Posts tagged Santa Cruz Mountains
K&L's Best-Selling Wines of 2026: The Summer Edit
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.

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Wine NewsletterOn the TrailK&L Wine MerchantsBest Sellers, Summer Wine, Top 20, Staff Picks, White Wine, Rosé, Si, Summer White Wine, Vinho Verde, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Crémant, Champagne, Chablis, Albariño, Riesling, Anonymous Wine Collective, K&L Discovery Series, Direct Import, Wine Club, Sassicaia, WeatherEye Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Willamette Valley, Martinborough, Coteaux d'Aix en Provence
A Trip to the Ultra-Cool California Coast: A Buyer’s Guide to Cool-Climate Wines
A Trip to the Ultra-Cool California Coast: A Buyer’s Guide to Cool-Climate Wines

One of the biggest misunderstandings about domestic wine—California wine especially—is that all the wines are big and fruity because California is a sunny, hot place to grow grapes. I hear time and again that people prefer “Old World” wines because California is too hot and the wines are all too big and high in alcohol. Now, apologies in advance if that’s your take on things, but it’s just plain wrong.

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California Wine, Wine NewsletterRyan WoodhouseK&L Wine MerchantsCool-Climate California, Sonoma Coast, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Cruz Mountains, California Chardonnay, California Pinot Noir, Ryan Woodhouse, Coastal California, West Sonoma Coast, RAEN, Cobb, The Hilt
Samuel Louis Smith: The Central Coast Winemaker to Watch
Samuel Louis Smith: The Central Coast Winemaker to Watch

When 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.

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On the TrailK&L Wine MerchantsSamuel Louis Smith, Central Coast, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay Noir, Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, Monterey Wine, Micro-Négociant, Organic Wine, Ryan Woodhouse, Winemaker Interview, California Wine
Alfaro Family Vineyards is Heating up Corralitos
Alfaro Family Vineyards is Heating up Corralitos

Under his Alfaro Family Wines label, Alfaro primarily produces estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, in addition to small lots of Syrah, Merlot and even a little Grüner Veltliner. His wines are delicate, bright and terroir-expressive; a style Alfaro has developed over time. “We used to do major cold soaks and tried to extract all of these different flavors. Today we tend to go the opposite direction. I’m making better wine by being more gentle with the grapes and trying to let them work on their own,” he explained. The results are pretty astounding. It’s no wonder he has a line out the door of winemakers who want buy his grapes.

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On the TrailAlfaro Family, Santa Cruz Mountains, chardonnay, california