What I'm Excited About This Week
One of the best, and sometimes most challenging, things about working at K&L is our weekly staff tastings. These aren't pleasure cruises that we calmly sail through, taking our time and leisurely enjoying each wine as we ponder possible pairings or accompaniments. These are gauntlets, tests of will and endurance that we charge through, tasting typically 20+ products in just 45 minutes each week. However, from these tastings I always gain amazing insight in that weekly category, and I always get super excited about some of the wines we tasted—and, gosh, I just wanted to share them with you.
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Anthony Girard – A Sancerre Original
Anthony Girard remains one of my favorite "characters" in Sancerre. Years ago, he struck out on his own, leaving the family domaine to create La Clef du Récit in the southern part of the appellation. The name, which translates to “the key to the story,” is intriguingly ambiguous—there’s no castle here, despite the imagery. But maybe it’s more about the keys to his own imaginative mind-palace… which brings us back to that "character" part.
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A Right Bank Treasure: La Gaffelière
St-Émilion is a magical place—one of the most stunning destinations in the Bordeaux region and a truly special place in the world to grow grapes. The limestone plateau surrounding the village is the birthplace of some of the world’s most compelling and age-worthy wines. While there’s an enduring image of early 2000s Right Bank winemaking that's all about extraction and power, today’s wines lean more toward a transparent expression of terroir. These are beautiful, finessed wines with a purity of texture, a thirst-quenching quality that begs for another glass, and a saline-tinged finish that speaks more to the vigor of the vines than to anything that happens in the cellar.
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“Overall quality has never been more consistent.” Discover Bordeaux’s next chapter…
From top-performing sub-$50 values to cellar-worthy icons from benchmark vintages, this Bordeaux roundup showcases the full depth and diversity of the region. You'll find Left Bank stars from 2016 and 2019, rare mature releases, a compelling new discovery in Bordeaux Blanc, and a powerful case for the greatness of 2022. We've also released our 2024 Bordeaux Vintage Report, highlighting the most recent growing season's challenges and charms. There’s never been a better time to rediscover Bordeaux’s dynamic landscape—both on the page and in your glass.
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2024 Vintage Report and Newly Arrived Bordeaux
While the 2024 Bordeaux vintage had its challenges, we went to taste and are excited to share our annual vintage report. The '24s reflect both the difficulties of the year and today’s complex market, but beyond that, we truly believe it’s a great time to rediscover Bordeaux—or find new favorites. Several recently arrived containers have brought in some of the region’s top values and collectibles, and overall quality has never been more consistent. There’s a wealth of world-class wines under $50, each showing remarkable character and a strong sense of place.
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Louis Roederer Master Class with Frédéric Rouzaud
It is an incredibly rare privilege to learn from Frédéric Rouzaud, the seventh generation of the Roederer family to run Champagne Louis Roederer. Yesterday, at Selby’s restaurant—the Michelin one-star restaurant that we share a wall with here in Redwood City—Lilia, Cinnamon, and I were treated to an incredible masterclass led by Mr. Rouzaud in person. The lineup of wines, the pairing with caviar and oysters, and his unique insights into his family’s Champagne made for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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Billecart-Salmon's Stunning, Overachieving 2015 Rosé Champagne
Sometimes a Champagne can be just too delicious. It seems crazy, but the 2015 Billecart-Salmon Rosé Champagne $119.99, at first destined to become a Cuvée Elisabeth, the pinnacle of rosé mastery at Champagne Billecart-Salmon, was declassified for just this reason. Mathieu Roland-Billecart, the seventh-generation CEO of this great house, explained that this 2015 will not last two more generations, so he made the difficult decision to sell it as Le Rosé after blending it and bottling it with the original intention of making it an Elisabeth, their top-of-the-line rosé. If you are looking for a profoundly great wine to drink tonight or over the next 10 years, look no further, this is the kind of deal that comes along rarely in the realm of truly top-end luxury cuvées.
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Malescot St-Exupéry: Genuine Wines That Over-Deliver
Malescot has been wowing clients and critics alike for decades, and for good reason. To me, it strikes the ideal balance between accessibility and seriousness: it’s all too easy to pull the cork now, but patience is richly rewarded. And while the style leans a bit more flamboyant than some of its Margaux peers, the wines are always integrated, thoughtful, and beautifully made.
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The Power of Terroir: Alsatian, German, & Austrian Whites You Need to Try
Alsace, Germany, and Austria continue to be some of the most dynamic and rewarding regions in the world of wine—regions that offer not just pedigree and history, but thrilling new releases year after year. What ties them together is a relentless pursuit of precision and purity, whether it’s the mineral drive of Dönnhoff’s 2023 Grosses Gewächs, the sculpted power of FX Pichler’s latest Wachau bottlings, or the quiet excellence of back-vintage Alsatian whites from Trimbach, Hugel, and Charles Baur. These are wines that don’t just deliver in the glass today—they age gracefully, deepen with time, and offer a glimpse into the soul of each region. This collection reflects the kind of craftsmanship that keeps me coming back vintage after vintage, and I’m excited to share it with you.
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Charles Baur: The Maestro of Alsatian Wine Values
To me, Alsatian wines feel like a great novel that has been forgotten on a dusty bookshelf for far too long. The novel itself is timeless and perfectly written, yet it has gone overlooked for no particularly good reason, in favor of newer, trendier books. That in a nutshell is a perfect metaphor for the wines from Alsace. These wines are seriously good—and the current releases are easily the best that have ever been made from this region, especially since most of the producers are farming at least organically if not biodynamically. There are so many great producers fashioning world-class wines. Even better: their prices tend to be a mere fraction of what top producers from other wines regions charge. That fact may lead you to think these are not substantial wines, but this would be a mistake. Many of the world’s greatest Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Sylvaner come from Alsace.
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Krug’s Exquisite Craftsmanship Shines in Current Releases
This month, the K&L staff was treated to a first-of-its-kind Krug tasting seminar conducted by Krug’s Director of Education, Julie Boilleau, and Director of Business Development for the Americas, Louis Henrion, whom we Zoomed in direct from Reims, along with Moët-Hennessey’s Director of Northern California, Omar Martin, and Associate Brand Manager for Krug & Ruinart, Allison Stackhouse.
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A Hollywood Premier: 2012 Billecart Salmon “NFB”
Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to the release party of the 2012 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart" NFB Brut Champagne $199.99 96WA 95VN by the seventh generation of the Billecart family, Mathieu Roland-Billecart. The party was thrown at Larrabee Studios in North Hollywood, down an obscure alley in an unassuming part of town—but what a place! Everyone from Michael Jackson to Metallica has recorded there, and the sound-dampened walls felt like they were full of stories. It was an unforgettable evening, and the magic of the NFB has added another legend to this legendary place. It was a great chance to reconnect with friends in the wine world, and especially to spend time with the team from Billecart—Mathieu, Geoffrey, and Clément.
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