A Few of Our Favorite Things from the Domestic Wine Aisle
For the Holiday Buying Guide this year I decided to take a leaf out of Oprah’s book and present a few of my favorite things! As the Domestic Wine Buyer for K&L, I taste many thousands of wines a year: from high-end luxury cult Cabs to delicious everyday drinkers at $9.95; from solid, dependable, consistent old favorites, to the newest, most esoteric, experimental wines from folks trying something creative to get a start. My role as the buyer here is often not just to assess the quality and value presented by a certain wine, but to match it with a specific customer demand. The idea of this list is to be a little self indulgent (hey, it is the holiday season) and focus on wines that I personally enjoy to drink, share, and gift to others. Wines I believe have a broad appeal and will bring a smile to most people who taste them.
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Lightning Strikes Twice! Au Bon Climat Library Wines Coming to K&L
A few years ago, I was absolutely honored to be able to purchase the incredible 45-vintage-deep library of wines from Calera Vineyards. It was one of the most monumental projects of my 13 years here at K&L, and a humbling experience to be able to taste through so many wines that have helped to shape the California wine industry as we know it today. Josh Jensen was a visionary and a dedicated vigneron. I was thrilled to be able to share his life's work with you, our customers. On that note I'm pleased to say that today we have another historic offering to bring to you.
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Thanksgiving Buying Guide: Find Your Perfect Pairing
This week, we’re officially kicking off our Thanksgiving planning. Halloween is in the rearview mirror; Hannukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa are just far enough away that we don’t have to wrap our brains around gifting quite yet… No elves on the shelves, but our rally bird is out in Redwood City—it’s the perfect time to talk turkey.
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What's Our Resident Brit Drinking for Thanksgiving? Domestic Wines!
As I’ve written in years gone by, Thanksgiving is one of the funnest meals to pair wine with because, although you have the basic building blocks of what the spread will probably look like, so many folks have their own traditions and speciality dishes they contribute to the ensemble, giving endless opportunities to find new and magical food pairings. It’s also typically a long day of food preparation, socializing, and, quite frankly, some good old day drinking. So, keep refreshment in mind and always have some nice crisp, fresh, white wines on hand to keep that palate energized for the finishing stretch of chewing on a turkey leg or that extra scoop of stuffing you probably could have done without! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving shared with loved ones new and old. And without further ado, here are a few wines I think might work to wash it all down!
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Dynamic Domestic Wines: New Discoveries and Inspiration
The endless diversity and discovery of domestic wine are on full display in today’s buying guide. Leading the way is the vintage that almost wasn’t but has become one of our absolute favorites: 2022 in Oregon. We’ve also consulted our domestic wine experts in each store to share their favorite picks. Next, we highlight STiRM, showcasing stunning expressions of a minimalist approach at remarkable prices. We’re also ready to take non-alcoholic wines seriously, as evidenced by the offerings from Kally. Rounding out the guide is a review of our most exciting Insider's Advantage opportunities, featuring some of the fine wine market's best deals in the domestic category.
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Our Domestic Wine Experts Weigh In on Current Faves
Wine Buyer Ryan Woodhouse steers the ship for the Domestic category at K&L, but he's got a passionate crew on hand at each store to help you find your next favorite. Carlo, Scott, and Al share some of the current standouts from California and Oregon.
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Oregon’s Brilliant 2022 Vintage: The Harvest That Almost Wasn’t!
The wines from the 2022 season are fantastic across the board. The fruit profiles are pure, expressive, rich, and vibrant. There’s plenty of freshness and definition to the wines. The delayed harvest meant, despite the warm weather that persisted into October, the shorter days and longer, cooler nights at that time in the season allowed beautiful acid retention to balance the ripe fruit. The critical acclaim for the vintage bears witness to this; every report published has been bristling with huge scores and glowing praise for the wines. They’re easy to love, supremely accessible, flavorful, and energetic. I’m thrilled to have such a fantastic array of these 2022 wines in stock right now.
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STiRM: Minimal Intervention, Maximum Value
Wines that offer great value are a key focus for me whenever making buying decisions at K&L. Sure, some folks' definition of value might be quite different than mine, and not all great wines can necessarily be cheap. However, there’s something so satisfying when you find a wine that is just darn delicious for a great price. Even better (at least in my opinion) is when that delicious wine also happens to come from a small artisanal producer, hand-crafting wines from interesting vineyards in a non-interventionist style, with a great sense of place and authentic purity. This is exactly what I find in the wines of Ryan Stirm.
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One of the Most Unique and Beautiful Properties in All of Napa Valley
Quintessa is a distinctive Napa Valley estate dedicated to preserving its natural landscape and biodiversity. The vineyard, featuring diverse soil types and organic farming practices, produces a singular wine that captures the complexity of its terroir. The 2021 vintage continues this tradition with a refined, elegant expression marked by exceptional purity and balance.
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Preserving California’s Old Vine Heritage One Glass at a Time
"If you want to taste California history, you want to chase down these old vines," declares community icon Chris Cottrell of Bedrock Wines. He shared his passion with the K&L NorCal team this week while seated beside some century-old, own-rooted Zinfandel vines at Stampede Vineyard in Lodi, California. Earlier that day, the K&L NorCal team dug their feet into the sandy soil of Contra Costa County's Evangelho Vineyard as well, which was largely planted in the 1890s and still on original, pre-Phylloxera rootstock.
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That’s a Wrap: Culver City’s Grand Opening Gala
On June 29th, we celebrated what has been several years in the making… the grand opening of our fourth retail store! We really love what we do—we’ve been at it for nearly 50 years!—and we are thrilled to be able to share our passion for wines, beers, and spirits with L.A.’s Westside. We started as a small family-run liquor store in Milbrae in 1976, and the same two families are still at the helm of what is now four Northern and Southern California stores, along with bustling eCommerce, auctions, international imports, wine clubs, storage, tastings, and more! We are Californians through and through, and it’s incredibly exciting to bring local K&Ls to more corners of this beautiful state.
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Napa Valley Vinters Annual Auction and Sneak Peek at Epic 2023 Vintage
Just a few months after February’s Napa Valley Premiere event, the influential non-profit organization Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) hosted their second and final major fundraising auction of 2024 as May segued into June. The annual auction included a barrel auction and a live auction event, featuring wines from 2023, 2022, and 2021—all still in barrel.
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