K&L's Best-Selling Wines of 2026: The Summer Edit

What do K&L customers actually drink? This is it. The twenty wines that outsold everything else in the first half of 2026 — from a $9.99 Vinho Verde to a 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains library Cabernet — ranked by bottles sold, with no scores and no spin. Alongside them: ten July staff picks including the second wine of Sassicaia and a $17.99 Crémant that drinks well above its price, plus eight summer whites and rosés every one under $35. Fifty years in, this is still the best list we publish.

The K&L Champagne Report: June 2026

K&L Champagne Report — June 2026

Gary Westby just returned from Champagne. Olivier Krug visited our Culver City store. Billecart-Salmon made a bottle exclusively for America. And we found growers worth knowing from $39.99. Everything in one place.

ChampagneGary WestbyJune 29, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, June 2026, Newsletter, Gary Westby, 2025 Vintage, Billecart-Salmon, Krug, Grande Cuvée, Dérot-Delugny, Fallet-Dart, Grower Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Meunier, France, Wine, Sparkling Wine

Fallet-Dart: A Grower Making Champagne Since 1610

Growers Since 1610. Three New Bottles Worth Finding.

The Fallet family has been farming Charly-sur-Marne since 1610. Scott Beckerley reviews their three newest releases — including a Pur Meunier that makes the case for why this grape deserves your attention.

[Read the full review →]

ChampagneScott BeckerleyJune 29, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Grower Champagne, Fallet-Dart, Pinot Meunier, Marne Valley, Charly-sur-Marne, Blanc de Blancs, Extra Brut, France, Sparkling Wine, Tasting Notes, Staff Picks, Scott Beckerley

A Spirits Guy's Guide to Champagne: 3 Bottles Worth Knowing Now

4 Champagnes That Surprised Our Culver City Spirits Guy

Jonathan Parnell spends most of his time in whisky. But after learning from K&L's Champagne buyers, he has opinions—and three bottles to back them up. From a our $44.99 house Champagne to a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs that held its own against Cristal.

[Read his picks →]

ChampagneOn the TrailJune 29, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Blanc de Blancs, Rosé, Taittinger, Launois, A.D. Coutelas, Maison 76, Staff Picks, Tasting Notes, WIne Club, France

The 2025 Vintage in Champagne Benefits from the Gift of Experience

K&L Champagne buyer Gary Westby just returned from two weeks tasting the 2025 harvest in Champagne. The verdict? Surprisingly fresh—despite temperatures hitting 107°F. Find out which villages performed best, why Blanc de Blancs will be scarce, and what to buy now while it's available.

[Read the full report →]

ChampagneGary WestbyJune 29, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, 2025 Vintage, Vintage Report, Gary Westby, Blanc de Blancs, Côte des Blancs, Mountain of Reims, Marne Valley, Grower Champagne, Climate Change, Vin Clair, France, White Wine

The Champagne Train: A Buyer's Guide to the Gare de l'Est to Épernay Ride

Gary Westby traces the 90-minute ride from Gare de l'Est to Épernay — the vineyards, the villages, and the growers worth knowing out the window. Plus three bottles from Dérot-Delugny, one of the Marne Valley's best-kept secrets, starting at $39.99.

[Read the full guide →]

ChampagneGary WestbyJune 29, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Grower Champagne, Marne Valley, Dérot-Delugny, Blanc de Noirs, Meunier, Pinot Gris, rosé, France, Sparkling Wine, Gary Westby, travel

Olivier Krug Visits K&L: What We Learned from Six Generations of Champagne's Greatest House

Olivier Krug—sixth generation, Director of Maison Krug—visited our Culver City store for a masterclass on the world's most meticulous Champagne. We tasted the 173rd Edition Grande Cuvée and the 28th Edition Rosé. Notes were taken. Opinions were formed.

ChampagnePhilip RoufailJune 29, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Krug, Grande Cuvée, Grower Champagne, Maison Krug, Olivier Krug, Non-Vintage Champagne, Prestige Cuvée, France, Sparkling Wine, Staff Picks, Tasting Notes

Billecart-Salmon's 2018 250th Anniversary Cuvée: Two Centuries of Champagne, One Bottle

A Champagne Made for America — and Only Available Here

The Billecart-Salmon 2018 250th Anniversary Cuvée celebrates 200 years of the house and 250 years of American independence. It's U.S.-exclusive, built from Grand Cru and Premier Cru fruit, and one of the most precisely balanced wines we've tasted from the record-hot 2018 vintage. Power and acidity in equal measure.

[Read the full review →]

ChampagneOn the TrailJune 4, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Billecart-Salmon, 2018 vintage, Prestige Cuvée, Vintage Champagne, Montagne de Reims, Cote des Blancs, Grand Cru, France, Sparkling Wine, Tasting Notes, Limited Release, U.S. Exclusive

Our Buyers' Mother's Day Picks 2026: Champagne, Barolo, Rosé & Spirits

Every year our buyers put together their honest picks for Mother's Day—not the obvious stuff, but the bottles they'd actually bring to their own mothers. This year that means Grand Cru Champagne from Avize, modern Barolo from one of Piedmont's most important winemakers, six Provence rosés all under $34, and three spirits that will make her cocktail hour considerably better. Plus two events worth getting off the couch for, and a couple of gift options that keep delivering long after Sunday.

Maison 76: K&L's Own Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs from Avize

After 25 years of sourcing Champagne for K&L, Gary Westby finally made one of his own. Maison 76 is a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs from Avize, made in collaboration with Olivier Bonville — 60% reserve wines, three years on the lees, dosed at just 5.8 grams per liter, and priced under $50. Gary calls it one of the greatest brut sans année offerings K&L has ever carried. The first case off the truck went straight to his house.

Wine Newsletter, ChampagneGary WestbyMay 4, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru, Avize, Côte des Blancs, Maison 76, Franck Bonville, Olivier Bonville, Gary Westby, Brut Sans Année, Under $50, Champagne Value, K&L Exclusive

Champagne for Mom: Franck Bonville's Grand Cru Avize Is a Sure Thing

If you want a Champagne that never misses—for mom, for the table, for any occasion worth celebrating—Franck Bonville from the Grand Cru village of Avize is the answer. Gary picks three bottles for every kind of mother, from $53.99 to a once-in-a-while splurge that will genuinely stop her in her tracks.

Wine Newsletter, ChampagneGary WestbyMay 1, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Mother's Day, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru, Franck Bonville, Avize, Rosé Champagne, Champagne Gifts, Belles Voyes, Gary Westby

Give Mom Champagne All Year Long

The gift that keeps arriving. Our Champagne Club delivers two bottles every other month — each from a different corner of France's most beloved region. Starting at $69.95 a shipment, with member discounts on every bottle. Cancel anytime. Give mom something she'll actually look forward to.

Wine Newsletter, ChampagneGary WestbyMay 1, 2026K&L Wine MerchantsChampagne, Wine Subscription, Mother's Day, Wine Gifts, Sparkling Wine, France, Gary Westby, Champagne Club, Rosé Champagne, Grand Cru

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