Henri Le Roy began his career as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, but he’d never felt that the corporate life suited him. Rather, his passion always lay with wine. In the early 2000s he decided to follow his dream and look for land where he could work with his favorite grape varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Buying land in Burgundy was outside his reach, so he looked eastward to the Jura. The Jura offered ancient soils, an abundance of his favorite grapes, and nearby skiing locations (he’s an avid cross-country skier)—plus the price for land was right… Henri named his estate Domaine de l'Aigle à Deux Têtes, which means the “Two-Headed Eagle,” as a nod to the Habsburg dynasty which ruled the Franche-Comté region from 1477–1678.
On June 29th, we celebrated what has been several years in the making… the grand opening of our fourth retail store! We really love what we do—we’ve been at it for nearly 50 years!—and we are thrilled to be able to share our passion for wines, beers, and spirits with L.A.’s Westside. We started as a small family-run liquor store in Milbrae in 1976, and the same two families are still at the helm of what is now four Northern and Southern California stores, along with bustling eCommerce, auctions, international imports, wine clubs, storage, tastings, and more! We are Californians through and through, and it’s incredibly exciting to bring local K&Ls to more corners of this beautiful state.
You could make the case that any season is rosé season, especially in California, but there's no denying that the dog days of summer are when these pink gems really shine. Today's newsletter explores the category in depth, starting with Gary Westby's top picks in rosé Champagne. Keith Mabry offers up his favorite Provence performers, plus a pair of stellar artisan beauties from Greece and Lebanon. Finally, we'll take a look at how the category has gone from pedestrian to profound with a sampling of the world's finest collectible renditions.
Rosé has always been fun, but for long time it was pretty easily dismissed in most wine circles. Hardly ever made with quality grapes, it wasn’t taken very seriously in the U.S.; until a decade or so ago, you’d hardly ever find it on restaurant wine lists. But somewhere along the way, we got the memo! More serious domestic winemakers began making it; more importers began bringing in high-quality examples from abroad; celebrities even starting dipping their toes in the rosé game. It can be a stunningly complex wine in its own right when made with quality fruit and winemaking techniques. Rosé has long been the reigning queen of cheap and cheerful, but some versions are so well made and special that they merit a space in your cellar. Some rosé can develop in the bottle and develop additional depth and character with age. From rosé Champagne to cult-caliber Lebanese bottlings, rosé is—finally—getting its moment in the sun.
I think the world has started to embrace the idea that not all rosé is from France and actually some of its most interesting and gastronomic examples come from other parts of the world. Two of my favorite outliers come from the Mediterranean—but maybe not from places that would be your first or even second guesses. I speak of two unique and utterly fascinating winemaking regions—the island of Crete in Greece and the high mountains of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. The producers from both of these regions have near cult-like followings for those in the know. So if you don’t know, this is a great opportunity to find out!
It’s hard to think of a better way to spend a hot holiday weekend than with some fresh and vibrant rosés! The 2023 vintage in Provence is outstanding and many of our favorites have landed. This list represents some of the best QPR drinking when it comes to classic southern French pink wines, and all of these punch well above their price point. Because we work aggressively with our suppliers, we have classic wines from Provence for a fraction of what you would find elsewhere. Thankfully it’s a long weekend, so plenty of time to try a smattering of any of these gems. Santé!
No conversation about rosé wine would be complete without including the sublime and capricious wines of Champagne. For me, most of the best and all of the worst Champagnes that I have had have been rosé—and for good reason. This far north, it is very tricky to get the skins of the grapes perfect, and to introduce color to the wine, at least part of it has to be macerated with the skins. In the south of France, on the coasts of Provence, the sunny, dry weather is moderated by the cooling influence of the sea, but in Champagne, even the summers can be wet, leading to rot. Most producers in the area opt to farm one small plot like a garden, using a different selection or clone of grapes, often very old vines with different pruning and lots of extra work like green harvesting. From this plot they will make a dark red wine that is blended into a base of white wine to make rosé. All three of the Champagnes in this article share this technique, and the first even a little more!
Today's newsletter plays hopscotch across the Andes as we explore some of the best insider's favorites from South America. First, we get familiar with two showstopping projects from either side of the mountain range in Chile's Laberinto and Argentina's El Enemigo. Next, we'll get a glimpse of what visionary Chilean winemakers are doing to take the historic Carménère grape into the modern era, and finally, we'll explore a quartet of sub-$20 value performers that can stand tall in any regular, go-to rotation.
Side streets are always the most fun to travel. When I am traveling without an agenda, my favorite thing to do is to start wandering. There is no better way to take in a new (or old) city than to choose a direction and just go. I find that my approach to wine is similar. I love exploring and learning—it is one of the best things about wine that there are always new things to discover or a new way to approach an old favorite. Below are just a couple of off the beaten path wines from South America.
The Colchagua Valley, it turns out, is a fantastic place for Carménère, with the combination of the right soils and the long growing season that make this unique variety shine. Now that Chile is about 30 years into its journey with this Carménère, there is much to celebrate and champion. Chile has found its niche with wines that stand alone in the marketplace as showcases for what this grape can do.
The wines from El Enemigo are some of the very best from Argentina—and, I would say, in the world. The easiest way for me to justify this statement is to make a sports comparison. When athletes are at the pinnacle of their sport, they make what they do seem effortless and simple. And the very best can take that to the next level—to me, it is almost like magic. All the wines from El Enemigo are like that for me, they are elite!
Every year, Krug announces an ingredient of the year to inspire the chefs of the world to create dishes to go with their spectacular champagne. Not wanting to be left out, Cinnamon and I make something for the home kitchen as well—it is an excellent excuse to drink Krug on a weeknight. This year, the ingredient is flowers, and luckily for us, nasturtiums grow wild in the Willows neighborhood of Menlo Park where we live. It only took a short walk to forage a little bag of these edible flowers—in June they practically pour out onto the sidewalk!
