A recent K&L staff trip to Napa Valley saw the NorCal sales team explore the cooler parts of the region with a day in Carneros and Coombsville, two of the southernmost sub-AVAs of Napa, with lots of moderating influence from the nearby San Pablo Bay. We started off the day with an incredible 8:30am visit with Steve Matthiasson at his Cressida Vineyard in the upper Carneros, right at the foot of the Mayacamas range as it descends towards the bay. The weather in Carneros behaved perfectly with thick morning fog slowly receding back to the bay as our crew walked up into the vineyard with the first patches of blue sky being revealed.

What I'm Excited About This Week: Day Drinking With David (Staff Edition)

My picks for the week highlight the cool factor in what we bring in as well as some great value. We started with a ready-to-drink infused gin drink called Sweet Gwendoline Fig And Wine Infused French Gin $36.99. It was super tasty and a nice start to the whole thing.

What’s New for September: Bourbon, Bordeaux, Brunello

September brings another packed lineup of news and offers from K&L: our Top Ten Picks of the month, a tariff update and what it means for our customers, the much-anticipated 2020 Brunello arrivals, a standout Compass Box three-pack, and new Discovery Series arrivals. Here’s everything you’ll want to know this month.

K&L Discovery Series: The Gateway to the Finest in Bordeaux and Beyond

There are few moments more rewarding than opening a bottle that outperforms its price tag—when structure, provenance, and vintage align to deliver something that resonates deeper than expected. We live for those moments. And with that pursuit in mind, we’re proud to introduce a new chapter at K&L: the Discovery Series.

One of the Most Epic Collaborations in Our History: Custom-Blended Compass Box

Compass Box and K&L have always had a special relationship. Since the inception of this special brand 25 years ago, we've seen eye to eye on every aspect of this business. It wasn't until 2011 that we were able to connect with legendary whiskymaker John Glasser about the potential to do an exclusive for K&L. We had access to anything back then, but one trophy alluded K&L and exclusive Compass Box. That was until 2015 when John Glaser invited our spirits buying team to select an exclusive blend from their stocks, a now legendary blend of old peated malt and a sherry aged malt—5th and Harrison was born. Now 10 years later, we were honored and surprised when James Saxon, Compass Box Master Blender, agreed to build a special batch just for us once again. We had a recipe that we loved, old peat and heavy sherry, but could they pull it off? Of course they did!

Kentucky Distilleries: Stories in Every Barrel

Some folks tell you, “If you’ve seen one distillery, you’ve seen them all.” I, for one, couldn’t disagree more. The equipment may look similar, but each place has its own heartbeat. The first time I drove to Four Roses, the sunny, Spanish mission-style buildings made me think I’d taken a wrong turn into California.

What I'm Excited About This Week: Bordeaux and New Discoveries!

The wines that I'm most excited about this week are all wines that tell me a story with every sip—be it the story of the vintage, the land, the people, or our relationships—it's all something of interest. The story of the wine makes it that much more special. We have new Discovery Series wines, and they're just absolutely mind-blowing Crazy Eddie deals that we're just casually dropping. Both of the new K&L Discovery Series St-Emilion wines—2005 K&L Discovery Series Bordeaux, St-Emilion (Elsewhere $40) $19.99 and 2009 K&L Discovery Series Bordeaux, St-Emilion (Elsewhere $40) $14.99—are outstanding, showing incredibly well even though they're pretty much fresh out of the container from France.

Aaron HughesAugust 28, 2025K&L Wine Merchants

Newsletter: The Bordeaux Buying Guide

Bordeaux is having a moment. Between the precision of 2022, the ripe classicism of 2019, and the structure of 2016, there’s never been a better time to buy smart—whether you’re building a cellar, restocking weeknight staples, or hunting blue-chip collectibles. In this guide, Bordeaux Buyer Ryan Moses highlights where value lives today, introduces the K&L Discovery Series, spotlights top in-stock 2022s, and curates age-worthy picks for the long haul—then invites you to a high-energy, side-by-side tasting: a rare chance to experience world-class producers and vintages in one sitting.

The Heart of Value is Still in Bordeaux

One of the quiet reasons the fine wine world is struggling is that there are simply too many great wines. This may sound counterintuitive, but the more I think about it, the clearer it becomes: so many bottles now overdeliver at their price point that some of the traditional powerhouses feel less essential. Plenty of cult labels, lacking true scarcity, raised their prices dramatically over the past decade—while some deserved the acclaim and rewards, others pushed their customers to look elsewhere. And that “elsewhere” has gotten so good, it’s hard to go back.

2022: Investments in What Bordeaux Does Best

It may sound surprising to describe 2022 as a breakout, turn-of-the-decade moment—especially at the outset. The vintage began with unusually warm and dry conditions, prompting many of us to brace for excess, over-extraction, or relentless heat. Yet as the wines start to land and open in bottle, I’m sensing something else entirely: an unlikely alchemy. The season’s heat became a crucible—sharpening focus, forcing the vines to tap deep into their roots; the consistency of the weather (no late drought shocks, no mildew threats) allowed each château to lean into detail, precision, and balance. What emerged is less about ripeness and more about architecture—wines that feel built to last, with energy, nuance, and a compelling tension.

Tariff Update: Navigating a New Reality with the Same Values

There are times in this business when the ground shifts under your feet. Some changes are seasonal—tied to harvests, vintages, or evolving tastes. Others arrive with more permanence. The introduction of new tariffs on imported wine and spirits is one of those moments.

Giuseppe Quintarelli – A Legacy Bottled in Time

During the last hundred years the Quintarelli family has established its reputation through their estate located on the eastern slope of the Negrar Valley in the middle of Valpolicella. Silvio Quintarelli established the winery in 1924. It was his son, Giuseppe, also known as Bepi, however, who helped the winery achieve worldwide recognition. The winery has maintained its dedication to traditional methods and patient winemaking since Silvio’s era, but Bepi’s influence is incalculable. His manual label writing became an unmistakable signature for the brand, showing what a labor of love each and every bottle is. Combined with his use of ten-year Slavonian-oak barrel aging, Bepi developed a signature Amarone style that established itself as the reference point for many Italian winemakers.

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