close
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
- James Halliday
- James Suckling
- Malt Advocate
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
- International Wine Cellar
- Wine & Spirits
- Wine Enthusiast
- Wine Spectator
- The Wine News
- Malt Advocate
Reviewers
AllK&L Email Alerts
Sign up to receive custom alerts, new arrivals and the latest happenings from K&L Wines
Staff Favorites - Joe Manekin
Joe Manekin
| Send Email
|
Subscribe to My Sommelier Service
Joe arrived at our doors in February 2007 from far away, Washington, DC to be exact. Just so no one gets the wrong idea, though, he was merely earning a living in DC; Joe’s cultural identity, as well as his professional sports allegiances and, when he has a few drinks in him, his accent, are all Baltimore through and through. After working on the wholesale side of the business for nearly 4 years, Joe decided that he wanted to work wine retail with the best, so he emailed Cindy Westby at K&L and the rest is history. While Joe is well versed in a number of wine regions, he most enjoys the wines of Europe, though he is growing increasingly interested in the great wines of the Santa Cruz mountains. When he is not at K&L, Joe enjoys cooking, traveling, catching up on The Wire, doing occasional PR, booking and recording work for reggae band JohnStone (www.johnstonemusic.com), and writing for his wine, food and music blog, Old world Old School (www.oldworldoldschool.blogspot.com)
|
Reviews
| Page: prev 1 2 3 4 next |
2010 Calcu Cabernet Franc Colchagua Valley
Review Date: 3-27-2013
This is delicious, textbook cab franc from the folks at Viña Maquis in Chile's Colchagua Valley. While the acidity is not quite at sky high Loire Valley cab franc levels, the lovely combination of fresh berry fruit and slightly herbaceous snap could be nothing other than cab franc. We tasted this recently with staff and it was one of the sleeper hits of the line-up. Enjoy it with a nice piece of grass fed beef and your choice of oven roasted potatoes or fries - add plenty of fresh thyme for a treat that should also work quite well with this wine!
Price: $11.99
2007 Antaño Reserva Rioja
Review Date: 3-27-2013
Interested in a traditional, reserva level Rioja for a song? If so, then we've got something for you. Full of savory notes (braised meat, agridulce pimenton and herbs) balanced by bass toned fruit all wrapped in a classically velvety, very Rioja texture, this is a wine to enjoy with food, and one that you could not mistake for anything other than Rioja.
Price: $9.99
2005 La Rioja Alta "Viña Arana" Reserva Rioja
Review Date: 3-27-2013
Finally, the most underrated (and at times, my favorite) of the wines at La Rioja Alta is back: the Viña Arana. While folks still can't get enough of the 2001 Viña Ardanza (we get it, we also love this one!) I think that the 2005 Arana is every bit as elegant and classic a Rioja. Less high toned and fruit forward, it shows a slightly darker fruited profile, with a subtle earthy savor, discreet oak and such effortless balance/drinkability on the palate. It's no wonder the team at La Rioja Alta consistently goes for this wine as their house red. Viña Arana is a real treat, particularly with a roast leg of lamb or standing rib roast to accompany it.
Price: $26.99
2011 Borsao "Tinto Selección" Garnacha Campo de Borja
Review Date: 3-6-2013
This Garnacha is all about the fruit. Plentiful, bright, raspberry and red cherry fruit. Compared to some of our other recent Garnacha emails, it is lighter on its feet, perhaps a bit juicier, and in no way less satisfying. To paraphrase a popular cereal commercial from my youth, this wine is Manekin tested and Barr approved. At $7.99 a bottle it's hard to not fall for this value red.
Price: $7.99
2011 Montes "Classic" Cabernet Sauvignon Colchagua Valley
Review Date: 3-6-2013
Upon first tasting this a month or so ago, I knew that it would be a big hit with our customers. All the things folks look for in a value Cab are here: generous, ripe dark fruit, lightly toasted vanilla notes and good persistence on the mid palate and finish. The wine opens up nicely with air, too, gaining in freshness and structure. This vintage of Montes definitely punches outside of its weight class and for $10 will make most Cab fans very happy indeed.
Price: $9.99
2009 Von Hövel Estate Kabinett
Review Date: 2-20-2013
Buy this wine. If you are a fan of classically styled Riesling, with bright acidity and steely minerality, then this is a no brainer. If you are simply a fan of delicious white wine, then I repeat - no brainer. I am not simply saying this because German buyer Eric Story is sitting one workstation to my right. Honest. I plan on buying at least a case of this delicious Riesling. Clean, steely Saar Riesling from a great producer for $12.99 - 'nuff said. Do it.
Price: $12.99
2011 Bodegas Vizcarra Ramos "Senda del Oro" Roble Ribera del Duero
Review Date: 2-6-2013
Vizcarra is making very sound, fruit forward Ribera del Duero. The wine has classic Tempranillo fruit flavors: think red plums, some berries, licorice, and an overall character that definitely speaks to modern day Ribera del Duero, without any of the forced extraction and overt oakiness afflicting some of the other wineries in the area. So if you want clean, bright fruit, with a touch of oak and a good representation of Tempranillo as it tastes in Ribera del Duero, this is your wine.
Price: $19.99
2011 Anna Maria Abbona "Sorí dij But" Dolcetto di Dogliani
Review Date: 2-1-2013
Always one of my favorite Italian reds for the price, the Abbona Sori Dij But shows terrific bright red and dark fruits, with a lot more life and nerve than you may expect in a Dolcetto. Try it with a grilled vegetable risotto for a delicious Piemontese influenced pairing.
Price: $16.99
2004 Launois "Spécial Club" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 1-26-2013
Launois is, understandably, amongst our most popular Champagnes. These are rich, full-bodied blanc de blancs. I like them fine, though the special club is always my favorite. Especially in a vintage as cool and acidity driven as 2004; this seems to provide a wonderful contrast to the Launois house style. Bright citric fruit, loads of terroir driven minerality and mid-palate drive combine with the rich, yeasty goodness to make one heck of a Champagne. This is the best Blanc des Blancs I've had in a while, no doubt.
Price: $59.99
2005 Bodegas Muga "Prado Enea" Gran Reserva Rioja
Review Date: 1-22-2013
I have fond memories of a 1996 Prado Enea enjoyed around 2005, if memory serves. The wine was delicious, showing everything I love in authentic gran reserva Rioja: intense fruit, spice, fragrant leather, and perhaps most importantly, balanced acidity. This was a wine hitting on all cylinders, both on the nose and the palate, in a way that, to my tastes anyway, only great Burgundy, Barolo, northern Rhone wines -and yes, Rioja - manage. Though the wine was delicious, it clearly was a bit firm yet and had more to say. This 05 Prado Enea reminds me a great deal of that '96. I have no doubt that, tasty as it is now, it will repay patient cellaring.
Price: $49.99
2011 Bernabeleva "Camino de Navaherreros" Garnacha Vinos de Madrid
Review Date: 1-2-2013
Bernabeleva? You bernabelieveit! Joking aside, this winery is one of the most exciting projects to have emerged on the Spanish wine scene in the past several years. Their Garnacha based wines simply need to be tasted to be believed, as they are bright, full of energy, freshness and a vibrancy that is seldom seen in the Grenache grape variety. Camino de Navaherreros is the entry level wine, and what an entry it is: crunchy, tangy red berry fruits and plum skin flavors also show serious structure. Delicious for now, with the bones and balance to allow for further improvement in bottle over the next several years. This is simply a phenomenal wine for the price.
Price: $12.99
2009 Raventos i Blanc "L'Hereu de Nit" Brut Reserva Rosé Cava
Review Date: 12-26-2012
This is sparkling rosé at its finest! While many rosé bubblies (Cava as well as others) come across as a bit obvious, very fruity and lacking both subtlelty and intrigue, here is a wonderful exception. It is not only the finest rosé cava we have ever stocked(no contest, there) but arguably one of our very best rosé bubblies in stock. If you're looking for a wine that garners equal attention for its beauty in the glass and its precise flavors on the palate, then the Raventos de Nit rosé is one to purchase in quantity to have on hand for the holiday and the new year.
Price: $21.99
2011 Bodegas Torremoron Ribera del Duero
Review Date: 12-6-2012
This is surprisingly serious, structured Ribera del Duero that over delivers for the price. Aromas of deeply pitched black fruits, licorice and damp clay lead to a palate of dark fruits and loads of RDD (Ribera del Duero) chalky minerality. Enjoy this now and over the next several years with your favorite cut of steak.
Price: $12.99
2001 Marques de Legarda Gran Reserva Rioja
Review Date: 12-4-2012
This is a classic gran reserva, one that reflects the best of the traditional style as well as the intensity of flavor, structure, and seriousness of one of THE top Rioja vintages in the postmodern era. Building, intense, red fruit confit aromas, lead to a palate brimming with sweet red fruit and sous bois characteristics. Excellent.
Price: $29.99
2008 Marques de Legarda Crianza Rioja
Review Date: 11-27-2012
What a delicious, textbook traditional style Rioja! Marques de Legarda is that super rare breed of Rioja that both reflects the style of a single village (in this case, the Rioja Alta village of Abalos)as well as the time honored traditional approach of blending tempranillo with a few other grape varieties (here, mazuelo and graciano)and ageing the wines carefully in American oak then in bottle prior to releasing. Spicy, red berry fruits are balanced by the refreshing acidity of the 2008 vintage. This balance combines with sufficient tannins and stuffing to age an additional 5-6 years. We are proud to be directly importing such terrific values from this historic bodega.
Price: $14.99
| Page: prev 1 2 3 4 next |
