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.
Read MoreClyde’s back with two lovely 2016s to get you through the week. Both are Haut-Médoc wines that we’ve been selling for many years, both for the same reason: they offer outstanding value for the price.
Read MoreWhen they were in barrel, we were not quiet about the fact that we thought we had something special on our hands. In bottle, we were not shy about how incredible the 2016s Bordeauxs were looking. Now they’re here, and they’re must-try wines of the highest caliber.
Read MoreRecently, I’ve come across a bunch of articles claiming that Bordeaux is poised to make a comeback. I don’t know what all those writers have been drinking, but here at K&L, Bordeaux never went away. Sure we get a lot more requests for, say, skin-contact wines from Slovenia than ever before—and we love that—but Bordeaux has always been a staple for our customers. And perhaps that’s because y’all are extremely savvy people who know that Bordeaux wines are among the most ageable on the planet. But I’d wager there are just as many of you who buy Bordeaux because it can offer spectacular bargains if you know where to look.
Read MoreOn Thursday, at the Jeremy Hotel on the Sunset Strip, Will Blakely and I found ourselves among about 80 Bordelais and hundreds of thirsty Angelenos who were lined up to sample their wares. The annual Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting is a marvelous opportunity to meet winemakers and winery representatives, while viewing a Bordeaux vintage in toto. With glass and notebook in hand, we eagerly dove in.
Read More