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Wine Scores
Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.
- Allen Meadows - Burghound
- Connoisseurs Guide
- Gambero Rosso
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
- International Wine Cellar
- Wine & Spirits
- Wine Enthusiast
- Wine Spectator
- The Wine News
- Malt Advocate
Reviewers
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Staff Favorites - Mari Keilman
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Reviews
1996 Baron Fuente Grand Millésimé
Review Date: 11-10-2009
At the Grand Champagne Tent event at the Hollywood store, the 1996 Baron Fuente Grand Millesime was the star stand-out amongst the crowd of other delectable treats. So many of the other champagnes were delicious and showed beautifully but this cuvee of 45% Chardonnay, 40% Meunier and 15% Pinot Noir stole the show! Of course you expect great things from the 1996 vintage, but this champagne took those expectations to a whole new height. First of all, its becoming almost impossible to find champagnes from the 1996 vintage still out there. But to find a '96 for less than $50 that's tastes this amazing is a miracle of its own! So incredibly complex, the nose can only be described as transcendental. Gone are the distinct aromas of green apple, lemon curd and fresh toast and in their place is a harmonius symphony of ripened pomaceous fruit, minerality, toast and leesiness blended together in a beautiful bouquet that can only be achieved through vintage and bottle age.
Price: $44.99
2008 Alamos Chardonnay Mendoza
Review Date: 10-28-2009
Talk about the best of both worlds! This chardonnay from Alamos will please both those classic california chardonnay lovers as well as the acid-seeking burgundy fans. Rich and creamy with a slight touch of oak, yet an amazing amount of acidity that keeps this flavored packed chardonnay from getting fat and flabby.
Price: $10.99
2007 Château de Montfaucon "Baron Louis" Côtes du Rhône
Review Date: 10-28-2009
2007 Cotes du Rhones are my go-to wines right now and the "Baron Louis" from Montfaucon is hands down the insider trading secret of the vintage and region. This cuvee could easily stand up to the big boys in CDnP but fortunately for us, cannot legally be called so, and therefore comes to us a steal of price!
Price: $17.99
2008 Domaine Begude Pinot Noir Vin de Pays d'Oc Rosé
Review Date: 10-28-2009
A sancerre-like pinot noir rose for $12.99 that's organic...what's not to love about this wine?!?! Fresh, elegant and crisp, this pinot noir rose shows beautifully ripe strawberry and raspberry fruit with a light touch of minerality on its dry finish.
Price: $12.99
2007 Baricci Rosso di Montalcino
Review Date: 9-30-2009
I'm going to let you in on a secret...I usually don't rave about Italian reds. But this Baricci Rosso is remarkable! This Italian sangiovese makes me want to get up and shout about just how wonderful this wine is! Beautifully classic with rich,spicy red cherry fruit and balanced perfectly with copius amounts of savory herb, leather and clean earth. Love it!
Price: $19.99
2007 Margarett's Vineyard California Chardonnay
Review Date: 9-30-2009
What's not to like in $7.99 California Chardonnay that has a touch of barrel fermentation to enhance the flavors of green apple and citrus?!?! What makes it even better is that it was bottled especially for K&L by a Mendocino winery.
Price: $7.99
Launois "Cuvée Reserve" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 8-29-2009
Vintage Launois is one of my favorite champagnes but with the word spreading of just how fantastic their vintage wines are, its sometimes hard to get your hands on one. This is where the Cuvee Reserve steps in as a noteworthy understudy. The Cuvee Reserve has an amazing richness with notes of apple and lemon zest on the palate and a elegant brioche finish.
Price: $34.99
2008 Tessier Cheverny Rouge
Review Date: 8-29-2009
I just recently tasted this wine in a lineup of 12 other power-packed reds, and this bright red-fruited blend of Gamay, Pinot Noir and Cot(malbec) stood out against the crowd of big, jammy, over-extracted contenders. This bottle of red is everything that I look for in a wine. Spicey pepper aromatics with a tinge of kirsch liquer, bright red cherry fruit, and raspberry dominate the nose. While the light to medium body palate comes packed with even more cherry and raspberry fruit and the perfect balance of acidity to round out this incredible red.
Price: $13.99
2006 Audelssa Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 8-28-2009
I'm such a fan of Erich Bradley's lineup of wines. Whether its his well-structured, age-worthy pinots or his concentrated, intense cabs, they're all worthy of praise. The Audelssa cab shows amazing depth of black fruit while having ample acidity in the backbone to balance the fruit forward punch.
Price: $29.99
2008 Domaine de Guillemarine Picpoul de Pinet
Review Date: 8-28-2009
This wine is summer in a bottle! Fun, fresh, zesty and clean, its everything you want in a wine while sitting outside on a nice hot summer day. The perfect accompaniment to a plate of oysters or a poolside BBQ, this Picpoul is the perfect sidekick for the summer.
Price: $8.99
Bruno Michel Blanche Brut Champagne
Review Date: 8-26-2009
Such an amazing champagne for such an extraordinary price! This champagne is one of my favorites regardless of how low the price is, but when you factor in how beautiful this wine is for only $29.99, you wonder if its too good to be true!!! So incredibly delicate and elegant with such subtle layers, you wonder if its too sophisticated for everyone to understand.
Price: $29.99
2000 Fleury "Cuveé Robert Fleury" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 8-26-2009
Hands down, this champagne was the crowd favorite at our last Champagne tasting in Hollywood. After people got over the initial shock of the 1/3 pinot blanc added to the blend of 1/3 chardonnay and 1/3 pinot noir, they revelled in how elegant yet complex this champagne is. While one would expect some fresher, cleaner fruit to be present due to the Pinot Blanc, I was surprisingly impressed with the emerging earthy aromatics that one normally associates with Pinot Meunier.
Price: $39.99
Franck Bonville Brut Prestige Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 8-5-2009
I had this champagne on my birthday and it was the perfect bubbly for the occassion! Bright and fresh with tons of blanc de blanc fruit, it is also incredibly rich and creamy due to its extended lees contact. It was the ideal champagne to toast the beginning of the festivities and continued its perfection as it paired beautifully with all the food for the evening.
Price: $44.99
2007 Cave de Rasteau "Dame Victoria" Côtes du Rhône-Villages Rasteau
Review Date: 7-28-2009
The 2007 vintage from the Rhone Valley is fantastic and the "Dame Victoria" is the perfect example of why. I loved this wine in 2006 but in 2007 its gone to a whole new level. While the 2006 had the amazing floral and spice aromatics with tons of precise berry fruit that the '07 has, its how beautifully integrated the tannins are, without losing its rustic charm, that make the '07 top notch.
Price: $13.99
Franck Bonville Brut Selection Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 7-14-2009
Talk about the perfect summertime Champagne!!! Crisp, refreshing, and vibrant with just the perfect balance of citrus and acidity coupled with copious amounts of teeny tiny bubbles. It was the perfect compliment to my fresh chips and salsa!
Price: $29.99
2008 Rocca di Montegrossi Rosato
Review Date: 7-1-2009
100% Sangiovese, the Rocca di Montegrossi rosato is done in the saignée method. Saignee refers to the profess of bleeding some juice off after a little skin contact to increase the percentage of skins to juice for intense color and flavor. While subtle on the nose, this rosato is full of fresh cherry fruit and a bright, vibrant palate. Full-bodied and complex, this rose finishes with an astonishingly long finish.
Price: $14.99
2006 Chante Cigale Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Review Date: 6-27-2009
Consisting of 65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre and 5% Cincault, this wine is made from from vines averaging 45 years. Getting the opportunity to taste this CNdP with its 23 year old propietor Alexandre Favier, I was completely impressed with how open and accessible this young wine is and how motivated and passionate Alexandre is too. The wine has great full bodied black fruit and a layered, supple palate with hints of kirsch and pepper.
2007 Jean-Francois Merieau Touraine Sauvignon Blanc
Review Date: 6-18-2009
Carmalized fruit like a sweet apricot marmalade, with hints of grass, citrus and a beautiful river pebble minerality overwhelm the nose of this staff favorite. Love this wine! Hands down, one of the best values in the entire store.
Price: $13.99
Marguet Pere et Fils Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 6-11-2009
The perfect rose for those hot summer nights! Clean, crisp, racy with plenty of fresh berry fruit; strawberries and raspberries. When I'm looking for the best rose to pair with my summer meal, the Marguet rose is my top choice.
Price: $34.99
1999 Bollinger Grande Année Champagne
Review Date: 5-20-2008
Up until I tasted the 1999 Grand Annee, my exposure to Bollinger was very limited and I was apprehensive in supporting the widely acclaimed reputation of their vintage champagnes. After the first sip, my opinion was easily swayed. Compared to the Special Cuvee, the ’99 Grand Annee is extremely sophisticated and elegant. With a floral and brioche-scented bouquet, the champagne opened up gloriously on the palate with complex notes of citrus and pear. Unlike its counterpart, the Grand Annee is very much like a German Riesling, light-weight yet intense and full-flavored. Even though this wine is already eight years old, it is extremely youthful and needs several years of bottle age before it will blossom and show its true potential.
Price: $109.99
Bollinger Special Cuvee Champagne
Review Date: 5-20-2008
A pinot noir-dominated blend that immediately after opening, has a distinctive leesy, slightly oxidated nose. This is no doubt from the reserve wines that are fermented in oak barrel and then aged in magnums under low pressure. This also lends to the full-bodied, richness of the wine. After several minutes of aeration, the sweet smell of ripe, sun-soaked apples begin to emerge. The predominance of estate fruit (approximately 70% of the assemblage) lends to the broad, rich and intense flavors. Fresh and toasty on the palate with a slight touch of hazelnut, the Special Cuvee has a long finish with a hint of exotic spice at the very end.
Price: $59.99
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Mari Keilman's Personal Sommelier Service.
2006 Anderson's Conn Valley Right Bank ($54.99)
2005 Benjamin de Sansonnet, St-Emilion ($26.99)
2005 Bravante Howell Mountain Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (Was $60) ($44.99)
2006 Buehler Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($21.99)
2005 Chateau Montelena Estate Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($104.99)
2005 Chesebro "Cedar Lane Vineyard" Arroyo Seco Syrah ($14.99)
2005 Chimney Rock "Stag's Leap District" Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($44.99)
2008 Côtes de Provence Rosé, Domaine de la Fouquette "Rosée d'Aurore" ($13.99)
2007 Delas Frères "Haute Pierre" Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($31.99)
2006 Domaine de la Chevalerie "Les Galichets" Bourgueil ($21.99)
2005 Etude Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($64.99)
2006 Gazin, Pomerol ($59.99)
2008 Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol Rosé ($21.99)
2006 Hedges "Three Vineyards" Red Mountain, Washington ($17.99)
2007 Jean-Francois Merieau Gamay de Touraine "Bois Jacou" (was$18) ($7.99)
2006 Le Fer, St-Emilion (was $29.99) ($24.99)
2006 Le Gay, Pomerol (was $99.99) ($79.99)
2005 O'Shaughnessy "Howell Mountain" Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($74.99)
2006 Obsidian Ridge "Obsidian Ridge Vineyard," Red Hills Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon ($27.99)
2007 Pierre et Catherine Breton "Les Galichets" Bourgueil ($18.99)
2007 Pierre et Catherine Breton "Trinch!" Bourgueil ($16.99)
2005 Raspail-Ay "Reserve" Gigondas ($24.99)
2005 Roshambo "Frank Johnson Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley Syrah (Was $40 elsewhere) ($15.99)
2007 Vincent Paris Saint-Joseph ($24.99)
2005 Wolf Family "Estate" Cabernet Sauvignon ($69.99)
2006 Wolf Family "Phaedrus" Cabernet Sauvignon ($36.99)
2007 Domaine des Escaravailles "Les Sablieres" Côtes du Rhône ($12.99)
1999 Luna Beberide Tinto VdT Castilla y Leon ($19.99)
2007 Mönchhof Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese ($45 Elsewhere) ($29.99)
2007 Pablo Menguante Garnacha Cariñena ($10.99)
2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Nebbiolo delle Langhe ($19.99)
2004 Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico "San Marcellino" ($39.99)
2006 Ruggeri Corsini Nebbiolo d'Alba ($17.99)
2004 Viña Herminia Crianza Rioja ($14.99)
2007 Vincent Paris "Granit 30" Cornas ($39.99)
2007 Vincent Paris "Granit 60" Cornas ($49.99)
2007 Weingut Johann-Wilhelm Schild Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese ($24.99)
2008 Achával Ferrer Malbec Mendoza ($18.99)
2002 De Meric Cuvée Rene Millesime (was $99.00) ($49.99)
Michel Arnould Grand Cuvée Brut Champagne ($34.99)
2007 Montirius Côtes du Rhône ($12.99)
2005 Benjamin de Sansonnet, St-Emilion ($26.99)
2005 Bravante Howell Mountain Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (Was $60) ($44.99)
2006 Buehler Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($21.99)
2005 Chateau Montelena Estate Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($104.99)
2005 Chesebro "Cedar Lane Vineyard" Arroyo Seco Syrah ($14.99)
2005 Chimney Rock "Stag's Leap District" Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($44.99)
2008 Côtes de Provence Rosé, Domaine de la Fouquette "Rosée d'Aurore" ($13.99)
2007 Delas Frères "Haute Pierre" Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($31.99)
2006 Domaine de la Chevalerie "Les Galichets" Bourgueil ($21.99)
2005 Etude Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($64.99)
2006 Gazin, Pomerol ($59.99)
2008 Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol Rosé ($21.99)
2006 Hedges "Three Vineyards" Red Mountain, Washington ($17.99)
2007 Jean-Francois Merieau Gamay de Touraine "Bois Jacou" (was$18) ($7.99)
2006 Le Fer, St-Emilion (was $29.99) ($24.99)
2006 Le Gay, Pomerol (was $99.99) ($79.99)
2005 O'Shaughnessy "Howell Mountain" Napa Cabernet Sauvignon ($74.99)
2006 Obsidian Ridge "Obsidian Ridge Vineyard," Red Hills Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon ($27.99)
2007 Pierre et Catherine Breton "Les Galichets" Bourgueil ($18.99)
2007 Pierre et Catherine Breton "Trinch!" Bourgueil ($16.99)
2005 Raspail-Ay "Reserve" Gigondas ($24.99)
2005 Roshambo "Frank Johnson Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley Syrah (Was $40 elsewhere) ($15.99)
2007 Vincent Paris Saint-Joseph ($24.99)
2005 Wolf Family "Estate" Cabernet Sauvignon ($69.99)
2006 Wolf Family "Phaedrus" Cabernet Sauvignon ($36.99)
2007 Domaine des Escaravailles "Les Sablieres" Côtes du Rhône ($12.99)
1999 Luna Beberide Tinto VdT Castilla y Leon ($19.99)
2007 Mönchhof Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese ($45 Elsewhere) ($29.99)
2007 Pablo Menguante Garnacha Cariñena ($10.99)
2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Nebbiolo delle Langhe ($19.99)
2004 Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico "San Marcellino" ($39.99)
2006 Ruggeri Corsini Nebbiolo d'Alba ($17.99)
2004 Viña Herminia Crianza Rioja ($14.99)
2007 Vincent Paris "Granit 30" Cornas ($39.99)
2007 Vincent Paris "Granit 60" Cornas ($49.99)
2007 Weingut Johann-Wilhelm Schild Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese ($24.99)
2008 Achával Ferrer Malbec Mendoza ($18.99)
2002 De Meric Cuvée Rene Millesime (was $99.00) ($49.99)
Michel Arnould Grand Cuvée Brut Champagne ($34.99)
2007 Montirius Côtes du Rhône ($12.99)
