The Best Wine Deals Right Now: Load Up and Drink Like a King
K&L Domestic Wine Buyer Ryan Woodhouse in the vineyard, looking for deals for our shelves.
If you've been paying attention to our email blasts in recent months—especially the Insider’s Advantage offers—you’ve probably gathered by now that there are some exceptional deals to be had in the wine world right now. Without getting too bogged down in the details, several factors have converged to put a lot of pressure on wineries to sell wine at extremely sharp prices. A few broad socio-cultural trends, pandemic disruption, inflation, perhaps a little over-planting, and definitely some unbridled ambition around “luxury pricing” have all conspired to create a surplus of wine and a hyper-competitive marketplace.
Personally, I don’t buy into all the doom and gloom about the next generation not drinking alcohol or flavored spiked seltzer replacing fine wine. But it is undeniable that there are folks out there with wine to sell, and we’re going to do the best we can to connect them with customers who are willing and ready to quaff our way through these troubled times.
So, in that spirit, I put together some of the most ridiculous deals we have in inventory right now, so you can load up and drink like a king on a peasant’s budget.
We have a few wines from Overshine right now and they’re just spectacular deals that overdeliver in every way imaginable.
Chalone Vineyard.
2022 Overshine "Chalone Vineyard" Chalone Chardonnay $Hidden (Elsewhere $40) Overshine is a project from winemaker Sam Bilbro that focuses on vineyards with distinctive character and sense of place. There are very few vineyards in the country that have as much personality at Chalone. This historic, iconic, remote vineyard sits high in the Gabilan Mountains next to the Pinnacles National Monument. Famed for its limestone soils the wines of Chalone have been celebrated for over a century. This particular Chardonnay is sourced from a parcel of 50+ year old vines. With roots running deep into that famous limestone soil this is a wine the combines California sunshine with intense, distinctive minerality and saltiness. Comparable perhaps to a powerful Corton Charlamagne, that combination of power and minerality at once…except this one is available right now for a CRAZY low price more than 60% off the regular SRP!
2022 Overshine "Chalone Vineyard" Chalone Pinot Noir $Hidden (Elsewhere $55) Similarly the Overshine Pinot Noir is also a stunning deal that’s very hard to beat. Once again coming from old vines (planted in the late 1970/early 1980s) growing in limestone rich soil. The wine combines ripe dark fruits with a powerful mineral undercurrent and complex mountain chaparral, sous bois and dusty earth. Most Pinot Noir in this price point is very boring, simple and pleasantly fruit at best. This wine has plenty of stuffing and layers of flavor that belie it’s wildly low price. Thanks to the Insider’s Advantage program this wine is 70% off its original price and one of the deepest deals in all of our inventory!
2023 J.C. Somers "Croft Vineyard" Willamette Valley Sauvignon Blanc $14.95 (Elsewhere $30) Willamette Sauvignon Blanc is not something you see much. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris dominate the conversion in Oregon wines, however, there are some wonderful examples of the varietal in the region, none more celebrated than the wines coming from Croft Vineyard. Considered as the premier planting of Sauvignon Blanc in the region, several benchmark producers source fruit from here and produce nothing short of world-class Sauvignon Blanc. J.C. Somers has long produced a Sauv Blanc from Croft and has gained a reputation as one fo the top producers of the variety in the state. Today we have a rocking price on this wine that lets you check it out from a very small cost of admission…just $14.95! The parcel that Somers gets fruit from is the original 40-year-old block of Clone 1 (Yquem clone) Sauvignon Blanc. These old vines have been farmed organically their entire lives.
2021 Tatomer Santa Barbara County Grüner Veltliner $14.95 (Elsewhere $25) We’re huge fans of Graham Tatomer here at K&L and have carried a range of his inspiring wines for many years. From the early days Tatomer put a flag in the ground as a Gruner and Riesling specialist. His racy, mineral driven, complex wines from the central coast have long been benchmark wines for anyone working with these grapes in the USA. Recently I was offered a parcel of this delicious Gruner from Tatomer ata price that was just too good to pass up. Combining fruit from Sta. Rita Hills and Edna Valley, this wine is fresh but textured. Crystalline fruit meets savory fresh trimmed herbs and orchard blossom. A bargain of a white that’s super versatile on the dinner table.
2022 Mallea (Tyler) Santa Barbara County Rhône Red Blend $9.95 (Elsewhere $25) 92VN I poured this wine for our entire sales team recently and lead with the bold statement that this might be the finest value in our entire inventory at K&L. After they tasted the wine and listened to my reasoning I think most agreed with me! Mallea is a shared project between Eric Mallea (who farms Sanford & Benedict amongst several other famed vineyards in Santa Barbara) and renowned winemaker Justin Willet of Tyler fame. This classic southern rhone blend is sourced from several small vineyards Eric farms. The fruit is fermented with native yeast, partial whole cluster, then aged in neutral French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered. The combination of top-notch farming and world-class winemaking for a bottle at this price is absolutely unheard of. At the regular price of $25 this wine was already a solid bargain. At our Insider’s Advantage price of under $10 it’s just plain silly. We sold 1000s of bottles of the prior vintage and this one is even better.
2023 Brick & Mortar Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $14.95 (Elsewhere $25) 93WE We continue to build on our long relationship with Matt and Alexis at Brick & Mortar. Their wines go from strength to strength and are always some of our most re-purchased wines at K&L proving that they deliver dependable quality to customers. This 2023 Pinot Noir is sourced from a single vineyard in the Russian River Valley and delivers incredible purity of fruit, a silky suave texture, fragrant perfume and lovely length on the palate. Simply put, this is a perfectly balanced, crowd-pleasing Pinot Noir that overdelivers bigtime.
Old-vine Zinfandel in Lodi, California.
2023 Monte Rio "Old Vines" Lodi Zinfandel $14.95 (Elsewhere $30) 94WE Famed sommelier turned winemaker Patrick Cappiello continues to champion the treasure trove of old vine vineyards in Lodi, CA. This region is home to dozens of historic, 100+ year old vineyards and has become synonymous with rich, ripe, mouthfilling Zinfandel. Patrick puts his own spin on Lodi Zin preferring to pick a little earlier than most resulting in a wine that is less jammy, lower in alcohol, but still has wonderfully rich fruit and a quaffability that will serve you well with a rack of ribs or juicy burger off the grill. Amazing value here!
2024 Grounded Wine Co. California Cabernet Sauvignon $14.95 93DC Josh Phelps continues to push the limits of just how good inexpensive wines can be! His ability to source excellent fruit at very reasonable prices defies logic. Then again, when you consider that his dad was the founding winemaker at Dominus and has 40 years of experience in the winemaking business perhaps it’s easier to see where Josh’s talents (and deep industry connections) come from. Still, securing the fruit is only half the battle, and the team at Grounded Wine Co. consistently manages to get great juice in the bottle. Honestly, most wines in this category taste like a manipulated, artificially flavored mess. Grounded brings you value priced wines that taste real and authentic. The flavors are pure, it tastes and feels like real Cabernet Sauvignon and has plenty of structure to pair with food. Bravo!