SPRING NEWSLETTER
TOP SELECTIONS TO WELCOME SPRINGTIME

This week’s newsletter is our Spring Roundup—a look at what our staff is excited about right now. We kick things off with our 2025 Bordeaux futures campaign with K&L Bordeaux Buyer Ryan Moses. The Top 10 follows with a cross section of the wines and spirits that earned the most attention in April. From sharp, mineral whites and serious reds to Champagne, Scotch, and rye, these are reliable favorites we’re always happy to recommend.

Our Anonymous Wine Collective project is marking its first anniversary with the release of two Sonoma Coast vintage sparklers—high caliber, long aged, and just plain delicious. We’ve been genuinely heartened by how customers have embraced these wines over the past year. At a recent tasting where we poured them head-to-head against well-known California estates, more people walked away with bottles of Anonymous than anything else on the table.

We’re sharing our most ambitious K&L "Enviable" release: a 36 year old Speyside single malt distilled in 1989 and matured patiently for more than three decades. Bottlings like this are rare not just for their age, but for the balance and integrity they retain after so much time in cask—exactly the kind of opportunity the Enviable program was built for.

For warmer days ahead, we’re highlighting one of our Southern Rhône favorites, Mas de Libian. Biodynamic, family run, and consistently overdelivering, their wines are fresh, balanced, and flexible enough to take a light chill without losing character—right at home at a picnic, a bocce court, or a Mother’s Day brunch.

And finally, a small update with outsized enthusiasm: our new K&L NYC “Subway Bags.” A nod to the creativity of our staff and a reminder of how excited we are to be building something on the East Coast. Cheers!

Spring 2026 Newsletter Highlights

Bordeaux futures with improved pricing and lower yields
Top ten wines and spirits our staff is drinking now
Two Sonoma Coast sparkling wines from Anonymous Wine Collective
A 36‑year‑old Speyside malt from K&L’s Enviable program
Chillable Rhône reds perfect for warm weather

2025 Bordeaux Futures Campaign: Pricing, Quality, and Strategy

The 2025 Bordeaux Futures Campaign may mark the most compelling alignment of price, quality, and scarcity in nearly a decade. After several uneven campaigns, market conditions and vintage character have finally converged—delivering expressive, terroir‑driven wines at pricing levels rarely seen in recent years. With yields sharply down, alcohol levels moderate, and standout estates delivering exceptional results, 2025 rewards informed buyers who act early. This guide breaks down what’s driving the campaign, where the real value lies, and how K&L is navigating futures for collectors. Read More On the Trail.

— Ryan Moses, K&L Bordeaux Buyer

The Top Ten: Staff Picks and Favorites

Every month, a handful of bottles rise to the top around here. They’re the ones we keep opening at tastings, mentioning to coworkers, and grabbing again once the day’s done.

This list is just that: what we’re into right now.

No themes, no rules—just ten bottles across wine and spirits that we’re genuinely excited to drink and recommend at the moment. If you’re looking for something reliable, interesting, or just plain good, this is where we’d point you first.

2023 La Chablisiènne Collaboration Petit Chablis "Cuvee Centenaire" $19.99 View
2023 Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc "Les Sétilles" $34.99 View
Michel Arnould "Acuité" Grand Cru Extra Brut Champagne $44.99 View
2022 Grand Napa Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon (Elsewhere $135) $49.95 View
2019 San Polino Brunello di Montalcino (Elsewhere $75) $54.99 View
2023 Tenuta San Guido "Guidalberto" Toscana (Elsewhere $90) $64.99 View
2014 Benrinnes 11 Year Old "Old Particular" K&L Exclusive Single Cask Strength 1st Fill Sherry Butt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $69.99 View
High West "Double Rye" K&L Exclusive Single Barrel Moscatel Finished Cask Strength Rye Whiskey (750ml) $74.99 View
2023 Domaine de la Janasse "Chaupin" Châteauneuf-du-Pape $79.99 View
2022 Croix de Labrie, St-Emilion $109.99 View

Celebrating One Year of the Anonymous Wine Collective:
Limited-Production Sonoma Coast Sparkling Wines

This month marks the first anniversary of the Anonymous Wine Collective, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how far we’ve come in just one year. We’ve partnered with legendary producers, sourced fruit from world-renowned vineyards, and, most importantly, delivered incredible quality and value to our customers. That’s what Anonymous is all about: leveraging our long-established relationships with some of the best winemakers and estates in the country to bring you exclusive wines at a fraction of what they would normally cost, all without cutting a single corner on quality.

The savings come from eliminating distribution tiers, not from compromising what’s in the bottle. We don’t have a luxurious tasting lounge or a multimillion-dollar tasting room. We’re not taking out full-page ads in magazines or spending a fortune on marketing. Everything you’re paying for is in the bottle. No fluff. So, to celebrate our first anniversary, what better way to raise a toast than with not one, but two new sparkling wines? Read More On the Trail.

— Ryan Woodhouse, K&L Domestic Wine Buyer

2018 Anonymous Wine Collective "Extended Tirage" Sonoma Coast Brut Sparkling Wine (Elsewhere $100) $34.95 View
2021 Anonymous Wine Collective Sonoma Coast Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine (Elsewhere $90) $34.95 View

A Buyer’s Note: Enviable 36 Year Old Speyside Malt

When this 1989 Speyside malt came to us, the thing that stood out immediately wasn’t the age or the rarity, but the outrageous quality to price ratio. This is a 36‑year‑old Speyside malt, distilled in 1989, drawn from refill hogsheads, and bottled at a natural strength just under 48% with a microscopic amount of its neighboring distillery add to the mix. There’s no famous distillery name on the label, no finishing regime meant to dress it up, and no attempt to turn it into something it isn’t. Just dang good whisky for an amazing price. That’s not something you see every day. Read More On the Trail.

— David Othenin-Girard, K&L Spirits Buyer, Southern California

1989 The K&L Liquors' 36 Year Old "Enviable" (Balvenie) Batch #2 K&L Exclusive Single Vintage Speyside Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) (Pre-Arrival) $199.99 View

Direct-Import Star: Mas de Libian's Chillable Reds from Southern Rhône

One of my favorite producers in our Direct Import program is Mas de Libian, owned by the Thibon family and located in the Ardèche region of the Southern Rhône. The property has been in their family since 1670, but it was not until 1970 when Jean-Pierre Thibon built a winery, and they began to shift their farming practices towards winemaking.

Even though they are an historic property, Mas de Libian still falls a little under the radar. For me, though, they check a lot of boxes. They have long practiced organic farming and are now Demeter-certified biodynamic. They make fresh, vibrant wines that are accessible, quaffable, sumptuous, and compelling. It doesn’t hurt that the property’s terroir is a dead ringer for that of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with its calcareous iron-rich clay soils and galets roulet (the rolled stones) sitting on the surface and radiating warmth back to the vines. With all these pluses, it is hard to believe that not a single one of their delicious wines retails for north of $30!

— Keith Mabry, K&L Rhône Wine Buyer

2024 Mas de Libian "Bout d'Zan" Côtes-du-Rhône $16.99 View
2024 Mas de Libian "Khayyam" Côtes-du-Rhône $19.99 View
2024 Mas de Libian "Calade" Côtes-du-Rhône $29.99 View

Next Stop: The Story Behind K&L NYC’s “Subway Bag”

If you’ve stopped by K&L New York recently, you may have noticed something new heading out the door with your bottles. It’s black. It’s unmistakably New York.

Our new K&L NYC shopping bags—quickly dubbed the “Subway Bag”—came together the same way a lot of good ideas do around here: a casual email, some back‑and‑forth, a few strong opinions, and someone deciding to see what might happen if they just tried something. What started as a swag idea turned into a fully licensed, very real love letter to the city we’re lucky to newly call home. Read more On the Trail.

— Santiago Villasis, K&L New York Operations Specialist and “Subway Bag” Designer

Related Reading:
Dive deeper into the spirits side of K&L this spring with our April 2026 Spirits Newsletter—from exclusive bourbons and spritz‑season essentials to a remarkable 36‑year‑old Speyside and pre‑arrival single casks from the Thompson Bros.