Review Date: 1-18-2013

This is your last chance for the old vines- they were destroyed in hail in 2003.

Review Date: 1-18-2013

I wonder how much of the Stiegl that we buy for our stock at K&L is sold to the staff. If I were to guess, I would say over 50%. These tall boys are perfect after a long day, and do an exceptional job of washing away the tannin after tasting to many overblown red wines. The style is Germanic; clean, lively, refreshing and the execution precise. If you love a good lager, and like having 4 oz. left after 12 have been enjoyed, this is the beer for you!

Review Date: 1-18-2013

If you are looking for the best value in red wine at K&L you have found it. This is even better than the great 2005 and I had to buy another case for my cellar and at the rate we are going through it I will need to buy another before it is gone. This rich, earthy, old school Rioja has way to much flavor, power and balance to come in at under $20. If you like Rioja, buy, buy, buy!!!!

Review Date: 1-16-2013

From my top 10 Champagnes of 2012: Cinnamon was staying up in the city with her friend Jenna on a Friday night, and I grabbed some sushi to go and headed home to dine with our cat, the Morsel. While she helped with the sushi, she did not have a single sip of the Champagne. I believe in the saying that one should be moderate in all things, so I got carried away and drank the whole bottle. Drinking Champagne by yourself is a great thing- if you never have done it there is no better treat, and no better place than the home for having an extra glass or two. From my personal tasting diary: “This wine was a lot richer than I remember and I suspect the base must be from the extroverted 2006 harvest. The balance was so perfect it hardly seemed “Extra” Brut like, rather just vibrant, nervy, electrically mineral sud-Eprenay stuff. It went best with the Akasaka Roll which has eel and avocado on the outside and tempura shrimp on the inside- and very well with everything else. I got carried away by its ample charm and finished the bottle. I woke refreshed and ready for a busy December Saturday- and it turned out to be one of my best days at work all year. I guess there is something to be said for drinking organic after all!” This bottle deserves its spot on the top 10- try it out and see if you can resist finishing the whole thing…

Review Date: 1-16-2013

From my top 10 Champagnes of 2012: Cinnamon and I drank this at home the night before flying down to Los Angeles for the annual Champagne tent events. This was our last chance to enjoy Champagne like regular citizens before the madness of the big tastings, and we took advantage of it! Cinnamon picked up sushi to go from our favorite spot, Akasaka in Menlo Park and we enjoyed the pairing immensely. The extra brut from Bonville is always the same wine as the concurrent vintage, but not declared as such. It is all Avize Chardonnay and although the current batch had over four years on the lees, it is still very austere on its own. With sushi it is magic. The sweetening effect the hamachi had on this bottle was striking, and its flexibility with the spicy and pickled flavors from the embarrassing rolls that I like to order amazed me. The unbelievably clean, precise chalkiness of this wine put the Avize terroir center stage!

Review Date: 1-16-2013

From my top 10 Champagnes of 2012: My jaw almost dropped when I learned the story of the new Charles Heidsieck from Cecile Bonnefond, the CEO of both Charles and Piper. Instead of the normal package change / price increase rationalized by currency fluctuation or “increased international demand” this wine had been improved at great cost to the producer before the price went up! The new package contains a selection of half the vineyard sites of the old one, and older reserve wines. The result is non-vintage Champagne that is better than most big house vintage wines and a stronger value now at $49.99 than the old was at $34.99. When we drank this with Jim Pollock at the K&L party at my house it was one of the stars of the night, and reflecting back, of the whole year! This Champagne has depth, combining maturity and freshness, nutty intrigue and minerality!

Review Date: 1-16-2013

I love drinking Champagne on Tuesdays! I had prepared a merguez tagine with plenty of pimenton ahumado and large pearl cous-cous for dinner, and started to scratch my head over what to pair with it. It was going to be too spicy for anything tannic, yet the lamb in the sausage called out for some red wine flavors... Rose! Rose was the answer. But it is the middle of winter, and all of the still rose is sold! Rose Champagne! Rose Champagne is the answer! The Michel Loriot Rose was perfect, with lots of red wine richness from the 20% Pinot in the blend, but also great snap from the Loriot policy of no malolactic. The very ripe strawberry fruit in this wine was brought into perfect balance by the powerful finish. Try it out the next time you whip up something spicy!

Review Date: 1-16-2013

In California, reserve is just another word. In Rioja, it has meaning. The Marques De Legarda Gran Reserva Rioja has indeed been grandly reserved. The reward for their patience is a gentlemanly, elegant, restrained, noble red wine for a very fair price. Cinnamon and I drank our first bottle out of the case that we purchased with pan fried chicken thighs, bacony kale and crusty sourdough bread. Having the Legarda with this Thursday night meal made it a special occasion.

Review Date: 1-16-2013

It has been 41 years since John Goelethires and Bernard Portet harvested their first vintage of Clos du Val in 1972. Since then, their Cabernet's have gained fame by showing very well in the original Paris tasting, winning the rematch in 1986 and still showing very well in the third edition. These wines have always showed an incredible ability to age, and I have never been disappointed by a bottle of Clos Du Val Napa Valley Cabernet whether it was from the 90's, 80's or even the 70's. Before the harvest in 2009 a large investment was made at the winery and new de-stemming and crushing equipment was installed. This investment shows through in this bottle, which is much more approachable on release than past vintages have been. That being said, this richer Clos du Val will no doubt develop beautifully over the next 10 years. If you are looking for something affordable, food friendly that has that Napa Cab taste that is impossible to imitate, you have found it!

Review Date: 1-15-2013

This very light colored Calvados is the key ingredient in making my new favorite winter cocktail, the Bentley. Charles Neal published the recipe in his excellent book Calvados: The Spirit of Normandy which is where I first read about it, but apparently this cocktail was in the original Savoy Cocktail Book. I have experimented with a number of different Calvados bottlings and red vermouths, but settled on the Montreuil and the Dolin Rouge Vermouth de Chambéry as my favorites. Here is the recipe: pour 1 & 1/2 ounces of Calvados and 1 & 1/2 ounces of red vermouth in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add one dash of Angostura Bitters and stir thoroughly with a cocktail spoon. Strain into a martini glass. Try to drink it slowly!

Review Date: 1-15-2013

Warning! This fabulous aperitif tastes a little too good, and much like the Ramos Pinto white Port, goes down far too easily. The Camut Pommeau has all of the virtues taste of great apple juice, the warmth of apple pie and the crispness of an apple fresh from the tree. It is great to drink chilled in a white wine glass- the only thing you need to do is pour. Be careful not to get carried away!

Review Date: 1-15-2013

The Lemorton is a great bottle of Calvados and being from the Domfrontais has a lot of pears in it. It is round and rich, with lots of extroverted fruit flavor. It still finishes nice and dry and is far to easy to drink. I have been enjoying a snifter of this by the fire as a digestive in the evening and it is a great nightcap. Recently, Cinnamon took a flask of this mushroom foraging with her and she found it invigorating. I hope you'll try it out!

Review Date: 12-26-2012

Greatness is a word that gets thrown around far too often in the single malt (and wine for the matter!) world. In order for a whisky to be truly great, it needs to have balance, individuality and trickiest of all maturity. The 1979 Single Barrel Glenfarclas is one of the most finely balanced drinks to pass my lips this year, with its faint hint of sherry and gentle (although full cask) power. This cask is a real individual and full of clean highland air and round maltiness despite its long time in Sherry wood. It is also mature- calm and round, but still full of vigor. Most Scotch of this age tastes too old and reduced for me, but this is full of verve. This is the malt of the year for me and a true great. If it is within your means, don't miss it!

Review Date: 11-8-2012

This is a treat. The Dallas Dhu 33 year old has the restraint and class of the finest drinks on the planet. Unlike most very old single malt that I have tasted, this is very far from going to wood and has fantastic natural sweetness. I detect no Sherry wood in this, just gorgeous, concentrated Highland majesty. If you are looking for something truly great that does not rely on gimmicks, look no further, this is it.

Review Date: 11-6-2012

If you want to taste the gold standard of Burgundy or Bordeaux you must be either very rich or very lucky. The same goes for California Cabernet, Barolo, Brunello and just about everything else in the world of wine, but not for Riesling. While $40 is not cheap, the Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling in this bottle represents one of the world’s best sites in the hands of one of the worlds best producers. This is first growth quality all the way, and in the softer, more approachable 2011 vintage, something that anyone interested in tasting great wines should purchase immediately. The fact that sweet whites are not in fashion is to our advantage right now, but it won't last. This rich Spatlese is completely clean and pure, showing lots of blue slate and peachy fruit. The finish is damn near endless, and the greatness of the whole package is inspiring.