Last week, I had an exceptional opportunity to drink the rare and tightly allocated 2016 Bollinger “La Cote aux Enfants” at home with dinner. This is a wine that I have only ever had thimble pours of in tastings in the past and I am not sure when I will have another opportunity to drink it freely again. This special red wine is normally saved for Michelin-starred restaurants—it was quite a thrill to have it with homemade chicken pot pie chez Westby!
Read MoreGary doesn’t often buy a wine before tasting it, but he knew he couldn’t go wrong with Bollinger. So when he opened up Bollinger’s newly released PNVZ15 for the first time, his instincts were pleasantly validated by the sumptuous deliciousness of this wine. We just received a tiny amount of this tiny-production wine, so it is not a purchase to ruminate on… it’s one to buy while we have it!
Read MoreGary looks back fondly on his visit to Bollinger in the Aÿ region of Champagne. He met with Cyril Delarue, the sixth generation of the Bollinger family and Denis Bunner, the second-in-command of winemaking, and it was one of the best visits he’s ever had to a big Champagne house.
Read MoreOur Champagne Buyer, Gary Westby, got a chance to taste the new 2012 vintage of Bollinger’s Grande Année over Valentine’s day. Let’s just say, it was love at first sip…
Read MoreFebruary marks the 20th anniversary of our Champagne Buyer’s tenure at K&L, and over the years he’s built a remarkable Champagne program for us. The secret sauce: relationships with wonderful producers across the Champagne region, from small, family-run estates to infamous Grande Marques. In today’s newsletter, he and his team profile some of their favorites.
Read MoreWe’re all super excited for this weekend’s Champagne Tent Events in Hollywood and San Francisco, so we’ve been talking about bubbles all week. I had a chance to chat with Valerie McDaniel, who represents both Bollinger and Ayala, and I learned a ton about these fascinating, historic houses. Ayala and Bollinger are two of the most notable producers in the village of Aÿ, in the heart of the Valle de Marne, and since 2005 they’ve been inextricably linked under the same ownership. But their friendship goes back even further. Ayala’s tale is one of riots and war and golden times, and it’s a great foray into Champenoise history.
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