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.
Read MoreWhen K&L Domestic Buyer Ryan Woodhouse stops a tasting and says "keep an eye on this winemaker," you listen. That was six years ago, and Samuel Louis Smith has been one of our favorite producers ever since. He makes about 1,300 cases a year across Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay, and cool-climate Syrah from some of the most compelling sites on the Central Coast — all organically farmed, all minimal intervention, all genuinely outstanding. We've visited him in the vineyards, poured his wines at our tent events, and we're re-running our 2019 interview now that new vintages are in stock.
Read MoreChalone Vineyard in Monterey County is a truly special place. We have a fantastic price on their 2016 Pinot, and it's worth stocking up by the case!
Read MoreAfter my Packers were laughed out of Levi's Stadium a few weeks back, I've been thinking more about what I'll be eating and drinking on Super Bowl Sunday than who's going to Disneyland. As it turns out, there's a lot one can do with the space in the brain that would have otherwise been occupied by recurring visions of Aaron Rodgers hoisting the Lombardi trophy high into the air…
Read MoreYesterday we had a showdown in our Hollywood tasting bar. Domestic Buyer Kaj Stromer pitted Oregon Pinot vs. Santa Barbara Pinot for a Battle Royale. Who was the winner? We all were! The wines were awesome.
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