Review Date: 3-7-2013

If you love Meursault but hate the high prices, the Jacques Bavard Monthelie Blanc is the wine for you. We really hit the jackpot with this direct import, and I would be enthusiastic about recommending it even if the price was $10 higher. This white Burgundy has a rich, leesy, citrus tinged nose and comes across quite full bodied on the palate. It has plenty of white fruit and a very long finish and will make a great partner too many white fleshed fish dishes.

Review Date: 3-7-2013

Manzanilla Sherry delivers so much pleasure for so little money... With the La Cigarrera Manzanilla Sanlucar De Barrameda it might be too much! Cinnamon and I cracked this little half bottle last night for the aperitif and enjoyed some Marcona almonds with rosemary with it. Before we knew it, that half bottle was in the recycling bin! This bone dry, electric Manzanilla has a nose of marzipan and sea air that took my mind back to Andalusia. This light, delicate bottle was way too easy to drink!

Review Date: 3-6-2013

The Roco Marsh Vineyard was the first wine that I tasted at our marathon domestic tasting, and one of the very best. Like many of the 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir's this wine had great balance, but it also had an extremely rare characteristic in new world Pinot: delicacy. This is no "Cab lovers" Pinot. This very natural, seamless wine has a light body but deceptively intense flavors and a hauntingly complex finish. I can't wait to taste more from this talented producer!

Review Date: 3-6-2013

The Cameron Hughes Lot 285 doesn't just say Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon on the label, it delivers it in the glass. With a Cabernet market that is willing to accept "decent" for $50, it is refreshing to taste something authentic and delicious at under $25. This bold, powerful, curranty wine does not sacrifice its freshness for another point or two and has real Rutherford dust on the finish. Hurry in to get it before it is gone!

Review Date: 3-6-2013

I love it when I taste a new California winery making traditional wine! The Wind Gap Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir has the kind of savory intrigue that very few new world producers can achieve, without sacraficing the crackling red fruit of Sonoma. If you like Pinot Noir, this is one to try!

Review Date: 3-6-2013

The cool 2010 harvest in the Willamette Valley has been my favorite vintage in many years. This Cristom Mt Jefferson Cuvee has all of the virtues of good Oregon Pinot Noir; a pale ruby color, a lovely cool black cherry nose and a well balanced flavor profile of clean primary fruit. The best part is the tangy finish that will make this wine a great partner from everything from salmon to chicken!

Review Date: 3-6-2013

Finding a good California Cabernet for under $15 should not be as hard as it is. Luckily, Bryan and our intrepid team of California wine specialists have found a dynamite bottle in this Ancient Peaks Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon. This comes from a giant tract of land that was planted to vineyard by the Mondavi's and purchased by the Ancient Peaks folks. The attention to detail is here in this all estate wine, and it has very good texture to go along with its extroverted fruit.

Review Date: 3-6-2013

What a surprise! This is the first example of Nebbiolo outside of Italy that has ever impressed me. This grape varietal is legendary for being near impossible to grow anywhere outside of its native land. The Palmina would have been exceptional if it just tasted good, but this wine is fantastic, and it is unmistakably Nebbiolo. The nose is full tar and roses that the best Alba's have and the wine has a good medium body and big, chewy tannins on the back. Bring on the short ribs!

Review Date: 3-6-2013

This classy, polished Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir was very impressive in this past Tuesday's staff tasting. The Chanin Wine Company Los Alamos Vineyard has a very intriguing red cherry nose featuring some tomato leaf and herbal aromas. On the palate it has very intense, pure Pinot Noir fruit and grain free, supple texture. If you want to see what so-cal is capable of in the world of Pinot Noir, this is a fine example!

Review Date: 3-5-2013

Here at K&L, we not only need to keep learning about wine and spirits to stay current in our profession, but are compelled to learn because it is our passion. I had an idea in the back of my mind for a while about doing a book club with the staff and when Peter Liem & Jesús Barquín published Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla I knew the time was right to stop thinking about it and launch the project. Currently we have more than a dozen of our wine staff here at K&L reading this book, and we are planning to meet to discuss it (and drink a bunch of Sherry!) late this April. If you have a tasting group, or just some friends who love wine, I suggest that you do the same. Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla by Peter Liem & Jesús Barquín is one of the top wine books that I have had the pleasure of reading. It is incredibly clear, and the authors manage to explain complex material in a way that is very easy to understand. I could not keep my nose out of it until it was finished.

Review Date: 3-5-2013

Honest Pinot Noir at an honest price is one of the most difficult things to find in California right now. The incredible trend towards Pinot Noir drinking since the "Sideways" movie came out has inspired many overpriced, overripe, Syrah spiked wines that get big scores but lack the finesse that I look for from this varietal. The Mchenry Estate Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir gets it right with a pale purple/ violet color and a touch of beef on its generous red fruit nose. On the palate the charming candied cherry fruit and light body make this wine a perfect candidate for your next roast chicken!

Review Date: 3-5-2013

I love it when a good bottle of wine challenges my notions of the styles that I like. The Whetstone Jon Boat is one of those bottles. Reading my own note from tasting it on Saturday, this is not usually my type of bottle, with expensive smelling oak and ripe fruit on the nose, and a full bodied, rich palate impression. This is high quality red wine, and many folks who just enjoy a red on its own will love this.

Review Date: 3-5-2013

The Chehalem Ridgecrest was the star of this past Saturday's California vs. Oregon Pinot Noir tasting. This bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir had the power that one would expect for a top end bottling from one of the best producers in the state, but its biggest advantage over the rest of what we tasted was complexity and depth. This Pinot has it all; bacony, catnip like oak, wild, brambly fruit, a great savory quality on the palate and fantastic acidity and length. What a star bottle!

Review Date: 3-2-2013

"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts." So says the villan narrator to the hapless Fortunado in Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado. Luckily with this bottle of Jalifa, the pleasure of the real thing is clear, and there is no live burial at the end of the bottle. The ancient Williams Humbert is from a solera founded in 1821 and has the complexity one can expect from a VORS bottling at the top of a great producers range. I had this at home as an aperitif with a simple dish of nuts and it was the perfect way to end the day. I was lost in another time, and it never ceases to impress me the way that a great Sherry like this has the power to relax me by switching my focus away from the day to day and on to the greatness of the wine in front of me. This old Amontillado still has plenty of briny freshness on the nose from its days as a fino. It also has a pure marcona almond nuttiness that seamlessly weaves itself from the bouquet to the flavor. The texture is perfect, grain free, medium weight and carries the immense complexity of the wine effortlessly. The finish is near endless, and though the wine has no sweetness whatsoever, it is richest on the back end. What a great bottle!

Review Date: 2-28-2013

This is a very unusual Highland and unusually good. The Glenmorangie Ealanta has a bright gold color and a surprisingly fresh nose that reminded me immidieatly of a vanilla cake coming out of the oven with its sexy barrel spice. This whisky has great sweetness on the palate and an exotic finish that caught me by surprise... I was blown away to find cumin flavors on the end, and impressed with the overall balance of this 19 year old. Great stuff!