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Staff Favorites
| If you’re going to have Robert Parker or Stephen Tanzer over for dinner, selecting a wine they’ve rated highly will be a nice choice. However, when you’re buying wines for yourself, we’d love to see you find wines that match up your unique palate and pocketbook. We have a large staff of friendly and knowledgeable wine professionals that taste hundreds of wines each week. They can put you in touch with bottles that you are likely to love, often at a much lower cost than the highly-rated gems that often see a run-up in price and frequent availability issues. Like any great group of opinionated professionals, our staff has varied tastes themselves. Often our customers will find a particular staff member with a style that corresponds to their own. That concept works extremely well in our retail stores, and this section is our effort to bring you the same online. Don’t get us wrong, we love the highly rated wines from the press and will continue to offer them, but we think you’re missing out if you’re not augmenting those selections with picks from our excellent staff. Here are their favorites. (Click on a name to see their other selections - or to drop them a line.) Cheers! |
Reviews
Gosset "Grande Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
This is a Grand Marque that you can count on every time for meticulous quality that has remained steadfast through the years (centuries, actually). It has an expressively rich profile of pear, lychee, golden apple and Meyer lemon with toast from an impressive five years on the lees, yet it remains so bright and easy with silky bead and great minerals and a crisp, acid-driven-yet-balanced finish
A.D. Coutelas "Cuvée 1809" Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
Incredible quality and quite the bargain for a prestige cuvée, Coutelas' "Cuvée 1809" is entirely barrel fermented and aged for an exceptionally long 8 years on its lees. The flavor profile is complex, intriguing and delicious: white flowers, lychee/citrus fruit, honey and almonds with delicate sourdough toast and minerals. The richness is totally balanced by freshness and a long, crisp finish, making this difficult to keep a group from emptying the bottle in quick fashion.
2015 A.D. Coutelas Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
This is a vintage champagne from one of our portfolio's best producers (which you know if you've had the "Cuvee Louis Victor") and from a critically lauded vintage. It is half Chardonnay, half Pinot Noir, entirely from estate owned premier cru vineyards. It has a rich profile of citrus, melon, golden apple, honey and almond, lifted by great minerality and an impressively long, acid-driven finish.
Price:
$54.99
Damien Hugot Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 9/18/2023 | Send Email
This champagne is in sparse company in terms of value. Made from the Grand Cru chardonnay of Chouilly and Cramant on the Cotes de Blancs, it has quite powerful and concentrated citrus and stone fruit flavors that intermingle with floral elements, chalky minerality and toasted sourdough. Despite the power, it remains bright, crisp and refreshing on the palate with creamy mousse and a beautifully precise and long finish. It is quite an impressive balancing act.
Price:
$49.99
Fallet-Dart Brut Rosé Champagne
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
Playful, elegant, cheery, and timeless. This rosé is a summer day bottled up and ready for you to enjoy year-round. With the predominantly Meunier (60%) spending 4 years on the lees, any harshness has softened just the right amount, while the remaining Pinot Noir and skin contact style holds everything firmly in place. This makes you want to do a little dance of celebration just for opening it!
Price:
$39.99
Gosset "Grande Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
It doesn't get much more classically Champagne that Gosset. From the blend of mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with 10% Meunier, the 6 years on the lees, all the way to the use of both stainless steel and oak, you get a bright, textured, and somehow strikingly unique wine. The nose reminds me of fresh cut summer melons, while the palate is regal and long. One of the best QPR values in our stores.
A.D. Coutelas "Cuvée 1809" Brut Champagne
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
You can taste the Champagne history in this bottle. The cork is uniquely held in place by an almost forgotten method dating back to the 1800s, making it a unique looking bottle already. What matters more though is what's under that cork - a Champagne that spent time in small barrique, blended to perfection, and a whopping 8 years on the lees. We're used to seeing prices climb well over the $100 mark for such a beautiful wine 10 years in the making, not here. The value packed into this bottle is a lovely surprise. This will be sure to impress all Champagne lovers, from the novice to the nerd.
2015 A.D. Coutelas Brut Champagne
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
2015 was a warm vintage in Champagne, and some harnessed it well, while others struggled with shut down vines. A.D. Coutelas did an excellent job of harnessing the warmth and producing a welcoming vintage wine that is far from a shame to have open now. Candied citrus meets a classic palate with balanced freshness. If you ever wonder what to pair with curries or other spice driven foods, this is your answer.
Price:
$54.99
Damien Hugot Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
By: Chelsea Herholdt | Review Date: 9/14/2023 | Send Email
The difference between this and the Brut version is purely dosage technically speaking, but you'd think they were completely different cuvées altogether. Fresh white peaches, bright meyer lemon, and citrus rind jump out of the glass. The palate is structured and fresh, again a complete departure from the Brut version from Damien Hugot. I'd recommend grabbing the two of them to put side by side for an adventure into the discussion of Champagne dosage.
Price:
$49.99
Fallet-Dart "Clos du Mont" Brut Champagne (2006)
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 8/24/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 8/24/2023 | Send Email
The first whiff of this elicited a veritable collective "Wow!" from the staff. The nose is incredibly bright and full of profuse lemon meringue, stone fruits, chalky minerals, toasty lees, honeysuckle and almonds. It's rich and sumptuous on the palate, with a razor sharp acid line and super fine bead from the extended aging time. This is up there with the great luxury prestige cuvees in terms of quality but not in terms of price. Get yours while it lasts.
Price:
$79.99
Gosset "Grande Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/16/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/16/2023 | Send Email
After tasting the full line of Gosset champagnes in early August, I was able to re-discover just how nice they are. The Grande Reserve Brut has a lightly toasty nose and straddles the line between a toasty and a clean style. It leans a bit more toward a cleaner style with bright yellow fruits, almond, fine saline and light spice. Consistently fine bead and lingering finish!
Jean Vesselle Oeil de Perdrix Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
I pretty much always have a bottle of this available at home. It's always been good and it will always be good! Round and unusual with a nicely tangy finish. Rich and focused with red apple, cherries, saline and roasted almond. Very versatile and just plain delicious. That perfect champagne for both wine geeks, traditionalists and those looking for something very special.
Michel Turgy "Reserve Selection" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
There's a definite reason why this champagne sells so quickly. It's excellent and affordable. An intriguing character that is both bright but, very nutty. Almonds and hazelnuts with clean lemon and citrus. There is even a really cool mineral spice on the lingering finish. Yuuuuum!
Price:
$54.99
Ruinart "2nd Skin" Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne (750ml ships as 1.5L due to bottle size/shape)
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
One of my favorite Blanc de Blancs, of all time. A toasted almond nose with light smoke and lemon cream. On the palate, very solid, with richness of lemon cream pie, granny smith apple and light peach pit. Very nice graceful acidity and a lingering finish. Always the hallmark wine from Ruinart!
Drappier Blanc de Noirs Brut Nature Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
Looking for a Brut Nature that won't break the bank or take the enamel off of your teeth? Well, here it is! A cool nose of rose petals, Bing cherries and juicy peach. In the mouth, dark raspberry and cherry fruit with rose hips and strawberry cream. Generous and rich! Very low in sulfites, too,
Price:
$54.99
2015 Louis Roederer & Philippe Starck Brut Rosé Nature Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
This lightly savory scented beauty is a new favorite of mine! Bright scents of raspberry, with tart orange, white fruits and vanilla cake. On the palate, taut strawberry and cherry, with generous and an extremely long chalky finish. This latest release is a wonderful surprise!
Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/12/2023 | Send Email
If you think that Ultra Brut is always bracing and overly acidic, you haven't had the LP. With a white flower dominated nose (lilies, elderflower) to lemon mousse scents, it is fragrant and accessible. On the palate, there is lemon/key lime, green apple and sea salt. So perfect with sashimi!
Krug "Grande Cuvée" 171ème Édition Brut Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/11/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/11/2023 | Send Email
I am a very big fan of the Cuvee 170 and thought that Krug could not top that. Well, they have! The Cuvee 171 is nothing short of outstanding. A wonderful nose of white flowers, cedar, fresh apples, vanilla and baking spices. On the palate, so very supple, with muted oak, orange, lemon, vanilla cream, baked apple and light sea salt. Wow! So delicious now that even though it has great cellar potential, you won't be able to keep your hands off of it!
Pierre Sparr Brut Rosé Crémant d'Alsace
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/9/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 8/9/2023 | Send Email
Although I do specialize in Champagne, sometimes I do need to buy a bubbly in quantity that won't break the bank. This little Alsatian gem has a red fruited nose with dominant cherry fruit, followed by strawberry and minerals. A wonderful creaminess and heady mousse make it a pleasure to drink. It has a nice finish of minerals and cream. Don't report me to the Comte Champagne!
2020 Dalem, Fronsac
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 8/5/2023 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 8/5/2023 | Send Email
A real up and coming property that has been making super value wines in the last 5 years. This 2020 is also available in magnums. Very rich and powerful on the palate. Blackberry jam aromas and flavors. Lush on palate--almost new wave style. Great Californai cross over wine at under $25. Best to cellar for a couple years, but if you drink now have a hearty meat dish and decant it an hour or so. Bring scores from some of the scorers.
2015 Poujeaux, Moulis
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 8/1/2023 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 8/1/2023 | Send Email
One of my old time favorites—I just drank a heavenly bottle of their 1997. You can never go wrong with Poujeaux.
Just tasted again in 2023. The sweetness of the 2015 vintage shines through here. Very fruit forward and delicious wine to enjoy with a roast beef dinner. Ripe red fruits and some cassis notes on the nose and palate. Will cellar well--decant an hour and enjoy.
Casco Viejo Blanco Tequila (1L)
By: Will Blakely | Review Date: 7/28/2023 | Send Email
By: Will Blakely | Review Date: 7/28/2023 | Send Email
To make a long story short, not only is this is the best blanco tequila under $30, but it also outperforms most brands at twice the price or more. The long version involves going back to the beginning of tequila as a regional style of spirit. Jose Cuervo was the first major tequila producer in the middle of the 18th century, and at the time, most of the agave was coming from the lower lying regions now known as El Valle. One hundred years later, the valley was saturated with agave fields owned by large companies, so producers trying to enter the market were increasingly looking to plant agave in the previously undeveloped mountain areas. The Camarena family began doing so in the 1880's, ultimately leading to building their distilleries and the brands we see today. El Tesoro de Don Felipe and G4 are headed by two Camarena brothers who struck out to build their own tequila brands, while the main family estate makes Casco Viejo, and they do it in the most traditional style you'll find at an everyday price point. Roasted in brick ovens rather than high-pressure steam vats, fermented over the course of days and weeks rather than hours, and bottled without the use of chemical additives, this is pure and authentic tequila. As we typically get from the highland style, the flavor cooked agave comes accented with lifted citrus and subtle floral tones. A hint of pepper and dried mountain herbs brings some savory influence, and the finish is clean and refreshing. It hits all the right notes. Not just margarita fodder, it's unbelievably enjoyable to sip neat, even more-so to serve as ranch water. When the cost of everything coming from Jalisco is only increasing, treat yourself to something that turns back time, delivering historic quality at a long-forgotten price point.
Price:
$21.99
Glen Grant 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 7/27/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 7/27/2023 | Send Email
While I thoroughly enjoyed the 18 year old Glen Grant immensely, the 15 year old is no slouch. It has a bit more spice on the tip of the tongue than the 18 year old and it has more stone fruits (primarily apricot) as well. There is also a bit of peat and smoke for added dimension and some nice green apple flavors. Like the 18 year old, thoroughly enjoyable, though different.
Glen Grant 18 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 7/27/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 7/27/2023 | Send Email
This superb 18 year old release is as smooth as silk! Remarkably smooth, with golden apple fruit, a hint of caramel, baking spices and a little bit of apricot pit. Even at 10 a.m., my palate was enjoying this immensely. My preference is to have it neat and not to adulterate it with an ice cube or water. No reason to miss out on any of its wonderful flavors!
Boulard-Bauquaire "Carte Noire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne
By: Michael Benoit | Review Date: 7/27/2023 | Send Email
By: Michael Benoit | Review Date: 7/27/2023 | Send Email
Refreshing and deep in equal measure, the Boulard-Bauquaire "Carte Noire" entices with its nose of cherries, strawberries, and almonds. Flavors of black cherry and fresh herbs mingle together to create a deep, complex impression. The robust carbonation of this champagne gives a lifted feeling to the long finish. This is a full-bodied, rich, tasty bottle, and such an interesting counterpoint to their blanc de blancs.
Boulard-Bauquaire "Carte Noire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 7/24/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 7/24/2023 | Send Email
Boulaird Bouquaire’s Carte Noir is made from half Pinot Noir, half Pinot Meunier and is full of depth and power. The texture on the palate is round and rich, with succulent flavors of ripe red fruit, honey, baked apple pie, cloves, hibiscus, lemon zest and stone fruits. The finish is long, supple and lifted by the creamy mousse and perfectly honed acidity. Another phenomenal value from the K&L Direct Import Champagne program!
2016 Tertio de Montrose, St-Estèphe
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 7/23/2023 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 7/23/2023 | Send Email
The first time we have carried this wine-the third wine of the fabulous Chateau Montrose property. We tasted this wine a year and half ago, and it finally arrived.
Very perfumed aromas of roses and blackberries-Fresh and fruity and lively wine. Delicious now with a juicy hamburger. We love the 2016 vintage from Bordeaux, and this wine fits the bill as a great value. Just a step behind the Dame de Montrose.
A must try.
clyde
Price:
$27.99
Boulard-Bauquaire "Carte Noire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 7/22/2023 | Send Email
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 7/22/2023 | Send Email
When a producer sets out to make a Blanc de Noir, they have to use an especially delicate pressing method to ensure none of the color from the skin bleeds into the juice. With the Boulard-Bauquire Carte Noir, "delicate" is definitely the byword. This sparkling wine is so clean and elegant in its delivery. It's quite floral, but always hinting at darker fruits and mixed berry notes, with just a little something tropical. Those darker notes come through more directly on the palate as black cherry and blackberry, but always with a kid-gloved approach. A light toast eases into an elegant finish, with the glimmer of those delicate dark notes.
Boulard-Bauquaire "Carte Noire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne
By: Miles Philippe | Review Date: 7/21/2023 | Send Email
By: Miles Philippe | Review Date: 7/21/2023 | Send Email
Wonderful exotic fruit on the nose; pineapple and melon were the two main ones for me. Clean sweet citrus on the palate; meyer lemon and golden apples. Along with a really lovely supporting cast of honey and saline notes, this champagne does it all! Fruit forward and delicious, this wine will disappear very quickly from your glass.
Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Jamaican Rum (750ml)
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 7/19/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 7/19/2023 | Send Email
Rum is the wild west of the spirits world. It can be so many things from essentially cane based vodka to insanely weird and wild pot still hogo funk to grassy vegetal Agricole to doctored food lab concoctions and everything in between. While I find most of these styles can have their purpose and place, I'd say the question I get asked the most in the rum world is for a good "sipping rum." In this context, I find Appleton, particularly the 21, to be simply perfect. It offers a proper age statement with all the complexity that affords to aged spirits. It has a blend of column distilled spirit and super funky Jamaican pot distillate. It is expertly blended by one of the world's greatest palate, Joy Spence, to give a balanced and nuanced drinking experience and it's not pumped full of sugar and flavoring agents. In short, it brings all the best elements of rum together in a single bottle and delivers amazing value and pleasure. Let's taste: The color is stunning. Rich aged mahogany in the glass, it has immediate visual appeal. The nose is powerful. The aromas jump out of the glass in a bouquet of vanilla, butterscotch, baking spices, orange peel, candied pecans, toffee, dark cocoa, and just a hint of tobacco leaf. On the palate it is rich and sweet without ever stepping into cloying. The 43% ABV is perfect for neat sipping - robust enough for the hardcore and supple enough for the uninitiated. The finish is long, surprisingly dry, and supremely enjoyable.
Daimyo-No Shinobu Blended Japanese Whisky (700ml)
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 7/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 7/18/2023 | Send Email
Expertly crafted and underpriced are not two things that go together often, but when we see it, we like to go big. This is a screaming deal, especially when stacked against the two major players in the blended Japanese category - Nikka Days and Suntory Toki. This has all of their softness, lush fruit, sweet caramels, and just a little bit more weight and texture - presumably from a decent malt content. Gentle sweet spice and just the right amount of oak balances the orchard fruits and nuttiness in what feels like a very classic Japanese whisky. Use this in highball with a lemon twist for a refreshing summer sipper or simply enjoy neat or on the rocks for something you can quaff late into the evening.
Price:
$24.99
Boulard-Bauquaire "Trepail" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Vieilles Vignes
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 7/13/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 7/13/2023 | Send Email
The Chardonnay used in this Blanc de Blancs comes from premier cru vineyards on the Montagne de Reims, and the quality of the fruit is evident. Lovely aromas of roasted almonds, butterscotch and fresh lemon meringue lift from the glass; on the palate a soft chalky minerality rides alongside nicely balanced acidity. Another home run from our DI Champagne program.
Price:
$44.99
2016 Tertio de Montrose, St-Estèphe
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 7/11/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 7/11/2023 | Send Email
This is my first encounter with the third label from the lauded Second Growth Montrose, and I'm loving it. It has rich blackberry and dark cherry fruit, red licorice, roses and toast on the nose. The dark fruits are lifted by nice acidity and the tannins are ripe and lend really nice structure to this already approachable wine. Enjoy now or put away for a few more years.
Price:
$27.99
2021 Alessandro di Camporeale "Benede" Cataratto
By: Dejah Overby | Review Date: 7/5/2023 | Send Email
By: Dejah Overby | Review Date: 7/5/2023 | Send Email
The Benede Catarratto has a vibrant nose. The freshness of youthfulness comes across in a lemon and passionfruit, with some wet stones and saline. This is a classic styled Catarratto finishing with bright acidity, citrus notes and saline finish. Super delightful to drink.
Price:
$21.99
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/27/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/27/2023 | Send Email
Sometimes things happen that make you think "it'll all be ok." In a world of skyrocketing prices we've managed to put together an incredible deal on one of Scotland's greatest flagship marques. Laphroaig 10 sets the standard for peated Scotch for many drinkers. It's intense and yet full of balance and finesse. We've locked in pricing on a large parcel that has allowed us to turn the clock back over a decade and offer this classic for the same price we were selling it for in the beginning of 2012! This one isn't likely to last long, but we will always fight the good fight against inflation in booze pricing and keep doing all we can to get the sharpest pricing to our customers. Whether you rely on the 10 year as a staple or you're been thinking about dipping your toe in the peated waters of Islay, now is definitively the time to buy. Let's taste! Luminous amber in color, it seems to glow in the glass. The aromatics are intensely rich. Smoke and salt mesh with golden barley and toasted bread. Saturn peaches and green apples receive a BBQ char. Sweet oatmeal laden with brown sugar and maple syrup gloss the smoke. On the palate vanilla and dew covered herbs mix with the fruit and smoke. Sweet malt stands strong as a backbone and a delicate floral nuance adds incredible depth and intrigue without being overwhelming. The palate weight is huge even at 43% ABV and the finish lingers for a long time with a pleasant bonfire smoke and reprise of sweet fruit and grain. Lovely.
Lini "Labrusca" Lambrusco Emilia Bianco
By: Diana Turk | Review Date: 6/23/2023 | Send Email
By: Diana Turk | Review Date: 6/23/2023 | Send Email
Hyper-fragrant apple and pear fruit shine in this rarer white Lambrusco made from 100% Salamino grapes. Crafted by traditional producer Lini, this is a refreshing, perfectly fizzy release using the Martinotti (also known as Charmat) method. Labrusca Bianco is a clean, bright sparkler with a dry finish.
Price:
$15.99
Komos Reposado Rosa Tequila (750ml)
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 6/23/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 6/23/2023 | Send Email
A nutty nose with clean almond scents and toasted marshmallow. On the palate, fresh raspberry fruit and light oak. Very smooth and different. In a good way!
Price:
$89.99
Komos Añejo Cristalino Tequila (750ml)
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 6/23/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 6/23/2023 | Send Email
This is an extremely smooth and creamy tequila with scents of sea salt, and (light) fresh oak. On the palate, crisp agave, vanilla cream, stone fruits. Just delicious and easily drinkable!
Price:
$129.99
Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 6/20/2023 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 6/20/2023 | Send Email
We often drink this wine as the aperitif, and I love the golden color from the large oak cask fermentation, aged solera reserves and the contrast that color has to the freshness and life on the finish. The French bakery aromas in this champagne are framed by subtle candied nuts and stone fruit. The mid-palate of this wine has medium body, with great compact bubbles and a ton of vitality. The finish is the best part, dry, long and subtly spicy. This style of carefully grown and meticulously made wine, utilizing large oak foudres and solera style perpetual reserves almost always costs double the modest price of this Hommage. It is a must try for the champagne lover!
Price:
$49.99
Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 6/13/2023 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 6/13/2023 | Send Email
I am not allowed to have favorite champagnes, but any survey of my recycling bin would reveal that this holds a very special place in my heart. This wine is single vineyard, from the very steep Gouttes d’Or site in Brouillet, and has a very different style than the Chardonnay from the Cotes de Blancs. This is creamy, decadent wine, and great on its own or with any shelfish. I love how this wine is always clean and refreshing, but has depth that makes me always come back for more!
Price:
$44.99
Ariston Aspasie Brut Rosé Champagne
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 6/13/2023 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 6/13/2023 | Send Email
Nobody in Champagne works harder on making a great rose than Paul-Vincent Ariston, owner of Champagne Aspasie, and no bottle that we carry is as outstanding of a bargain. Most producers either make a red wine to blend into their white or do a maceration of all the skins for a short time to make rose. Paul does both, as he likes the complexity that the maceration method brings to the wine, and the control that the addition of red wine offers. This isn't just a good deal, it is a Champagne of spectacular depth and character, that is also super easy to drink.
Price:
$42.99
2018 A.A. Badenhorst "Ramnasgras" Old Vine Cinsault Swartland
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 6/10/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 6/10/2023 | Send Email
This is one of the most interesting wines that I've had in the last six months. A bright nose of dried strawberry fruit, with tea leaf and minerals. A bit deeper on the palate with dark raspberry, riper strawberry, orange peel, additional minerals and a moderately chalky finish. So interesting and so much fun!
Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old "Origin Series #1" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
By: Michael Pires | Review Date: 6/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Michael Pires | Review Date: 6/7/2023 | Send Email
Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old "Origin Series #1" is smooth, complex, and, delicious. This is a high-rye malt bill Bourbon with notes of baking spice, caramel, orange, and stone fruit. One of the best value Bourbons I have tasted in a long time and well worth the price!
Price:
$39.99
Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old "Origin Series #1" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
By: Alexandre Tweedie | Review Date: 6/5/2023 | Send Email
By: Alexandre Tweedie | Review Date: 6/5/2023 | Send Email
For me, good whisky opens on the nose with nostalgia - Sure Bardstown's first self-made 6yr statement has greatly direct notes of snappy sweetcorn powder and apricot marmalade, but for me, this whisky has the scent of a Summer camp in the dry heat of a Northwoods afternoon, like the dust of a gravel road settling at sunset, a backyard barbeque in the dog days of September, or even the feeling you get after mowing the lawn on the most humid day of the year - this whisky smells and tastes like places I've been and things I've experienced growing up in the Midwest, in a way that's rather hard to explain other than through sense-memory. I could list more direct flavor notes because boy this whisky has them, but Bardstown has truly set an entirely unique sense of place and time in their first "true" statement, and it's one that I hope shines through all of their following Origin releases. Try a bottle and see where Bardstown Originated, maybe you also share the same memories they're so good at bottling.
Price:
$39.99
Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old "Origin Series #1" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 6/2/2023 | Send Email
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 6/2/2023 | Send Email
The Bardstown Bourbon Company's Origin Series #1 is a homerun at this price point. Right off the bat, the nose snaps with great cinnamon and black pepper bite. It moves into dusty spicebox, honey, med-dark caramel, then it hits with tropical fruit notes (pineapple, coconut). The palate starts bright and moves darker. There's flavors of orange marmalade, more coconut, and vibrant spice. Then coffee-flavored caramels and an earthy woodiness come to dominate. This Bourbon has a luscious round texture and slides into a very long finish with tongue-tingling spice.
Price:
$39.99
Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old "Origin Series #1" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/1/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/1/2023 | Send Email
The importance of Bardstown Bourbon Company in 2023 cannot be overstated. These folks set out to build the world's most sophisticated and nimble whiskey production facility on the planet, and by all accounts they have succeeded. Since 2016 they have been producing a huge portion of the non distiller producer's Kentucky whiskey (and even some whiskey for the big boys who just wanted to increase production the easy way!) if that isn't a testament to the quality they are putting out, try this bottle for yourself. Their first release of 100% their own distillate comes in at a patient 6 years and robust 48% ABV - all at a legacy distillery's price point! Color is liquid amber. Nose: poised and balanced. Given the high rye in the mash, you might expect a spicier profile, but this has it all. The sweet caramel, toffee, coffee, vanilla, and candy corn loveliness is ballast to a prickly herbaceous spice melange and toasty oak. On the palate the wood leads. You've got fresh sawn oak, loads of vanilla and fresh Belgian waffles with grade A maple syrup. Dried fruits and a kiss of zesty citrus blossom adds intrigue and depth to an otherwise very classic Bourbon profile. This is a slam dunk drinker and a shot across the bow for every one in the whiskey game. Up your quality AND lower your prices, or Bardstown Bourbon Company will eat your lunch.
Price:
$39.99
2022 Branaire-Ducru, St-Julien
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 5/31/2023 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 5/31/2023 | Send Email
An awesome wine from a great property. These folks are making fabulous wines for the past 20 years. This one may be the best this century- their 1928 is one of the ten best wines i have EVER drunk.
Spicy raspberry aromas and fabulous sweet palate entry. Packed with red berry fruits that cover the tannins. Long and lingering finish. Perfect balance and one of my top 2022 that i tasted.
2022 Branaire-Ducru, St-Julien
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 5/31/2023 | Send Email
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 5/31/2023 | Send Email
Branaire is on a remarkable qualitative run and this might soon be the pinnacle at the estate. The quintessential freshness of the vintage is clear here, with juicy red fruit at the core of a textured and bright palate with fine and concentrated powdery tannins. Thirst quenching and dynamic, it is a bright and lively wine, as Branaire tends to be these days, but delivers on complexity and depth while retaining a classic profile in this modern vintage. This was a winner across the board with our team and comes highly recommended.
2019 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 5/30/2023 | Send Email
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 5/30/2023 | Send Email
This is a Léoville-Barton that does everything right - it brings forward classic flavors in a modern vintage, speaks beautifully to a sense of place, and over-delivers in the scope of St-Julien and the Left Bank. Beautiful aromas of cassis with a hint of leather and graphite lead to a palate with explosive, deep red fruits, lined with extremely fine powdery tannins that add a dimension of minerality. It is a complex and textured wine that wraps around the palate and doesn't let go. This is an impressive rendition, and one that showed brilliantly alongside two reference-point examples from the estate in recent years—2016 and 2022. It will age beautifully for years, but unlike some other more compact and demanding version of Léoville-Barton, I wouldn't mind drinking it now with a long decant. Fans of the estate, or those looking for a high-upside buy in collectible Bordeaux, should have deep stocks of the 2019 to enjoy over the years and decades to come.
Wild Turkey "Kentucky Spirit" Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 5/30/2023 | Send Email
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 5/30/2023 | Send Email
The Kentucky Spirit hangs back in the shadow of the WT portfolio, eclipsed in prominence by the Russell's single barrel picks. One thing I love about the standard Kentucky Spirits releases is they include a lot more information than a standard bottle of Russell's. While our store picks include rick, warehouse and bottling info, the regular Russell's Single Barrel does not. So while people will go nuts for a single barrel of Russell's, I'm sitting here with a bottle of Kentucky Spirit and no one seems to be the wiser. Bottled at a lovely 101 proof, these single barrels should be on every taters list of must grabs. Here we go!!! A beautiful nose of mature Turkey nose of sweet roasted oak, charred herbs, and honey candies. With time and air this guy starts to get pretty darn complex, bringing in some charred peaches, fresh cinnamon sticks, aged tobacco. On the palate, it really open and surprisingly fresh, softer and way off the big kickin' cinnamon that some WT lovers want. Instead it's really candied and sweet only turning up the heat on the finish after a few sips. Then we're reminded it's Turkey after all. Just really damned good whisky. You can count on that.
Price:
$64.99