Posts tagged Champagne
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.

Read More
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 →]

Read More
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 →]

Read More
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 →]

Read More
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.

Read More
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 →]

Read More
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 →]

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More