K&L Wine Merchants - Ryan Woodhouse Reviews

2024 Anonymous Wine Collective "Summum Bonum" Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 11-03-2026

This is perhaps the most exciting Anonymous Wine Collective release to date! The name I chose for this bottling is more than a subtle hint at the truly world-famous source of this extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignon. "Summum Bonum" is Latin for "highest good" or "highest virtue." Now, it shouldn't take too much detective work to figure out that there's a very famous place in Oakville that has historically been known by a remarkably similar name...except in Greek rather than Latin. Have you figured it out yet? I'm certainly not going to spell it out here, especially since this particular name has been the subject of some rather intense legal battles over the years. Got it now? I thought so! That's right, this wine comes entirely from a parcel of vines in the very heart of one of the most celebrated stretches of Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard land on the planet. We're talking genuine "Grand Cru," "First Growth" pedigree here. The vines are rooted in the gravelly soils of a gently sloping alluvial fan along Oakville's western bench, at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains. This is truly hallowed ground for Cabernet Sauvignon, a place that has produced some of the most legendary and sought-after wines in Napa Valley history. The winemaker, who must also remain anonymous, brings decades of experience crafting exceptional wines in both Napa Valley and Bordeaux. They've been instrumental in producing wines for some of the valley's most prestigious estates, with plenty of perfect 100-point scores to their credit. Suffice it to say, the pedigree behind this bottling is nothing short of extraordinary. But beyond the famous vineyard source and remarkable winemaking credentials, what makes this wine so special to me is the care, craftsmanship, and traditional approach behind it. This is a genuine, handcrafted labor of love, meticulously tended from vine to bottle with an unwavering commitment to quality. The artisanal techniques employed here are increasingly rare in modern Napa Valley winemaking. There's a distinctly classical, almost nostalgic character to this Cabernet that transports me back to the legendary Oakville wines of a bygone era. It's a style that speaks of the vineyard, the vintage, and the timeless character of great Cabernet Sauvignon rather than chasing the latest trends. I can't wait to hear what you think when you pull the cork. For me, this is one of the most compelling and exciting wines we've ever had the privilege of bottling under Anonymous!

Price: Hidden

2025 Anonymous Wine Collective Santa Cruz Mountains Rosé of Pinot Noir

Review Date: 11-02-2026

The 2025 Anonymous Wine Collective Santa Cruz Mountains Rosé of Pinot Noir is the most wonderful, happy accident of the year! A few months back, I visited a renowned estate winery tucked deep in the redwoods, high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, to select barrels and craft an Anonymous Pinot Noir bottling we'd been planning for quite some time. After picking out my favorite barrels and putting together a blend for what promises to be an incredible Pinot Noir (coming next month!), I spotted a small stainless steel tank labeled "25 Rosé of PN." Naturally, curiosity got the better of me, and I asked if I could taste it. I was immediately smitten! The wine was simply stunning - an ethereal, vibrant, beautifully pure expression of crunchy, fresh Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir. So bright, delicate, and utterly captivating. I immediately asked if the wine was spoken for, and after a little friendly persuasion, managed to convince the winemaker to part with some so we could bottle it under our Anonymous Wine Collective label alongside the Pinot Noir we'd just blended. What an unexpected bonus! Now, admittedly, this 2025 Rosé is arriving a little later than most, but to be honest, I think the wine is all the better for it. While we worked through the logistics of labels and bottling, the wine enjoyed a little extra time on its fine lees, followed by some additional bottle age. The result is a beautifully harmonious, expressive Rosé that's absolutely singing right now. With its vibrant acidity, crystalline red berry fruit, and wonderfully refreshing character, this wine will be a perfect companion for the Thanksgiving table. But don't think for a second that its drinking window is limited to the holidays! There's more than enough freshness, energy, and verve here to carry it effortlessly through next spring and summer. In fact, I've long maintained that many of the best rosés are only just hitting their stride at this time of year, once they've had a chance to settle into themselves and develop a little more depth and complexity. I couldn't be more excited that this chance discovery turned into another fantastic Anonymous Wine Collective release. A truly special little wine from one of my favorite California wine regions, and one that I'm absolutely stoked to share with you. Enjoy, cheers!

Price: $19.95

2022 Porterhouse Atlas Peak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 10-30-2026

This stunning Atlas Peak Cabernet comes from a single vineyard perched high in the Vaca Mountains, looking down on the Napa Valley floor thousands of feet below. Here, extremely rocky volcanic soils and steep hillside exposures produce powerful, structured wines with bold, concentrated fruit and muscular mountain tannins. Winemaker Adam Comartin, the man behind Porterhouse Wines, has decades of experience under his belt and deep connections throughout the region. When opportunity knocks, Adam is quick to snap up exceptional fruit from top-notch vineyards for his boutique Porterhouse label. These are handcrafted, small-lot wines born from opportunistic purchases of prime fruit from some truly outstanding sites. I actually worked alongside Adam in the cellar more than 15 years ago, and we've stayed in touch ever since. When he has a few extra cases of a wine he's looking to move, I'm always eager to jump on the opportunity! Thanks to our longstanding relationship and some incredibly sharp winery-direct pricing, we can pass along huge savings to our Insider's Advantage customers, making these wines an absolute steal! The 2022 Porterhouse Atlas Peak Cabernet is rich, bold, and deeply fruited, with all the concentration and intensity you'd expect from this rugged mountain appellation. However, the warm finish to the 2022 growing season has resulted in a wine that's a little more plush and approachable in its youth than you might typically expect from a high-elevation mountain Cabernet. Adam's deft touch in the cellar has beautifully polished the wine, layering in a generous dollop of exotic French oak spice to complement the ripe blackberry, juicy boysenberry, dusted cocoa powder, and fragrant dried mountain herbs. There's plenty of depth and power here, but the tannins are supple and well-integrated, giving the wine a wonderfully lush, generous feel on the palate. This is a seriously delicious, full-throttle mountain Cabernet that delivers remarkable pedigree, richness, and immediate drinking pleasure. At this ridiculous Insider's Advantage price, it's an absolute no-brainer!

Price: Hidden

WE: 92

2023 Domaine Roy et Fils "Estate" Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Review Date: 10-27-2026

We have a one-time price on this stunning Pinot Noir from Domaine Roy, and this is truly not to be missed! I can't express just how incredible this bottle is for the money! Domaine Roy was founded in 2012 by Jared Etzel and Marc-André Roy, sons of the founders of the iconic Oregon estate Beaux Frères. This wine is entirely estate-grown, sourced from the domaine's two organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards: Iron Filbert Vineyard in the Dundee Hills and Quartz Acorn Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton. With Domaine Roy's single-vineyard bottlings selling for $120+, this gorgeous cuvée combining barrels from both estates can be yours for under $20! The "Estate" bottling marries the broad, powerful fruit character of the volcanic Jory soils of the Dundee Hills with the aromatic lift, detail, and elegance derived from the ancient marine sedimentary soils of Yamhill-Carlton. The quality of farming and winemaking is immediately apparent. This wine is so complete, polished, and utterly delicious! Bursting with exotic red berry fruits, sandalwood, baking spices, subtle earthy undertones, crushed rock minerality, and beautiful floral lift. Medium-bodied with wonderful purity, silky texture, and effortless fluidity on the palate. Everything is beautifully integrated, with a sense of harmony and sophistication that is almost impossible to find at this price. This wine drinks way, way above its almost laughable price point. I'd be thoroughly impressed by this bottle at $40-$50. At today's price, it's an absolute steal! Don't miss this one!

Price: Hidden

2022 Peake Ranch "Peake Ranch Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay

Review Date: 10-16-2026

Wow! What an incredible trio of wines we have to offer today from Peake Ranch in the Sta. Rita Hills! Over the past decade, this property has firmly established itself as one of the premier producers in the region, releasing a steady stream of exceptional, critically acclaimed wines. Most of their production is sold directly to mailing list customers and top restaurants across the country. However, we've been steadily building a direct relationship with the winery, allowing us to bring some of these outstanding wines to our customers at exceptionally sharp pricing. Today, we're offering a fantastic trio, including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and a stunning cool-climate Syrah. The Chardonnay comes from the home block at Peake Ranch Estate in the southeastern corner of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. The vineyard is a patchwork of diverse blocks planted across undulating hillsides, with just about every possible orientation and aspect represented. This site provides the perfect artist's palette from which to craft layered, complex wines that draw on the remarkable diversity of the estate. Personally, I love how this wine combines wonderful texture and depth with such impressive freshness and energy. Bold, mouth-filling baked orchard fruits mingle with golden grains, delicate floral notes, and beautifully integrated oak toast. The palate is rich and expansive, yet everything is drawn out on a tense, juicy, mouthwatering finish with remarkable verve and vibrancy. There's so much freshness and drive here for such a rich, concentrated wine. Folks looking for a powerful, opulent California Chardonnay, but one that still delivers great energy, precision, and lift on the finish, look no further! At 50% off the original SRP, this beauty is guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

Price: Hidden

2022 Peake Ranch "Peake Ranch Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Review Date: 10-16-2026

Growing alongside the Chardonnay, this stunning Pinot Noir also showcases the exceptional quality and complexity of this site. Taking inspiration from the OG vineyards of the neighborhood - Sanford & Benedict, Lafond, and Fiddlestix - Peake Ranch's Estate Pinot Noir is blended from three heritage selections of Pinot Noir: Calera, Swan, and Hyde. The powerful, brooding character of these old massal selections works in perfect harmony with this site, combining exceptional purity of fruit and effusive aromatics with rich mid-palate texture and savory, brambly complexity. The wine gets élevage in top-notch French oak cooperage, adding yet another layer of depth and polish. Being a slightly warmer site than most in the Sta. Rita Hills, much of the estate had already been picked before the big heat spike of 2022, and this wine shows excellent freshness and vibrancy as a result. A 20% whole-cluster inclusion adds further spice, aromatic lift, and nuance to the finish. This is seriously lovely Pinot Noir from a top-notch vineyard at a remarkably affordable price point!

Price: Hidden

JD: 94

WE: 94

VN: 92

2022 Peake Ranch "John Sebastiano Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Syrah

Review Date: 10-16-2026

Peake Ranch's Syrah from John Sebastiano Vineyard might just be the sleeper wine in the lineup! Although, with this wine consistently scoring over 95 points from top critics, it's hardly flying under the radar anymore. John Sebastiano is a spectacular vineyard in a near-perfect location. A steep, dramatic, west-facing hillside site, John Sebastiano sits toward the center of the Sta. Rita Hills, feeling the full brunt of the relentless onshore winds funneling down the valley. The vines here are aggressively buffeted and cooled by ocean breezes, producing deeply concentrated, flavorful grapes. These persistent winds, not unlike the famed Mistral that whips through the Northern Rhône Valley, also make this a late-ripening site, where fruit is often harvested in November, yet still at very moderate alcohol levels. The result is a powerful mélange of deep, smoky red and black fruits, cured meat, dried dark roses, cracked black pepper, and forest berry compote. Even with a warmer-than-typical finish to the growing season, this wine proudly flaunts its true cool-climate Syrah character and clocks in at just 13.5% ABV. It's a wine that loves a good 45-minute decant and ideally a hearty plate of braised meat or winter pot roast. Exceptional Syrah from one of the crown jewel vineyards of the Sta. Rita Hills!

Price: Hidden

2023 Clos du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 10-13-2026

I'm a huge fan of the Clos du Val wines for many reasons. First and foremost, in a world where so many Napa Valley wines have become ludicrously expensive, the value delivered by this estate is nothing short of incredible. Clos du Val has a long and storied history in Napa Valley, dating back to its founding by Bernard Portet in the early 1970s. Portet, who grew up at Château Lafite in Bordeaux, was sent on a scouting mission around the globe to find a truly special place to grow Cabernet Sauvignon. Landing right next door to Warren Winiarski's Stag's Leap Vineyard and Nathan Fay's eponymous property, Portet immediately recognized that this was somewhere extraordinary. He fell in love with this remarkable slice of Napa Valley, and what began as a reconnaissance trip turned into four decades of leading Clos du Val as its winemaker and figurehead. Today, Clos du Val is owned by the third generation of the Goelet family, who first sent Portet on his search some 54 years ago. The estate has become a leader in progressive farming, meticulous winemaking, and genuinely warm and welcoming hospitality. More recently, in 2021, winemaker Carmel Greenberg joined the team to help usher in Clos du Val's next chapter. Having spent the previous five years as Assistant Winemaker at Dominus Estate, along with earlier stints at Buccella and Cakebread, Greenberg has brought yet another level of refinement and precision to the wines. Fruit for the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is predominantly grown at the Riverbend Estate Vineyard, just across the Napa River in the Yountville AVA. This site sits on deep river gravels, much like the great vineyards of Bordeaux, and enjoys a cooler, southern Napa Valley climate that allows the fruit to retain wonderful balance, freshness, and varietal typicity. Smaller portions of Stags Leap District fruit are blended in from the Hirondelle Estate, which surrounds the winery, adding power, depth, and density from its volcanic soils. The wine is a true Bordeaux-style blend, incorporating small amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot alongside the Cabernet Sauvignon. The result is an exceptionally complete wine with layer upon layer of deliciousness. The nose is redolent with dark cherry, mulberry, leather, cigar box, and pencil shavings. Medium-plus bodied, the palate is beautifully refined and pure, with notes of cassis, wild blackberry, graphite, and subtle oak spices. There's a lovely interplay between the plush, generous fruit and the savory, mineral-driven elements that give the wine such complexity and sophistication. It's remarkably approachable in its youth thanks to pristine tannin management and measured extraction. However, I also think the wine possesses the natural balance, structure, and freshness to enjoy a long life in the cellar...if you can keep your hands off it! This wine is an absolute showcase of what can still be achieved with estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley at a very reasonable everyday price of $60. The pedigree, meticulous farming, world-class winemaking, and sheer quality in the glass make it compelling even at full retail. But at our special Insider's Advantage price of 40% off, this wine is truly in a league of its own!

Price: Hidden

2023 Maggy Hawk "Estate" Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Review Date: 10-12-2026

An exceptionally rare proposition today...a 99-point, estate-grown and produced Pinot Noir for under $50! I searched our entire inventory of more than 6,000 SKUs, and this is the only wine we have in stock that can boast those unicorn-like credentials! What's more, right now we're the only retailer in the country with this wine available to customers! We have a longstanding relationship with Maggy Hawk Estate, and I jumped on this wine early. I can also confirm that this beauty absolutely lives up to the hype! Coming from 20+ year-old vines planted just 16 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the cool, foggy "Deep End" of Anderson Valley, this is a wildly aromatic and seductive Pinot Noir. Planted largely to Dijon clones 115 and 777, the vineyard produces wines of remarkable purity, complexity, and elegance. The wine opens with lifted aromas of rose petal, baking spice, ripe black raspberry, clove, spiced cherry, and subtle hints of redwood grove. The palate is both lush and vibrant, with a plush, generous mid-palate showing wonderful purity of fruit, balanced by fresh acidity, woodsy spices, and intriguing notes of dried citrus peel. Silky and polished through the finish, with lingering impressions of ripe bramble fruit and Christmas cake spices. This wine delivers on every level. It's a wonderfully expressive, beautifully composed Pinot Noir that will delight just about anyone who appreciates pure, silky, sophisticated expressions of the variety. I can absolutely see why this wine earned such massive critical praise. Get it while we have it! A 99-point, estate-grown Pinot Noir for under $50 is the kind of opportunity that almost never comes around!

Price: Hidden

WE: 99

2023 Mayacamas Mount Veeder Chardonnay

Review Date: 10-09-2026

Today we have an extremely rare offer from a winery whose wines you almost never see discounted below full retail pricing. Thanks to our close relationship with the producer, we were offered a parcel of this extraordinary Chardonnay at a fantastic price, and we're passing those savings directly on to our Insider's Advantage mailing list members! If I were forced to declare a favorite winery in Napa Valley, I think it would have to be Mayacamas. This incredible, historic property, perched high on the slopes of Mount Veeder, has long produced some of the most distinctive, age-worthy, and utterly compelling wines in the world. Originally founded in 1889, the stunning stone winery building is carved into the mountainside some 2,200 feet above the valley floor. With a long tradition of crafting classically styled, elegant yet structured wines, the current winemaking team of Andy Erickson, Braiden Albrecht, and Chris Rush continues to produce truly singular wines that beautifully encapsulate this magical terroir. While Mayacamas is probably best known for its Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines, to this day, my most memorable bottle from the estate was a 1979 Chardonnay, poured from magnum back in 2016. It was an absolutely unforgettable wine! Since the 1960s, Mayacamas Chardonnay has been made in a focused, linear style that ages incredibly well while offering a wonderfully broad drinking window. The low-yielding vines, growing in extremely rocky volcanic soils, produce concentrated, intensely flavorful fruit. From there, the winemaking focuses on preserving freshness, purity, and vibrancy. The wine is aged predominantly in large-format, neutral oak vessels, including 500L and 1,000L foudres. A portion is matured in traditional French oak barriques, but only around 5% new wood is used. The wine also does not undergo malolactic fermentation, allowing it to retain that laser-like focus, tension, and energy that have become hallmarks of Mayacamas Chardonnay. The aromatics are absolutely captivating, with layers of orchard blossom, lemon oil, crushed quince, freshly zested citrus, lemon verbena, wet granite, barley water, and subtle almond paste. The palate is so vibrant and energetic, with beautifully concentrated fruit, crystalline acidity, and minerality in spades. There's a wonderful interplay between the wine's depth and richness and its remarkable precision and freshness. It's drinking beautifully right now, but there's clearly still a long and fascinating journey ahead for this extraordinary Chardonnay. Truly world-class Chardonnay from one of California's most iconic estates, offered at a remarkably reasonable price. Opportunities like this don't come along very often!

Price: Hidden

JS: 95

TWP: 95

VN: 94

2025 Anonymous Wine Collective Petaluma Gap Chardonnay

Review Date: 10-05-2026

This brand-new bottling under The Anonymous Wine Collective is just beginning to come into its own. Bottled only a few months ago, it’s really starting to shine! The wine comes from two famous, highly regarded vineyard sites in the Petaluma Gap AVA, part of the broader Sonoma Coast. This is a truly special growing region thanks to the constant cooling breezes that funnel in from the Pacific through a gap in the coastal ranges. That relentless wind plays a fundamental role in producing world-class grapes: it naturally reduces yields and concentrates flavor, slows ripening to build greater complexity while preserving natural acidity, and encourages thicker grape skins that contribute texture and structure to the finished wine. Combine all of that with the region’s rocky volcanic soils, which lend a lively mineral character, and you have the magic of Petaluma Gap. This wine had so much natural flavor and concentration that we decided nine months in mostly neutral French oak was more than enough to frame the fruit. It simply didn’t need any additional “makeup.” The quality of the vineyards and the fruit speak for themselves. The result is a classic coastal California Chardonnay, with beautifully crystalline golden orchard fruit, fresh, stony minerality, vibrant acidity, and subtle, seamlessly integrated oak nuances. Fruit from these vineyards typically goes into single-vineyard-designate wines selling for $60-$80 a bottle. By keeping the source Anonymous, we can bring it to you for just $20. Cheers!

Price: Hidden

2023 Anonymous Wine Collective Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Review Date: 10-05-2026

This wine delivers a benchmark Anderson Valley flavor profile at a price point that is simply unbeatable. Over-delivering on value has always been at the core of the Anonymous Wine Collective, and I'm certain this wine does that and then some. I'm thrilled with the end result of this bottling that I was able to compose from barrel samples dialing in the exact character I wanted to capture from this top quality vintage and great but (top secret) vineyard source. The wine is loaded is pure forest berry fruit, dusty, earthy spices, brambles, Redwood grove, and alpine herbs. Elegant and silky, but full of flavor and layered nuance. For $20 I challenge you to find a more complete bottle of Pinot Noir that delivers the goods so emphatically! Enjoy!

Price: Hidden

2021 10 Ninths "Radius" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Review Date: 10-01-2026

A lovely, complex bottle of Pinot Noir that really leans into the genuinely cool-climate nature of the region. There’s no cherry-fruit bomb here. Instead, the wine delivers Amaro-like alpine herbs, black raspberry, pomegranate, bramble leaf, forest floor, and damp earth. The fruit is expertly interwoven with more nuanced savory elements of coastal chaparral and earthy tones, creating a wine with real intrigue and dimension. It’s drinking beautifully with a few years of bottle age, but still really unfurls with 30 minutes in the decanter. A captivating Pinot Noir.

Price: Hidden

VN: 95

WE: 94

JS: 93

2022 10 Ninths "Estate" Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay

Review Date: 10-01-2026

A wonderfully concentrated and flavorful, yet piercingly fresh expression of Chardonnay from this cold, very sandy site. This wine perfectly captures what many folks in the Sta. Rita Hills refer to as “refrigerated sunshine.” The region enjoys long, dry summers, but is constantly cooled by breezes off the Pacific, allowing the fruit to ripen fully while retaining vibrant acidity. The wine really shows the crystalline side of Chardonnay, with beautiful nectarine, zesty citrus, chalky minerals, and struck flint. The length on the palate is incredible, with remarkable tension and persistence. Such a delicious bottle, and one that clearly demonstrates the quality of this special site.

Price: Hidden

WE: 96

JS: 94

VN: 94

2025 Root & Stone Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay

Review Date: 09-29-2026

I initially hoped this wine would be bottled under our Anonymous Wine Collective label. When I was presented with this incredible parcel resting in barrel, I could hardly believe the pedigree of the vineyard source, the quality of the wine, and the exceptional pricing. Alas, the wine needed to find a home more quickly than the process of creating and approving a new Anonymous bottling would allow. Rather than miss the opportunity, I decided to utilize a label design the winery already had ready to go: Root & Stone. As it turns out, the name couldn't be more fitting. This Chardonnay draws incredible mineral intensity from mature vines rooted in the extraordinary rocky, marine shale soils that define this site. The fruit comes from one of the most iconic vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills and is crafted by a winemaker with decades of experience. Under its regular label, this wine sells for $50 per bottle and has a long history of glowing critical acclaim, routinely earning 92-95 points from top publications. Stylistically, this is a leaner, mineral-driven, almost Chablis-like expression of Chardonnay, with racy acidity, bright floral and citrus notes, salty, stony minerality, hints of toasted rye and golden barley, and just a subtle framing of oak. On the palate, the wine has wonderful tension and a beautifully linear feel, carrying through to a mouthwatering finish of rock salt and citrus zest. I'm super stoked on this wine. For anyone who loves taut, mineral-driven Chardonnay rather than a richer, more opulent style, I truly think Root & Stone delivers unbeatable value.

Price: Hidden

2021 Off The Record "#001" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 09-21-2026

This spectacular vineyard consists of multiple blocks draped across rugged volcanic hillsides and ridges, producing fruit of tremendous concentration, intensity, and structure. In the glass, the wine is an inky black-violet, exploding with crème de cassis, blackberry, mulberry purée, graphite, and crushed rock. It is rich, powerful, and full-bodied, yet beautifully composed, with the structure and poise to maintain definition, varietal character, and a profound sense of place. This is serious Napa Cabernet built to evolve gracefully for decades in the cellar, yet it already possesses enough polish and refinement to be thoroughly compelling in its youth. The name must remain a secret. But at nearly $65 below the winery price, we can tell you this: this is exactly the kind of opportunity Off The Record was created for.

Price: $79.95

DC: 97

VN: 97

2019 Forman Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Library Release)

Review Date: 09-21-2026

Despite the season being slightly cooler than average, the 2019 Forman Cab is a bold, forward expression of this site. The palate is bursting with rich crème de cassis, blackberry, dark chocolate, new leather, exotic spice, and mountain herbs. The lush fruit is nicely delineated by fine, polished tannins, giving the wine wonderful clarity and purity. This is such an attractive, expressive wine. It can be enjoyed now with a 30-minute decant but also has a decade of upside in the cellar, perhaps more. A suave and sophisticated Forman with a touch more polish than I typically see from this rugged mountain estate.

Price: Hidden

VN: 97

JD: 96

2018 Forman Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Library Release)

Review Date: 09-21-2026

The 2018 Forman is a wine for the ages. This is classic Forman—powerful mountain structure, tons of varietal character, and a wonderful interplay of Vaca Mountain chaparral and liquid-rock minerality. Lavender, mountain sage, and tobacco leaf mingle with huckleberry, briary blackberry, graphite, cedar, and subtle leather. Firm mountain tannins hold the fruit tightly, with complex cigar box and camphor notes just starting to emerge as the wine slowly evolves. This is a wonderful bottle to enjoy over the next decade-plus, probably 15-20 years in a cold cellar. A great candidate for a standing rib roasts this holiday season.

Price: Hidden

VN: 96

JD: 94

WS: 93

2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Willow Creek District Paso Robles Rhône Blend

Review Date: 09-16-2026

The Anonymous Willow Creek bottling captures all of the best elements of Paso Robles without any of the pit falls. The wine is wonderfully balanced with an explosive brambly nose, tons of rich, expressive fruit, a silky suave texture on the palate, and balances all that power with great lift and freshness from the limestone soils. The wine shows ripe, brambly red and black berry fruits, baking spice, hints of cracked pepper, violets, rock dust, a subtle flourish of toasty oak. Medium to full bodied, lush and velvety on the palate with sublime purity and polish. I'm so stoked on how this Anonymous bottling came out, it's undeniably delicious and such a remarkable value given the quality of the wine.

Price: $21.95

JD: 94 - 95

2022 Louis M. Martini Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 09-14-2026

Right now we have by far the best price in the country on this Napa Valley classic! In fact we're $15 a bottle lower than the next best competitor. Thanks to some exceptionally sharp pricing, you can stock up on benchmark Napa Cabernet for literally half the regular price. Yep, $25 for legitimate Napa Valley Cabernet from the team at Louis Martini. As one of the most historic producers in the valley, Louis Martini has long been a stalwart of classically styled, structured Napa Cabernet. I’ve been lucky enough to taste Martini Cabernets going all the way back to the 1960s, and these wines helped define the very character of Napa Valley Cabernet as we know it today. The winery is state of the art, and the team is committed to the legacy of this incredible property and their role in resuscitating the domestic wine industry after prohibition. The 2022 is drinking beautifully, with the warmth of the vintage giving the fruit profile a little more generosity and immediate appeal. There’s a gorgeous mix of crushed redcurrant, ripe plum, blackberry, loamy earth, charred spice, and subtle leather. The ample fruit is nicely framed by grainy, structured tannins (perhaps from a component of mountain-grown fruit) that carry the wine through a long, satisfying finish. This has the substance and structure to drink beautifully over the next 5–6 years and likely beyond. Louis Martini's Napa Cab is already a very solid buy at its $50 SRP. At 50% off, this is one of those no-brainer Napa Cab deals you simply don’t want to miss. Buy a few for now and a few for the cellar. Cheers!

Price: Hidden

2024 Ahi Ka "Blackmore Vineyard" Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

Review Date: 09-11-2026

I really enjoyed a bottle of this savvy last night! Absolutely classic Marlborough Sauv Blanc done really well. Not really surprising when you have a winemaker with several decades of experience at the helm, and fruit from a mature vineyard in one of the best subregions of Marlborough. Wines from the Dillon's Point area like this one often have a wonderfully lifted aromatic profile and even a little salinity from the proximity to the ocean. The Ahi Ka has good texture and length on the palate especially at this remarkably affordable price point! If this late summer heat keeps going I can see several more bottes if this in my future!

Price: $14.99

BC: 92

VN: 92

2023 Two Mountain Rattlesnake Hills Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 09-10-2026

This is the wine that really sealed the deal for me with Two Mountain. It’s a total showstopper. Wildly aromatic and packed with blackcurrant, elderberry, unsmoked cigar, briar patch, crushed rock, leather, toasted spices, and subtle lavender. Fuller-bodied than the Merlot or Cabernet Franc, but still very much in the mid-weight class, it prioritizes varietal expression and balance over sheer power and ripeness. The wine aged for 19 months in a judicious 25% new French oak, just enough to gently polish the edges. Something like Bordeaux meets Mount Veeder? It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what this wine reminds me of. Maybe it’s simply pure Washington goodness at a ludicrously accessible price point.

Price: $24.95

Wine Club

$19.99

JS: 97

DC: 93

2023 Two Mountain "Reserve" Rattlesnake Hills Yakima Valley Cabernet Franc

Review Date: 09-10-2026

Once again, this wine doesn’t shy away from the true character of the variety. This is a Cabernet Franc lover’s Cab Franc. Soaring aromas of dried flowers, tobacco leaf, camphor, redcurrant, dried thyme, and bay leaf. Medium-bodied with a silky mid-palate and lots of energy and drive on the finish, loaded with dusty red fruits and leafy tones. This one evolves beautifully in the glass, so give it a 20–30 minute decant and watch the layers emerge. Again, what a value!

Price: $24.95

JS: 95

DC: 94

2023 Two Mountain Rattlesnake Hills Yakima Valley Merlot

Review Date: 09-10-2026

One of my favorite wines in the Two Mountain lineup. This bottle makes a great argument for a Merlot resurgence. Juicy, fresh black fruits, huckleberry, cocoa nib, and hints of cigar box lead into a suave texture and lovely balance. Bright acidity keeps the plush fruit nicely linear and energetic. Excellent Merlot for a song!

Price: $21.95

Wine Club

$16.99

JS: 95

DC: 93

2025 Two Mountain Rattlesnake Hills Yakima Valley Rosé

Review Date: 09-10-2026

A really fun, crisp, dry rosé made from estate-grown Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Wonderfully tart red berry fruits, hints of freshly picked herbs, and spiced citrus peel. Super refreshing and seriously easy drinking.

Price: $14.95

2025 Two Mountain Rattlesnake Hills Yakima Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Review Date: 09-10-2026

A bright, fresh style loaded with citrus and tropical fruit. Fermented entirely in stainless steel to preserve all that zesty fruit character, with a dash of Sémillon for good measure. An amazing value!

Price: $12.95

JS: 93

2022 Eyrie Vineyards "Estate" Dundee Hills Pinot Noir

Review Date: 09-08-2026

Don't broadcast this one too much...but we have a very special hidden price on this stunning Eyrie Estate Pinot Noir. Our price today is $26 per bottle below the national average and $10 per bottle lower than our nearest competitor! K&L has a 30+ year history working with the wonderful wines of Eyrie in the Dundee Hills. This iconic estate did as much as anyone to put Oregon wines in the map. Originally planted in the mid-1960s this incredible estate in the heart of the Willamette Valley is renowned for world-class, incredibly age worthy wines and a steadfast dedication to organic and regenerative farming. Second generation vigneron Jason Lett carries on his father's work keeping Eyrie at the very pinnacle of what Oregon can do. However, even the great producers aren't immune to market fluctuations and so here's a great chance to snap up this 97-point Pinot at a killer price and stock up your cellar for years to come.

Price: Hidden

2024 Trois Noix "Muir Hanna Vineyard" Oak Knoll District Napa Valley Chardonnay

Review Date: 08-31-2026

A piece of history in the bottle! This Chardonnay comes from the legendary Muir-Hanna Vineyard on the western edge of Oak Knoll. This small sub-region of Oak Knoll produced the now-legendary 1973 Chardonnay, which took top honors at the Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976. This part of Oak Knoll has long been renowned for producing world-class Chardonnay. Ancient marine sedimentary soils eroding down from Mount Veeder meet gravels laid down by the Napa River. The cool climate and daily fog allow for long, slow ripening while preserving bright, fresh acidity. Trois Noix's expression of this legendary site allows the pristine fruit to do all the talking, with native fermentation and aging entirely in neutral oak. This is much more Chablis-inspired and mineral-driven than a big, oaky butter bomb. Crunchy orchard fruit, chalky minerals, and a long, salivating finish. A great bottle that will only continue to improve over the next 2-4 years. A ridiculous price for great Chardonnay.

Price: Hidden

TWP: 94

2024 TWR (Te Whare Ra) "SV5182 Single Vineyard" Rosé Marlborough

Review Date: 08-28-2026

I'm so happy to see another edition of TWR rosé hit our selves! I've been enjoying this wine for over a decade now and it never fails to impress. Jason and Anna truly craft this wine from vine to bottle specifically for rosé. This is an intentional, deliberate, thoughtfully made rosé and it shows in the purity and vibrancy of the wine. Incredibly aromatic with alpine strawberry, pomegranate, orange oil, baking spice. Pristine red berry fruits on the palate and some wet river stone mineral. Hints of spiced citrus peel and blackcurrant leaf, too. So refreshing and quaffable. Love this wine! Cheers.

Price: $19.99

BC: 95

SK: 95

RP: 92

2023 Caraccioli "Escolle Vineyard" Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay

Review Date: 08-28-2026

Caraccioli’s Escolle Vineyard is quickly establishing itself as one of the finest vineyards in coastal California. This small, family-owned estate in the beautiful Santa Lucia Highlands has earned a formidable reputation in recent years, with wines from Escolle increasingly topping vintage reports, earning massive scores, and drawing effusive praise from some of the country’s most respected critics. Now in the hands of the fourth generation of the Swiss-Italian Caraccioli family, this is a true family endeavor, with meticulous attention paid to every detail in both vineyard and cellar. Across the wines, there is a distinctive signature: concentrated, crystalline fruit, vibrant acidity, and a deeply saline mineral core. Escolle sits just a few miles inland from Monterey Bay, where cold winds funnel relentlessly down the Salinas Valley. This is a genuinely ultra-cool-climate site. The vines are planted in decomposed granitic loam on an elevated bench tucked against the mountains rising toward Big Sur, producing fruit with remarkable intensity while preserving incredible freshness and tension. Once that pristine fruit reaches the winery, everything remains small-scale, hands-on, and traditional. The grapes are even pressed in a Champagne-style Coquard wooden basket press. Caraccioli initially became renowned for its stunning sparkling wines, crafted for many years by the late Michel Salgues. While those wines remain world-class, the estate’s still wines have increasingly stepped into the spotlight - and this Chardonnay makes it very easy to understand why. Fermented in stainless steel and then aged in large-format French oak puncheons, the wine has a piercing streak of stony minerality running straight through its core. Bright, juicy citrus fruit is mouthwatering and vivid, joined by crushed quince, salted lemon, golden peach, and peach pit. More savory notes of Marcona almond, rock salt, white oak, and barley flour emerge with air, all beautifully delineated across the palate. The tension is stunning, the length impressive, and the balance between power and precision is exceptional. This is serious Chardonnay: layered, complex, and wonderfully expressive, with a personality that continues to build as it opens in the glass. It’s a wine you can study as it unfurls over the course of a meal, but it also has the structure and energy to develop beautifully in the cellar. If you haven’t yet experienced Escolle Vineyard or the wines of Caraccioli, this is a great place to start. It captures everything that has made this site one of the most exciting vineyards on the California coast - and once you taste it, all the recent hype suddenly makes perfect sense. Enjoy, cheers!

Price: $34.95

JD: 98

VN: 94

2023 Trois Noix "Muir Hanna Vineyard" Oak Knoll Napa Valley Cabernet Franc

Review Date: 08-25-2026

A tiny production wine from a small block of Cabernet Franc at Muir-Hanna. This wine does a perfect job of striking a balance between some of the more aggressively herbaceous styles of Cab Franc you might find in the Loire Valley and the big, bold, ripe styles that have become quite popular in Napa Valley. For me, Jaime managed to capture the warmer growing season and purity of fruit you get from Napa while retaining wonderful floral and savory elements that leave you in no doubt that this is Cabernet Franc. The fruit has a beautiful purple-toned character, with dried flowers and black raspberry, plus hints of woodsy spice, dusty earth, dried herbs, and a touch of blackcurrant leaf. Medium-bodied, wonderfully food-friendly, and decidedly quaffable. Delicious now with a 20-30 minute decant, but it will also age beautifully, allowing that savory complexity to grow over the coming 5-10 years and probably beyond. Such a charming wine at an unbelievable price!

Price: Hidden

TWP: 96

2023 Trois Noix "Rancho Pequeño Vineyard" Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 08-25-2026

Rancho Pequeño is the Araujo family's own estate vineyard on the prime east Oakville bench at the foot of the Vaca Mountains. This small vineyard just off Silverado Trail sits on an alluvial fan of volcanic rocks that have tumbled down from the neighboring mountainside. This small part of Napa is famed for producing some of the most highly prized Cabernet Sauvignon fruit in the entire region. As you might expect, Jaime produced this Cabernet in a very Old World-inspired style, favoring structure, savory varietal character, and complexity rather than chasing an overtly ripe, super-fruity style. In many ways, this is quite the opposite of what one might expect from east Oakville fruit, feeling perhaps more Coombsville-esque. The wine has brooding dark fruit with sage, mulberry, camphor, cedar, graphite, and iron. It's long and linear on the palate rather than thick and jamy, with savory cedar and leather emerging as well. The noble tannins here suggest a good decant if drinking young, allowing the wine some time to relax. There's a long life ahead here for sure. I think this will be a fascinating 10 - 15-year wine and probably a 20-year wine if cellared well.

Price: Hidden

DC: 97

2024 Trois Noix "Ryan's Vineyard" Oak Knoll District Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Review Date: 08-25-2026

Ryan's Vineyard is one of the best sites in Napa Valley for Sauvignon Blanc. This 30-year-old, organically farmed parcel in the cool Oak Knoll District of southern Napa Valley enjoys daily fog and deep silt soils that are perfect for the variety. Meticulously farmed by Jim Verhey, this is a longtime source for Accendo's Sauvignon Blanc, which sells for $80 a bottle. The 2024 Ryan's Sauvignon Blanc is predominantly made from Musqué clone (66%), famed for its floral aromatics and more tropical fruit profile. The remaining 34% comes from a crisper, more citrus- and mineral-driven clone that balances the blend beautifully. The wine was aged entirely in neutral French oak barrels for five months to build texture and complexity. I LOVE Sauvignon Blanc, and this has quickly become my new house white.

Price: Hidden

JS: 94

TWP: 94

2021 Jonata "Todos" Ballard Canyon Red Blend

Review Date: 08-24-2026

I have always loved the Todos bottling from Jonata. As a "whole" assemblage of what they grown on the estate, this wine gives a perfect snapshot of time and place without the big price tag many of the other wines carry. In many vintages, such as this, I think the wine is just as impressive as some of its more expensive stable mates. As per usual, the 2021 Todos is a Syrah driven blend (66%), with a good amount of Cabernet Sauvignon (18%), and Petite Sirah (12%) in the mix that bolsters the mid-palate richness. Jonata estate sits in the hills above Ballard Canyon. The vines grow in fine sandy soils over limestone bedrock. The wines from here are potent with soaring aromatics, deeply concentrated fruit and powerful structure. Winemaker Matt Dees (considered by many as one of the most talented winemakers in the state) has elevated Jonata to be one of the crown jewels of Santa Barbara County. The quality and consistency here is not surprising when you consider Jonata is under the same ownership as Screaming Eagle in Napa Valley! Jonata's Todos is an everyday steal at the typical $60 price point...but today on our Insider's Advantage program we're offering another 33% off making this an absolute no-brainer.

Price: Hidden

2023 OLG "Our Lady of Guadalupe Estate" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Review Date: 08-19-2026

Today we have a truly special price on a truly special vineyard - Our Lady of Guadalupe. We have the best price in the country on this highly acclaimed, absolutely delicious single vineyard Pinot Noir! Typically sold for $80...today we have it under $50. If you've not experienced this wine before, you're missing out. This is one of the most exciting vineyards planted in California in recent years. Our Lady of Guadalupe or OLG for short, is a vineyard planted right up to the ultra-cool western boundary of the Sta Rita Hills AVA. Here constant winds off the pacific just a few miles away consistently cool the vines, lower yields, and slow ripening. At this dramatic site the vines are draped in small, parcellated blocks over steep, undulating terrain with dozens of different slopes and aspects. The soils here are largely diatomaceous earth, ancient seabed up lifted by the fault. The diversity of blocks and mixture of clones planted across the estate allows the OLG team to combine numerous components with different character and complexities into one fascinating wine with so much layered depth. The wine combines a bold richness and purity of fruit, with brightness and freshness from the cool climate. Dark cherry, sassafras, Asian spice, bramble fruit, hints of black raspberry preserve, dusty earth, and a framing of exotic French oak spice. A wine that has plenty of upfront appeal but also appears to have plenty of stuffing and acidity to age nicely, too. I'm very excited to see where this incredible project from Dave Phinney goes. In just a few years they're already making wines this good...the sky is the limit for OLG.

Price: Hidden

2019 Ink Grade Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 08-13-2026

For a limited time, we have exceptionally low, exclusive Insider’s Advantage pricing on this mountain-grown Napa Cabernet from Ink Grade. Ink Grade sits on the eastern slopes of Howell Mountain, overlooking Chiles Valley. Portions of the vineyard fall just below the AVA’s official 1,500-foot elevation line, so the wine is bottled as Napa Valley Cabernet - but its character is Howell Mountain to the core. Much of the estate is dramatically steep, with terraces carved into rocky volcanic slopes. The property is owned by Demeine Estates, which also owns Heitz Cellar and Stony Hill, and is farmed according to certified organic and biodynamic protocols. Winemaker Matt Taylor has worked at a number of top properties, including a long stint just over the hill at the legendary Eisele Vineyard, so it’s fair to say he knows a thing or two about crafting classically styled, age-worthy Napa Cabernet. There’s plenty of mountain power here, but this is far from just brawn and brute force. A beautiful aromatic lift captures the wild chaparral character that is so distinctive of Howell Mountain. Briary red fruit, plum, graphite, singed cedar, exotic oak spice, and hot stone unfold in layers. The palate is long and deeply structured, with ample tannin but a polished, refined feel that keeps everything in balance. And what a price we have on this bottle almost 50% off a wine that typically sells for $80-$90! At this level of quality and pedigree, I don’t expect it to last long.

Price: Hidden

2023 Baker & Hamilton Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 08-11-2026

The Baker & Hamilton Cabernet is a total sleeper wine that continues to fly under the radar for many folks. The second wine of Vine Hill Ranch (VHR), this entirely estate-grown and produced Cabernet comes from one of the most highly regarded and critically acclaimed parcels of vines in all of Napa Valley. VHR’s flagship wine regularly earns perfect 100-point scores and costs $325 per bottle. Baker & Hamilton comes from the same estate vineyards and is made by the same winemaker. Vine Hill Ranch sits at the southwestern end of Oakville, right on the border with Yountville, nestled against the Mayacamas Mountains. Immediately to the south lies Dominus Estate. To the east is Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper, once part of Vine Hill Ranch. Just to the north are Harlan Estate and Martha’s Vineyard. This is truly sacred ground for growing Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines grow on an ideal alluvial fan of coarse gravels washed down from the mountains over millennia. The peaks to the west also provide critical afternoon shade, helping preserve varietal character, acidity, and freshness through the growing season. The wine is made by famed winemaker Françoise Peschon, whose résumé includes decades of producing world-class Cabernet at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Araujo Eisele Vineyard, Accendo, Heimark, and others. Trained at UC Davis and in Bordeaux, including a stint at Château Haut-Brion, Peschon has a remarkable ability to combine power and grace seamlessly. In a strong vintage like 2023, second wines can be an especially savvy choice. There was a bounty of top-quality fruit, and the long, cool, near-perfect growing season allowed winemakers to pick exactly when they wanted, without major heat spikes or other issues compromising fruit quality. In the cellar, the top parcels and barrels are selected for the premier VHR bottling. The remaining estate lots are blended into Baker & Hamilton and sold for a fraction of the price while retaining much of the same pedigree, character, and quality. At a recent staff tasting, the sales team and I kept coming back to how much this wine reminded us of Dominus right next door. There’s beautifully detailed red and black fruit, a suave, silky texture from refined tannins, subtle earthy spice, and savory notes of leather, tobacco, and seared meat. It’s an incredibly refined, perfumed, detailed Cabernet. There’s plenty of power and lush fruit, but that’s almost a given in Napa Valley. What I love about this wine is the refinement, purity, and sense of place that are hallmarks of this magical parcel of land. I think it absolutely crushes many wines costing significantly more and will continue to do so for a decade or longer in the cellar. This is an extremely smart buy in the world of high-end Napa Cabernet.

Price: Hidden

2021 Strala Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 08-04-2026

What do you think it would cost to take ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from a highly renowned vineyard in one of Napa Valley’s most exclusive and expensive sub-regions, then have it crafted into wine by one of the valley’s most sought-after cult winemakers? Now put that wine into a beautiful screen-printed, hand-waxed bottle and add a 96-point score from a top wine publication. What would you expect to pay - $150? $200? Well, today we have exactly that, exclusively through Insider’s Advantage, for under $50! Here are the details: the 2021 Strala Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced predominantly from La Montagne Vineyard on Pritchard Hill, with celebrated neighbors including Colgin, Bryant, Ovid, Realm, and Chappellet. The wine was made at Atelier Melka by superstar winemaker Maayan Koschitzky, whose résumé includes Screaming Eagle, Lail, Dalla Valle, and Checkerboard. This is a stunning bottle, inside and out, delivering truly luxurious, cult-Napa Cabernet character at a price that seems practically impossible given the wine’s pedigree. Powerful, bold, and unapologetically modern, it oozes class from the first pour. Hedonistic layers of ripe dark fruit, crème de cassis, blackberry preserves, and exotic oak spice unfold across a rich, mouth-filling texture. Yet for all its decadence and generosity, the wine never loses sight of its mountain origins. Powerful structure, savory graphite, a volcanic mineral core, and hints of wild mountain herbs and chaparral bring complexity and definition beyond the opulent fruit. This is a wine that both looks and tastes seriously expensive, yet thanks to our huge Insider’s Advantage discount, is remarkably affordable. It is sure to strike a chord with a lot of Cabernet lovers, so don’t sleep on it. This is a one-time deal, and it will sell out.

Price: Hidden

DC: 96

2021 Hanzell "Estate" Moon Mountain District Pinot Noir

Review Date: 08-03-2026

Today we have an incredible offer from a winery that simply does not make deals on its wines. Should you choose to read no further, know this: this is absolutely world-class Pinot Noir at a price that is unheard of. A wine capable of standing toe-to-toe with any Pinot Noir-based wine on the planet without flinching. And at a price 50% lower than you'll find it elsewhere. Hanzell is one of my three favorite wineries in all of California. This iconic property possesses an extraordinary combination of history, pedigree, quality, and innovation. First and foremost, Hanzell is one of the most historic wineries in the state. It is home to California’s oldest continuously producing blocks of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, planted in 1953. The winery was also the first to use stainless steel tanks for commercial wine production - commonplace today, but revolutionary at the time - and the first to isolate the strain of bacteria responsible for malolactic fermentation in wine. The estate has long been renowned for producing world-class wines with the ability to cellar gracefully for decades. I have personally enjoyed Hanzell Pinot Noirs from the 1960s and Chardonnays from the 1970s that remained vibrant, complex, and utterly delicious. Given that history and pedigree, you might imagine Hanzell simply resting on its laurels and cruising on reputation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today, Hanzell Estate may be the most progressively farmed vineyard and farm I have ever experienced. Fully explaining the level of detail and intention behind the estate’s holistic farming and commitment to biodiversity would require a thesis-length breakdown of everything the team does in its stewardship of the land. A visit to the property reveals just how extraordinary the farming program has become and why Hanzell now stands as a modern standard-bearer for regenerative, holistic, closed-loop agriculture. I can think of no better example of a more thoughtfully farmed and meticulously crafted true wine of terroir. The sheer amount of care, intention, labor, and craftsmanship invested in these wines is second to none - and I mean that wholeheartedly. The many glowing critical reviews of this wine will provide more than enough aroma and flavor descriptors to communicate just how complex and delicious it is. What I hope to convey here is the larger importance of Hanzell: not only the staggering achievements of the past seven decades, but also the estate’s tireless pursuit of a brighter future. Better farming. Better soils. Healthier ecosystems. Better livelihoods for the people who live and work on the estate. Jason Jardine - president, farmer, winemaker - and the entire team at Hanzell are deeply aware of the estate’s history and significance. Yet rather than allowing that pedigree to become an excuse for complacency, they use it as continued motivation to pursue greater excellence, meaningful progress, and an even more thoughtful expression of this remarkable place.

Price: Hidden

2022 Mallea (Tyler) Santa Barbara County Rhône Red Blend

Review Date: 07-31-2026

Mallea is back with a new vintage, and once again it’s a strong contender for the best-value bottle of wine in our entire inventory. Now, that’s a bold statement, but let me explain. Mallea is a collaborative project between Eric Mallea of Sanford and Justin Willett of Tyler. Eric is the longtime vineyard manager for Sanford Winery, whose estate holdings include the legendary Sanford & Benedict and La Rinconada Vineyards. For Mallea, Eric hand-selects top-notch fruit from other vineyards he farms throughout the region, giving him control over quality from soil to bottle. For the winemaking, he partnered with longtime friend Justin Willett of Tyler Winery fame. Long regarded as one of the most talented winemakers in Santa Barbara County (if not all of California) Justin brings incredible experience and pedigree to the cellar. The Mallea wines were designed to seriously over-deliver in the $25–$30 category. At our massively discounted, winery-direct pricing, this wine is absolutely maxing out the QPR however you look at it. And don’t just take my word for it...ask any of our sales staff. At a recent round of staff tastings, this wine made just about everything else in the lineup look silly. It’s simply unbelievably delicious at an unheard-of price for handcrafted, high-quality, small-production wine. A classic Southern Rhône-inspired blend of Grenache (44%), Syrah (42%), and Mourvèdre (14%), this is made with truly artisanal, small-lot techniques. The fruit is fermented with partial whole clusters and native yeast in open-top wooden vats, then aged in neutral French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine is medium-plus bodied, with lovely deep red and black fruits. The mid-palate is plush yet fresh and vibrant, with polished tannins and savory hints of warm earth, dried garrigue, and hard-ground spices lingering through the finish. So complete, delicious, and beautifully balanced. It’s hard to believe a wine this tasty can be this inexpensive!

Price: Hidden

VN: 92

2024 Stony Hill "SHV" Napa Valley Chardonnay

Review Date: 07-30-2026

This is one of the most compelling bottles of Chardonnay I've drunk in some time. A laser-focused wine with incredible tension and reverberating minerality. The iconic Stony Hill property on Spring Mountain is now owned by Demeine Estates, which also owns the legendary Heitz Cellar and historic Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville. With this new Napa Valley-appellated bottling, winemaker Reid Griggs flexes his fruit-sourcing prowess, combining Chardonnay from Heitz's Quartz Creek Vineyard in Oak Knoll and Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville with a little Stony Hill Spring Mountain estate fruit to create something truly special. These world-class Chardonnay vineyards have been woven together seamlessly, each complementing the others perfectly. The style of the wine is very much in keeping with how Stony Hill has made its age-worthy Chardonnay for many decades. The wine has searing acidity, was not put through malolactic fermentation, and was aged with only a sparing use of new oak. It's linear, focused, and bristling with electric energy. In the glass it reveals struck flint, preserved lemon, crystalline white peach, ripe citrus, barley water, citrus oil, split white oak, and wet river stone. With time in the glass, the wine keeps opening up and gaining mid-palate texture and depth. So wonderfully layered and complex. This is amazing and so energized now as a young Chardonnay, but it's clearly a wine built to age for decades. If you love mature Chardonnay, forget a few bottles of this in your cellar for 15–20 years. I bet it will be spectacular.

Price: $49.95

JS: 97

DC: 95

2024 Brick & Mortar Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Review Date: 07-25-2026

Another rocking value, the 2024 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from Brick & Mortar showcases the dark, brambly fruit character I always associate with this region. A little deeper and more brooding than the Sonoma Coast bottling, it leans toward blackberry, dark cherry, dried herbs, and forest floor. Polished tannins and a subtle touch of oak spice lift the wine and linger through the finish. It is still a baby, but already drinking beautifully, needing only a few swirls in the glass to awaken the aromas. Incredible QPR.

Price: Hidden

JD: 94

JS: 94

2024 Brick & Mortar Anderson Valley Chardonnay

Review Date: 07-25-2026

Showing that they are every bit as skilled with Chardonnay as they are with Pinot Noir, Matt and Alexis bottle this wine simply as Anderson Valley, even though it comes entirely from a single renowned vineyard: Ferrington. You may recognize the Ferrington name from iconic producers such as Williams Selyem, which have long sourced fruit from this mature Anderson Valley site. The wine offers beautifully crystalline golden orchard fruit, ripe citrus, spiced apple pie, salted almond, and stone-ground flour. The balance between fruit and minerality is spot-on, with generous ripeness matched by wonderful tension and verve. This is a seriously sophisticated Chardonnay at a remarkably reasonable price. Awesome stuff!

Price: Hidden

JS: 94

JD: 93

2023 Brick & Mortar Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Review Date: 07-25-2026

Matt and Alexis Iaconis, the husband-and-wife duo behind Brick & Mortar Wines, continue to produce some of the most consistently delicious and exceptional-value wines in the state. These wines overdeliver in every way. The 2023 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir actually comes from a single vineyard in Carneros, right on the edge of San Pablo Bay. The fruit is sourced from 25+ year-old vines farmed under certified organic standards. Elegant and silky, the wine is packed with juicy, ripe fruit, offering notes of red berries, alpine strawberry, nutmeg, and dried rose petal. This is simply crazy delicious at such a modest price point. There are hundreds of $50+ Pinot Noirs out there that can’t come close to the quality in this bottle.

Price: Hidden

WE: 93

2024 Anonymous Wine Collective "Heritage Block" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 07-20-2026

The latest Cabernet from the Anonymous Wine Collective is a truly special wine with an incredible backstory. I was lucky enough to walk among the vines with the winemaker and hand-pick barrels in the cellar to put together the final blend. It has been an absolute joy to help create this tiny, 200-case bottling from a historic block of vines that played an instrumental role in putting Napa Cabernet on the global map. The block of vines from which this wine originates was planted in 1974. It sits above the valley floor on a perfect alluvial bench at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains, along the western edge of the valley. The vines, an old heritage clone of Cabernet grafted onto St. George rootstock, grow in extremely rocky soils composed of weathered basalt and compressed volcanic ash, or tuff. From the late 1970s through the 1980s, fruit from this very block was a component of early Opus One bottlings and was blended into Robert Mondavi’s iconic Reserve Cabernet alongside To Kalon fruit (apparently to add structure!) My initial dream was to bottle a pure Cabernet Sauvignon from these 50-plus-year-old vines. However, while tasting barrels, I fell in love with some Merlot and Petit Verdot from a neighboring block planted in the mid-1990s. After trying several renditions of a Bordeaux-style blend, I decided to add equal parts Merlot and Petit Verdot to the cuvée, as they beautifully complemented the dense, brooding old-vine Cabernet. The final blend was literally scribbled on the back of a napkin and sealed with a handshake. Once the components were racked together, the finished wine went back into barrel (Taransaud barrels, no less) for several more months, allowing everything to marry before bottling. Even though this wine is still an absolute baby, the quality is already clear to see. It is inky, brooding, and powerful, with an uncommon depth of black fruit, crushed rock, savory graphite, cedar, bay laurel, and beautifully integrated barrel spice. Please decant the wine for at least an hour if drinking it anytime soon, allowing it time to open up. I think it will be in fine form by this coming autumn and should have more than 20 years of aging potential. This is a wine I am incredibly proud of and one I will be enjoying on special occasions for many years to come!

Price: Hidden

2023 Carboniste "Whale" California Sparkling Chardonnay

Review Date: 07-20-2026

Today we have a wine that proves classy, luxurious, dynamic sparkling wine doesn't have to break the bank! Carboniste has long been a favorite here at K&L with its outstanding range of bubbly, spanning everything from delightfully esoteric pét-nats to traditional method, grower-Champagne-inspired wines from top single-vineyard sites. Carboniste is owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Dan and Jacqueline Person. They are fully committed to small-batch sparkling wines and work out of a modest warehouse winery in Sonoma. Dan is a true master of his craft and has become a trusted source of knowledge for many of his peers in the industry on all things sparkling wine. Many of Carboniste's labels feature ocean creatures: octopus, urchin, crab...but today we're featuring the grandest of ocean voyagers: the whale. Carboniste's Whale Sparkling Wine is Chardonnay-based, with parcels of fruit sourced from Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Sonoma counties. The really intriguing thing here is that rather than maturing the wine for an extended period on tirage, Dan ages the still base wines for up to 32 months in neutral oak casks before giving the wine another 12 months on its lees in bottle. The wine is then hand-disgorged and finished with a very minimal dosage. This unique approach perfectly captures the rich, golden fruit and unctuous texture of California Chardonnay while combining it with coastal freshness, saline minerality, and subtle toasty notes from the lees aging. The low dosage keeps the wine bright, vibrant, and zesty on the palate, drawing you back for another mouthwatering sip. This is a stunning bottle of sparkling wine from a small boutique producer at an exceptional price. It's no surprise this earned a massive 98-point score from Jeb Dunnuck, it's a winner through and through.

Price: $29.95

JD: 98

2023 Cordant "Radian Vineyard" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Review Date: 07-01-2026

Radian is undoubtedly one of the greatest vineyards planted on the Central Coast in the past few decades. Owned and farmed by The Hilt Estate, under the same ownership as Jonata and Screaming Eagle, this vineyard continues to raise the bar for quality in the entire region. A remote, hilltop site in the frigid southwestern portion of the Sta. Rita Hills, Radian flirts with being too cold to consistently ripen fruit. But as we all know, marginal sites that have winemakers biting their nails most vintages also tend to produce magical wines that are beyond comparison. The grapevine often does its best work when pushed to the limit of viability. Radian has soils composed of mixed diatomaceous earth, calcareous clay, and fractured chert or flint. The vineyard has many undulations and varied aspects, all contributing to the power, tension, and complexity of the wines grown here.

Price: Hidden

WE: 94

2023 Cordant "Escolle Vineyard" Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

Review Date: 07-01-2026

Escolle Vineyard is perhaps not quite as well known as the other vineyards in this formidable lineup, but it is not one to be overlooked. In the past five years or so, Escolle Vineyard has very quickly established itself as a premier Pinot Noir and Chardonnay site. Owned and farmed by the multigenerational Caraccioli family, much of the fruit grown at this very cool, windswept hillside vineyard goes into the production of traditional-method sparkling wines. The rocky, decomposed granite soils, constant winds off Monterey Bay, and northeastern-facing aspect of the vineyard mean that fruit here retains wonderful freshness and purity, with a complex underlying mineral component. Immaculate attention to detail in the farming of the vineyard means that grapes from Escolle are highly sought after. Several recent releases from Escolle have reached 98 points from esteemed wine critics, firmly establishing its place in the upper echelon of single-vineyard sites. Cordant’s expression is fragrant and pure, showing bright red fruits, lifted baking spices, floral notes, alpine herbs, crushed raspberry, clove, and wet clay. So silky and fine on the palate, with wonderful vibrancy and energy. An exciting wine from a vineyard quickly gaining a reputation for brilliance.

Price: Hidden

WE: 94

2023 Cordant "Bien Nacido Vineyard" Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir

Review Date: 07-01-2026

I love Bien Nacido Vineyard. I have worked with fruit from this OG vineyard since my formative years in the California wine business at Bonny Doon nearly 20 years ago. Planted in 1973, this incredible vineyard on the northern bench of the Santa Maria Valley has long been held in high regard as one of California’s Grand Crus. Wines from Bien Nacido rose to fame with the likes of Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, Adam Tolmach of Ojai, and Bob Lindquist of Qupé consistently producing exceptional, ageworthy wines from the site. Others, such as Manfred Krankl of Sine Qua Non, followed as the vineyard’s reputation grew in stature. Still family-owned by the Miller family after more than 50 vintages, the quality of fruit grown at Bien Nacido is beyond reproach. Cordant produced a stunning wine in 2023 that is a faithful representation of this historic vineyard. The vineyard’s signature wild, sauvage, bramble-like edge to the fruit is immediately apparent. Ripe dark red fruits, warming spices, blackcurrant leaf, truffle, and dried herbs mingle with the brooding dark berry fruit. Classic Bien Nacido in every regard. Delicious now with a nice 30- to 40-minute decant to allow the structure to relax, or enjoy it over the next decade as more complexity builds around the primary core of fruit.

Price: Hidden

WE: 93

2010 Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Winery Direct Library Release)

Review Date: 06-29-2026

After the mild and relatively straightforward 2009 vintage, 2010 was a roller coaster. Heavy rainfall in January and February pushed budbreak back by two to three weeks, and additional rains in May disrupted flowering, leading to a lighter crop with varied cluster and berry sizes. Very cool conditions persisted through June and July, with very little summer heat. Some grape growers, concerned by the slow ripening curve, began pulling leaves to expose clusters directly to the sun. This proved to be a costly mistake when a serious heat wave arrived in late August, causing some fruit to suffer from sunburn and raisining. Those who stayed the course with a steady hand were rewarded with a long Indian summer, with temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s stretching well into September and helping make up for the cool start to the growing season. Overall, the vintage is characterized by intense, dark-fruited wines with serious concentration and a somewhat brooding personality. That vintage character is certainly on display here in the remarkable 2010 Freemark Abbey Napa Cabernet. Darker-fruited than the 2009, with a little more structure, power, and moodiness, this wine shows rich mulberry, cassis, graphite, and crushed rock at its core. Hints of leather and subtle bottle development are beginning to emerge, but in general the wine remains impressively fresh, dense, and youthful as it approaches 15 years of age in bottle. This is a powerful, deeply expressive Napa Cabernet with plenty of life still ahead.

Price: $59.95

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