Locations
Login
Reviewers
- All Staff Reviews
- - Operations Culver City (1)
- Aaron Hughes (10)
- Adam Winkel (96)
- Alex Pross (788)
- Alex Leonardini (54)
- Andrew Nunes (1)
- Cary Herrman (3)
- David Othenin-Girard (336)
- Dejah Overby (146)
- Gary Lai (55)
- Gary Westby (537)
- Jackson Kelly (9)
- Jacques Moreira (698)
- Jason Marwedel (73)
- Joel Nicholas (29)
- John Flanigan (1)
- John Downing (80)
- John Majeski (295)
- Jonathan Goldstein (2)
- Jonathan Parnell (3)
- Kate Soto (11)
- Keith Mabry (433)
- Kirk Walker (273)
- Lilia McIntosh (44)
- Matthew Landau Hassan (4)
- Michael Benoit (6)
- Michael Pires (14)
- Orazio Campoli (5)
- Rachael Ryan (2)
- Ralph Sands (222)
- Ryan Moses (600)
- Ryan Woodhouse (900)
- Sal Rodriguez (34)
- Scott Turnbull (47)
- Scott Beckerley (302)
- Simon Li (3)
- Tom Martinez (1)
- Will Blakely (27)
K&L Email Alerts
Sign up to receive custom alerts, new arrivals and the latest happenings from K&L Wines
Staff Favorites - Kyle Kurani
|
Reviews
Four Pillars Navy Strength Gin (750ml)
Review Date: 06-10-2016
I love when a navy strength gin is elegant and beautiful despite its high proof. The Four Pillars Gin is at the same time powerful and graceful, bursting with lime zest and exotic spices, the main flavors shine through beautifully. They are supported by hints of anise and coriander, and delivered with a supply textured and warm mouthfeel that comes from the higher proof. Incredibly well balanced, and supremely delicious!
Price:
$39.99
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin (750ml)
Review Date: 06-10-2016
Gin of the year. It's only June, and I feel very safe saying that because this is the best gin I have tried since Monkey 47 hit American shores. Incredible flavor profile, ultimate mouth feel, put it on the short lists of gins that will always be on my home bar. The palate and nose are just chock-full of floral and spice notes, fresh nutmeg, anise, violets, with the power of juniper held in the perfect balance.
Launois "Cuvée Réservée" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 05-17-2016
Simply put, Grand Cru Chardonnay for this price is ridiculous. Coming from some of the highest quality vineyards in all of Champagne, there is so much wine in this bottle. Fresh green apple and tangerine peel great you on the nose, followed by a crisp and refreshing palate. Fine bubbles deliver a vibrant mouth feel, more Granny Smith, a hint of hazel nut. Hard to get better for Blanc De Blancs lovers!
Price:
$39.99
Launois "Veuve Clemence" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 05-17-2016
The Veuve Clemence is the older, richer brother to the Cuvee Reserve from Launois. With four years on the lees, it is my go to bottle when in the mood for a fuller bodied Champagne. Full of toasty brioche and biscuit dough right out of the glass, hinting at the opulent nature to come. On the palate it evolves into a supple and appealing wine, chalk full of Grand Cru Chardonnay minerality and stone fruit.
Price:
$44.99
Ruinart Brut Rosé "2nd Skin" Champagne 750ml bottle (ships as a 1.5L due to shape of bottle)
Review Date: 02-18-2016
This bottle takes a walk on the richer side of Rose. Dense and decadent, a core of Bing Cherry, cassis and blood orange, Rose to the fullest. The 18% of Pinot added as red wine adds a firm spine that runs from tip to tail, frambois and baking spice lend a dark richness. Texturally incredibly please, supple and weighty with a finish that end with a hint of baking spice.
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)
Review Date: 03-24-2015
A Classic Malt in every aspect of the term. Clean and bright, a touch of honeysuckle, a kiss of vanilla sweetness, this malt has a little bit of something for everyone. A soft entry gives an easy going feel, on the palate dried fruits, honey and heather give added complexity, the finish is composed and not harsh in any way. A staple.
Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera Rum Venezuela (750ml)
Review Date: 03-24-2015
A demandingly decadent Rum, full of dark hued flavors of maple and brown sugar. The Santa Teresa is a wonderfully balanced rum with years of solera aging to create a spirit that is past the complexity of a single age statement. A nose of maple cake and burnt sugar. Vanilla cream runs throughout adding a beautifully sweet crescendo to a long and lush finish.
Laurent-Perrier "Cuvée Rosé" Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 03-18-2015
Intriguing rose that begins in an understated elegant way, and builds towards a fuller finish showing off its’ Grand Cru providence. The nose is hauntingly seductive, crushed red fruit, a mineral vein, and the faintest scent of rose petal all intermingled in harmony. The palate is defined by a textural grip that adds weight and importance, but the lifted flavors of wild strawberry and cream, with hits of cherry tart keep the wine extremely elegant and pretty. The finish picks up speed with reinforced dark cherry and minerality that wraps the wine up beautifully.
Boulard-Bauquaire "Trepail" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Vieilles Vignes
Review Date: 03-11-2015
What a charming bottle of bubbles. One of our newest additions to the line up, this a wonderfully enjoyable, open knit and effortless. The nose is cream and zest, maybe a touch of fresh lemon scone. The palate is soft and supple, perky notes of yellow peach and Meyer lemon, clean and pretty. The old vine material comes through on the finish, pure and lengthy. Just a joy to drink.
Price:
$44.99
Ariston Aspasie "Cépages d'Antan" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 03-10-2015
History in a bottle. I have never had a Champagne made with these grapes, it is truly a walk back in time, and a delicious one at that. I try to find every occasion possible to open this bottle.
When the cork is popped this bottle of bubbles is tightly wound, full of chalk and notes of stone and orchard fruit. As is warms up and breaths, the Pinot Blanc starts to shine through, ripe orchard fruits lend weight and depth. A beautiful, almost waxy mouth feel, is balance by an almost saline line of pure minerality running from start to finish. Completely unique, and absolutely stunning.
Price:
$119.99
Ariston Aspasie Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 03-05-2015
There is not another bottle of pink Champagne that offers this value in the store, end of story. This perfectly crafted bottle of bubbles is sensational wine, and at a price that I can afford to drink more than just on special occasions. A pretty coral pink greets you in the glass, alongside a nose of vibrant cherry, sweetened dried cranberry, and anise spice. Elegant red fruits burst on the scene out of the glass, kissing your palate with lifted notes of rose petal and wild cherry. So good!
Price:
$42.99
Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne
Review Date: 03-04-2015
The Aspasie Blanc de Blancs is a bottle I reach for time and time again. Perfect for almost any occasion that I can think of, from parties to picnics there is something here for everyone. From the immediate aesthetics of the clear glass holding in the beautiful straw gold elixir, to the beautiful breadth and depth that comes from single vineyard Chardonnay. Sun ripe stone fruits greet you, followed by lemon curd and a hit of toasty baguette. The textures is opulent, a kiss of minerality, and a long beautiful finish.
Price:
$44.99
Franck Bonville Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 02-19-2015
What do you do when you only grow Grand Cru Chardonnay but what to make Rose? Well you trade a little bit for Grand Cru Pinot of course. That is exactly what Mr. Bonville did to make a wine that puts together my two favorite things, Blanc de Blanc and Rose. This wine has all the drive and minerality you would expect from a top end Blanc do Blanc, but with the added complexity and downright deliciousness of a Rose. Wild cherry and raspberry provide perfect base notes, while the Chardonnay adds high tones of Fuji apple and zippy lemon zest.
Price:
$59.99
Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 02-19-2015
Update 2014: The 2011 Vintage in Champagne was pretty terrible, turns out to be a blessing in disguise for one of my favorite bottles of Champagne in the store. Wanting to make sure he kept the quality up, Olivier Bonville declassified all of his high end and old vine vineyards into this little gem. The depth of fruit and minerality is what catches me off guard when I drink this wine, light and elegant, the chalk in the soils sing through the nose and offer a back bone that frames the entire wine. White flowers, golden apple, and a hint of spice cake. Vintage Champagne in disguise.
2011: The picture of elegance and class. Such pure and clean lines, a touch of citrus, a hit of minerality all delivered effortlessly on a find bead and sensuous mouth feel. One of my annual holliday favorites and sure to please any Champagne snob that might haunt your gatherings.
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 02-19-2015
Update: This wine continues to amaze me year after year. Each time I open a bottle I marvel at the quality of the wine for the price tag. Re-reading my review from 2011, I have tasted hundreds of different bottles of Champagne, and this bottle of wine still makes me incredibly happy. With 6 years on the lees, the integration is wonderful, soft mouth feel, ripe orchard fruit, toasty at the back. Still good after all these years.
Wonderfully balanced bubbles for a wonderfully balanced price tag. The Carte Blanche is my most often used excuse to open bubbles just for the sake of having a glass of Champagne, there are always a couple of bottles stashed away around my house. Powerfully elegant, with toasted nutty notes and a length on the finish that reasserts why I love this wine.
Price:
$37.99
Singani "63" Bolivian Muscat Brandy (750ml)
Review Date: 09-15-2014
Exactly what we love to drink. After a "serious day in the office" tasting as many as 40 different whiskies, the Singani is the type of spirit I want to come home to, delicious. Fresh, and lively, you get the essence of the Muscat grape, floral, with ripe peach and apricot, this is super clean and dangerously drinkable.
So much to do with it: Pisco sour stand-in, add some tonic, or lemon soda with a twist; I would even venture to say it would be killer in a Mojito.
Price:
$29.99
Nikka Coffey Still Japanese Grain Whisky (750ml)
Review Date: 09-11-2013
One of the most unique and exciting Whiskey's I have had this year! I always love off the beaten path Spirits that just wow you. This is the ultimate in soft, supple, and yummy unmalted grain Whiskey. Notes of caramel, candied nuts and sweet sweet grains all combine to make something that is absolutely delicious. The finish is velvety vanilla and hazel nut and lengthier than I would have expected. With the other expressions from Nikka being so highly allocated, jump on this while you can!
2009 Amici Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 12-31-2012
Great wine in a sea of wine. This small Family run winery has long been a favorite of the staff here at K&L. Sometimes forgotten among the deluge of Napa Cab's in the store, this is very well made wine and drinks along with any of the wines fetching a hundred dollars are more. Dark and dense fruit, black berries and blue berries, are envleoped in soft, velvety tannins. Give this wine a try.
Price:
$49.99
Deutz "Classic" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 10-30-2011
I recently tasted this at our Champagne event and was pleasantly suprised by the balance and concentration of this wine. A balanced blend with richness and stone fruit notes as well and a very full mouth feel.
San Venanzio Fortunato Brut Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore
Review Date: 09-27-2011
Exactly what I look for in a Prosecco, crisp, refreshing and fruity without being sweet and cloying. Greg did a wonderful job finding this producer to bring in directly, stone and core fruits jump out of the glass, continuing on the palate with a lovely clean mouth feel. A bright lovely drink that is the perfect start of an evening.
Price:
$15.99