bergey from Pessac-Léognan. Julie is from Bordeaux, so I knew she’d appreciate this classic pairing of Pessac-Léognan and lamb. Plus, the 2010 vintage was an absolute blockbuster, so I was excited to try it with 12 years of age—especially at the $44.99 price tag!
Today's Newsletter returns us to one of our very favorite regions in the world for both incomparable value stunners and blue-chip collector's trophies alike. Rhône buyer Keith Mabry recently made his first trip back to the region in three years, and he's returned with fresh insight and ton of renewed energy and excitement for the category.
This Friday night, Cinnamon and I shared a bottle of the greatest young vintage I have ever tasted from the legendary house of Krug, their monumental 2008. Expectations were high for this bottle, given that it was the most anticipated release in my 22 years of doing the Champagne buying at K&L. Those expectations were exceeded. This wine will be a legend like 1945 Mouton, 1978 Hermitage La Chapelle, or 1921 Salon. They nailed it.
