What I'm Excited About This Week
One of the best, and sometimes most challenging, things about working at K&L is our weekly staff tastings. These aren't pleasure cruises that we calmly sail through, taking our time and leisurely enjoying each wine as we ponder possible pairings or accompaniments. These are gauntlets, tests of will and endurance that we charge through, tasting typically 20+ products in just 45 minutes each week. However, from these tastings I always gain amazing insight in that weekly category, and I always get super excited about some of the wines we tasted—and, gosh, I just wanted to share them with you.
Last week, our Bordeaux Buyer Ryan Moses took us on a fantastic trip through the countryside, pouring some outstanding wines, many from our favorite producers—both stars from the past that we've carried for a long time and some new friends we’ve discovered along the way.
I feel like sometimes we forget exactly how varied and diverse Bordeaux is as a region. While there are a handful of approved grapes that can be used there, each château has its own take on the blend and varietal focus. The red wines vary from Left to Right Bank, with their main grape focus shifting from Cabernet Sauvignon on the Left Bank to Merlot on the Right, with the individual blends based on their property’s terroir. The white wines are typically outstanding, perfectly crisp and refreshing, but often with more structure and gravitas. Last but not least, they make world-class dessert wines, the most famous of which is Sauternes.
Here are my favorites from last week’s lineup.
2016 La Dame de Montrose, St-Estèphe $49.99 93JA 93JD 93JS 93VN There's something really intoxicating about the opening aromas of this wine, once it's had just a little bit of air. Dense and tarry black with touches of green peppercorn at its core, the nose goes straight to the very center and then unfurls outwards. Red and softer more ripe black fruits tumble out, but the wine keeps a more savory note the whole way through. The tannins are incredibly well integrated and really fine, the fruit on the palate is ripe and plump, with cherries, blackberries, and cassis all playing around just a little bit and intermingling with a little bit of an oil-cured olive component. This is a lot of wine for the price, and while it might not be your Tuesday night bottle, this is absolutely a solid option for Friday night or when you have some friends over and you want to open something a little bit nicer, but nothing that you're going to regret tomorrow. Absolutely delightful.
2018 La Gaffelière, St-Emilion $89.99 99VN 97WA 97WE 96DC 95JS This one is impressive right at the very start, the nose with just a little bit of time open is already so luscious and expressive. There's a high-toned, super-ripe raspberry nose that's kind of mingling with some purple flowers right before the denser black fruit jumps forward carrying with it some dusty cocoa and a little bit of tarry olive. The palate is dense and just a little chewy, the tannin still very present though already very well integrated, already getting finer and smoother. There's a really nice level of acidity that helps the dense black fruit pop just a little bit more, really rich, unctuous, and creamy with a nice level of barrel spices on the finish. This is really elegant wine that has that quintessential "iron fist in a velvet glove" kind of presence on the palate. This is a wine most worthy of a really nice, rich cut of steak and that legendary fat potato to accompany it, or maybe some lamb if you're feeling fancy. Most importantly, though, don't miss out on this wine.
2015 Suduiraut, Sauternes (375ml) $44.99 99JD 97VN 95-97WA 95DC 95WS 95JS Super-pretty nose filled with honey, white peach, candied orange peel, white flowers, and a little bit of beeswax. The palate has a really delicious and amazing texture: there's dense honeyed apricots, orange zest, marzipan, and more white flowers with a little bit of white tea on the finish. It maintains a really nice level of sweetness, landing in a lovely spot that is sweet enough for dessert but with enough acidity to stop it from being cloying or just too darn much. This is a very serious, yummy li’l Sauternes that will inevitably age very well over the next 50+ years if you let it, but is absolutely delicious right now or tonight after dinner. One of my favorite things to do with Sauternes is just have a little bit every night over a week or two and taste how the bottle opens up and develops. It's also a great excuse to always have a bottle of Sauternes open in the fridge for when you feel like you deserve a little treat.