Two vintages into a Direct Import relationship with one of the great singular producers of Crozes-Hermitage, organic since 2007. Keith Mabry on five wines: the estate Crozes, the 60-year-old vines behind Le Rouvre, a new Blanc, the first St-Joseph Yann Chave has ever made, and the Hermitage.
Read MoreGrenache may lead the conversation in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but plot selection, soils and winemaking take these wines in very different directions. Keith Mabry on three of them: the translucent Grenache of Piedlong, Isabel Ferrando's precision, and Beaucastel's Mourvèdre-heavy 2023.
Read MoreLéon de Pins grew up at Château de Montfaucon. Roc des Pins is his own project, and the first two wines are deliberately contrarian: a Tavel dark enough to pass for a light red, and a Cinsault bottled on its own rather than hidden in a blend.
Read MoreKeith Mabry has been buying Château de Montfaucon for more than two decades. The estate is now fully organic, the range runs from the returning $15.99 La Côte to the late-released 2020 Baron Louis, and Léon de Pins has a project of his own.
Read MoreHere's the math on summer: more bottles opened, more people showing up, same budget you had in June. So this week we kept things mostly under $20, added a few wines Keith Mabry can't stop drinking, plus the chillable reds on rotation at Chez Ryan Woodhouse. (There's also one splurge at the bottom, because rules are made to be broken...at least once.)
Read MoreK&L Customer Service Specialist Cary Herman makes the case that wine and the World Cup are running the same playbook — favorites that don't always deliver, underdogs that earn it, and the moments nobody saw coming. Four bottles worth drinking during the tournament, from $19.99 to $54.99.
Read MoreK&L Burgundy Buyer Alex Pross calls 2024 one of the greatest White Burgundy vintages of the past quarter century—crystalline, precise, and built for the ages. Here's your complete guide to the best producers and pre-arrival offerings, from village Chablis to Grand Cru Montrachet.
Read MoreJoin me on this journey through the Loire as we highlight some of the best bottles on our shelves and hear from team members who share this passion for one of France's most diverse and exciting wine regions.
Read MoreWith its steep hillsides, clay-limestone soils, and legions of passionate devotees, Sancerre remains at the pinnacle of Sauvignon Blanc in the Loire, if not the world. This is the style of Sauvignon Blanc that has set the bar to which all other versions of that animated grape aspire. But hardly to be forgotten are the astonishing wines of its next door neighbor Pouilly-Fumé, where the silex soils lend subtle and engaging aromas of gunflint to the wines.
Read MoreBertrand's Domaine de Pallus holds prime parcels in Cravant-les-Côteaux, in the heart of what is often called the "golden slope," facing the Vienne River between Chinon and Panzoult. The estate's flagship, Les Pensées de Pallus, represents his vision of classic Chinon, while his limited single-vineyard bottlings each speak to distinct parcels and terroirs. Across the range, Bertrand favors long, gentle extractions and patient aging in neutral Burgundian barrels; it’s a quiet, unhurried approach that lets the land do the talking.
Read MoreVielle Vignes Cabernet Franc from Joël Taluau comes from a single plot planted in 1934, so when they say “old vines,” they aren't just joshing around. These are wines that are made with high tannin and high acid to lay down and age in their air-conditioned cellar for decades. These are wines that are crafted to be aged longterm, bottled and then not touched or moved until they're ready to be released. I don't know the story of how Keith found these wines, but we are so fortunate that we have these. Thanks to their singular nature, there's nothing else quite like it in our store.
Read MoreI have long been a fan of Loire wines, well before I became the buyer for the category at K&L. The crisp, mineral-driven Sauvignon Blancs of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé were among the first wines I drank, even before I joined the wine industry. Back then, Pouilly-Fumé was the region to watch, driven by the cult producer Didier Dagueneau and the vibrant, smoky whites produced there. Sancerre was still a few years away from becoming the ubiquitous wine you now see on restaurant menus around the world.
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