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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
Shiokawa "Cowboy Yamahai" Junmai Ginjo Genshu Sake (720ml)
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 4/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 4/12/2023 | Send Email
The cowboy is gentle yet savory. There's a hint of tropical fruit and melon, then white flowers and creamy vanilla, but what hits home are the notes of slight saline, meatiness, and wafting smoke. It's more savory on the palate with more smoke as well, vanilla, salt, white pepper, then back to gentle smoke in the finish. The texture is big and round, so that along with the flavors, this sake can stand up to some heftier food pairings.
Price:
$34.99
Domaine Brazilier "TRAD" Methode Traditionelle Brut Rosé
By: Kerry Kennell | Review Date: 4/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Kerry Kennell | Review Date: 4/12/2023 | Send Email
Composed of organically grown Pineau d'Aunis sourced from vineyards that grow on chalk and limestone soils, with an average vine age of 30 years. Fermented in stainless steel, it’s aged in-bottle on its lees for 12 months. Finishing dosage is 15g/L, making it extra dry.
The nose charms with Red Vines licorice, cherry, strawberry, cherry blossoms, peppers, and fresh green herbs. The palate is perky—off-dry with cherry hard candies, stewed plums, green peppers, and gravel. Refreshing acidity keeps the sweetness in check.
After my third sip my first thought was—I want to meet the winemaker who made this because I bet they’re a hoot! Turns out, his name is Benoit Brazilier and by how this wine tastes, I’m certain he likes to have a good time and wants everyone else to have fun as well.
This would appeal to the Prosecco crowd for sure. Great for dull days when you need a little cheering up but don’t want something excessively complicated or expensive. Excellent for brunch, backyard gatherings, porch lounging with friends, or watching the sun set on the beach after a hot summer day. *Vegan*
Price:
$17.99
Knob Creek 12 Year Old Small Batch 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 4/8/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 4/8/2023 | Send Email
Impossible to keep in stock since it's release and subsequent #2 Whiskey Of The Year from Whiskey Advocate in 2020, we finally have some Knob Creek to sell! It is absolutely deserving of the major accolades and has kept up batch after batch in the intervening years with the high quality of its first release. It's a big, bold, spicy, and sweet Bourbon. It carries a sweet ripe red cherry note from nose on through to finish that is bright and lovely. The nose is redolent with cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut. It shows a touch of developed varnish and sawdust for a savory balance. The palate is peppered butterscotch and caramel covered apples with a healthy bite from the 100 proof - not overwhelming, but enough to know this bottle means business. The finish is long and complete hitting every flavor facet again as it rides off into the sunset. It's a super easy to drink, easy on the budget, and it's finally available in a decent quantity making it easy to buy! It's wonderful to see the big boys in KY releasing age statements that don't always come with a crazy price tag. This feels like what Bourbon used to be.
Hakushu 12 Year Old Peated Japanese Single Malt Whisky
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
The nose begins grassy and floral. Light smoke emerges and builds, though it never overshoots past the malt's elegance. Over time, notes emerge of honey, nuttiness, toasted marshmallow, and grilled cedar planks. The peat is more prominent on the palate, yet it remains restrained: still-smoldering embers, burnt rocks, and firepit ash. Yellow orchard fruits appear with a bigger floral component along with a mixture of vanilla tones. It all keeps coming back to those low, slow, smoky notes though - it's never aggressive, but it never lets go either. A beautiful slow-burner single malt.
Price:
$159.99
2015 Bodegas Casa Juan "Señor de Lesmos" Reserva Rioja
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
The best Rioja in the store for this price! No doubt. Dry, balanced, traditional style of Rioja, it's full of earthy notes and bright red fruit, medium light tannins, beautiful spicy nuances linger on the finish for a very long time. I love everything about this wine: its elegance, subtle dried herbs, wild berry profile and bright finish. Don't skip this one! It's one of the best examples of classic Rioja.
Price:
$19.99
Hakushu 12 Year Old Peated Japanese Single Malt Whisky
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
Everybody is all over Yamazaki, but Hakushu is for me the real gem in the Suntory portfolio. While Yama takes all the glory, Hakushu quietly produces some of Japan's most delicious whisky. Some people look at our description and are worried that the "peat" will be too much. This is in fact a lightly peated product distilled on Hakushu's narrow necked stills. The resulting spirit is full of vibrant complexity and the peated is so perfectly integrate, few would pick it out as the main attraction. Instead expect a gorgeous nose of wet forest floor, candied stone fruit, citrus oils, clove oil, fresh herbs, jasmine flower, green tea, sweet malt and tobacco leaf. On the palate, the freshness and vibrancy is paramount offering sweet almost candied malty character tempered with a zesty citrus note and an oily texture. The peat pops up on the finish in a lovely balancing way. This is for me the better of the two Suntory flagship single malts and certainly the one I'd hand first to any expert or regular drinker of scotch who might be Suntory curious.
Price:
$159.99
Hakushu 12 Year Old Peated Japanese Single Malt Whisky
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 4/5/2023 | Send Email
Hakushu has always been my favorite of the Suntory malts. The sweet and elegant malt profile is rounded out beautifully by the gentle peat smoke giving the whisky more body and texture than its brothers. The "forest distillery" also produces a verdant whisky - it feels green and fresh, cool and earthy. Moist peat and cool mint gently hold up the bouquet of flowers and cereal notes. The palate is extremely balanced with pepper and cinnamon playing off of the sweeter grain notes. The smoke is more rich body than intense fire. A long and earthy finish is sweetened by a maple syrup and caramel note that leaves a very pleasant aftertaste. With Japanese whisky being so hard to get these days and the price ever increasing, you have to get while the gettin' is good.
Price:
$159.99
2020 Bellefont-Belcier, St-Émilion
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 3/30/2023 | Send Email
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 3/30/2023 | Send Email
It's a joy to see Bellefont Belcier in the hands of the team responsible for elevating Tour St-Christophe to one of the region's great buys in just a few years. It is also fun imagining them taking this gem to the next level in the same way. They might have done just that with this 2020. Leading with fine and engaging aromas that are lined with plum and bright florals, the palate shows a noteworthy sense of refinement that speaks beautifully to the masterful touch at this estate. On the palate there's a clear depth of red-to-black fruit, fine tannins, and a long impressive finish. The 2020 shows the grace and character that this property can exhibit in top vintages, but the depth here is at another level. It'll be all too easy to pull corks early and it is well worth checking in on at this stage, but this is a wine that will keep adding complexity over the next few decades with ease.
Tequila Tapatio Blanco (750ml)
By: Michael Pires | Review Date: 3/22/2023 | Send Email
By: Michael Pires | Review Date: 3/22/2023 | Send Email
Tapatio Blanco is a 80 proof traditional blanco Tequila (made from 100% Blue Agave) that is rested for two months in stainless steel tanks. This tequila has notes of lime, bell pepper, Jalapeno, yellow flowers, wet stone, and white pepper. Smooth and delicious with floral and citrus notes up front that shift into spice and vegetal notes. The body has a creaminess and minerality to it. A delicious blanco tequila that works great on its own or will shine in any tequila-based cocktail you throw at it.
Price:
$39.99
Hidalgo La Gitana "La Gitana" Manzanilla Sanlucar de Barrameda (500ml)
By: Carlo Delgado | Review Date: 3/22/2023 | Send Email
By: Carlo Delgado | Review Date: 3/22/2023 | Send Email
Notes of lemon, green apple, candlewax, almonds, chamomile, saline, and brine.
Refreshing, well balanced, and very approachable. A perfect introduction to manzanilla.
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne
By: Kerry Kennell | Review Date: 3/22/2023 | Send Email
By: Kerry Kennell | Review Date: 3/22/2023 | Send Email
This delightful grower Champagne from Charly-sur-Marne rested on its lees for six years, slowly developing richness and complexity. What’s amazing is it’s priced well under $40. It almost seems too good to be true. If you’re a bubble fanatic, this should be pinging your radar right about now. Thanks to our extremely knowledgeable and well-connected Champagne buyer Gary Westby, we can all enjoy amazing deals like this NV Fallet-Dart Grande Sélection Brut.
Maison Fallet-Dart, founded in 1610, remains family-run to this day. All their releases represent fantastic QPRs that can go toe-to-toe with Grandes Marques costing twice as much. This release in particular earned a gold medal in 2022 from the notoriously rigorous International Wine Challenge.
The Grand Sélection is elegantly composed of estate-grown fruit—70% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier. In the glass it displays a fine and steady bead. The nose is alluringly leesy, a signature of long sur-lie aging. Then come aromas of toasted almond, caramel, flaky pastry, and lemon curd—a dreamy pâtisserie shop in a glass.
The palate is dry yet generous—tarte tatin immediately comes to mind with apple, buttery pastry, and caramel, followed by refreshing highlights of Eureka lemon and an elegant chalky finish that stimulates the tip of the tongue — a welcomed sensation that beckons another sip.
This is the perfect choice for an aperitif wine to kick your night off. I shared it with my best friend on a cold, late winter evening, paired with a freshly baked pain au levain, Cougar Gold white cheddar, classical music, and lively conversation punctuated by several belly laughs. Highly recommended.
Gilbert Jacquesson "Cuvée Prestige" Brut Champagne
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 3/21/2023 | Send Email
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 3/21/2023 | Send Email
The Cuvee Prestige is full bodied and complex. There is a depth of flavor and wonderful balance. I thought that I was tasting a Champagne that was much more expensive than this is.
Price:
$39.99
Lehmann "Jamesse Prestige" Grand Champagne Mouth-Blown Wine Glass #45
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 3/8/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 3/8/2023 | Send Email
If you ever enjoy prestige champagne at home, you should showcase it in worthy glassware, and you would be hard pressed to find a glass more worthy than this mouth-blown, Champagne Sommelier-designed, light-as-a-feather glass imported directly from Reims. The price is nearly as stunning as the glass itself -- just look at the mouth blown glassware prices from other brands out there. Add that it has been meticulously designed to optimally deliver the taste and aromas to you, and there really is no reason not to have this in your glass collection.
Price:
$44.99
Lehmann "Jamesse Reference" Grand Champagne Glass #40 (we can only ship in 6-packs)
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 3/8/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 3/8/2023 | Send Email
I love pulling these out for company when the champagne is popped. Their shape is unique and beautiful, and designed by Champagne Sommelier Philippe Jamesse to optimally deliver the aromas of the painstakingly crafted wine to your olfactory system. Champagne producers can spend up to a decade producing a bottle of champagne, why coop up all those beautiful aromas in a tiny flute that doesn't even reach your nose? The glass is still narrow enough to showcase the fine bubbles, and the price is one of the best you'll find thanks to K&L directly importing them from France. Grab a pack of these before you pour your next bottle of champagne, you'll see just how much it enhances the experience.
Price:
$12.99
2019 Tour St-Christophe, St-Émilion
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 3/6/2023 | Send Email
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 3/6/2023 | Send Email
Tour St-Christophe has quickly become one of our favorite properties in Bordeaux over the past decade. Coming from vines opposite of Barde-Haut, around the corner from Troplong Mondot, this is terroir that has crafted some of the best value in the entire region in recent years. For me, the 2019 is remarkable for it's precision, bold fruit with a weightless texture, and overall refinement. Deep red to black fruits build around the palate with well-integrated tannins, leading to a long finish tinged with a touch of salinity. For the Bordeaux crowd, it certainly speaks to a sense of place and has the hallmarks for a graceful and compelling evolution. For those who want to experience top-flight Bordeaux for a song at this stage in the game, it also checks that box as well.
Egrot Extra Brut Champagne
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/28/2023 | Send Email
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/28/2023 | Send Email
Egrot's Extra Brut is undoubtedly one of the finest values from Champagne. With top Champagne production in her bones, Elisabeth Goutorbe has delivered us a beautiful Extra Brut, full of verve and finesse. Based on 75% Pinot Noir, the fruit character is perfectly ripe giving off similar notes of a fine Red Burgundy. Surely Extra Brut in style, but with only a 2g/l dosage one would expect this to be an extreme version of Extra Brut, however the ripeness achieved on the vine allows this to be beautifully balanced. All-around, a wonderful Champagne!
Price:
$39.99
Gilbert Jacquesson "Cuvée Prestige" Brut Champagne
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/28/2023 | Send Email
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/28/2023 | Send Email
This flagship bottling from Gilbert Jacquesson is comprised of 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir & 30% Chardonnay, and delivers so much bang for the buck. With fresh citrus, ripe cherry, crisp granny smith apple, whiffs of savory herbs and just the right amount of toasty lees from the extensive, near decade-long aging. An absolute stunner for under $40!
Price:
$39.99
Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/28/2023 | Send Email
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/28/2023 | Send Email
A perfect utility champagne for pairing with food or as an aperitif, this swiss army knife cuvée hits all the right notes. Impressively balanced for an Extra Brut, which often can be aggressively acid-driven, the Hommage 1921 delivers a bounty of fresh citrus fruits, roasted hazelnuts, fresh baked brioche and a kiss of vanilla bean. A masterclass in blending and an absolute bargain given the quality in the bottle.
Price:
$49.99
Gilbert Jacquesson "Cuvée Prestige" Brut Champagne
By: Philip Roufail | Review Date: 2/19/2023 | Send Email
By: Philip Roufail | Review Date: 2/19/2023 | Send Email
The Master of Meunier strikes again with his "Cuvee Prestige" Champagne, a NV sparkler with loads of barrel fermented old vine Meunier blended with young bright and fresh Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Aged on the lees for eight years, this bubbly's rich, soft, and plushy fruit forward style is balanced by it's autolytic character. On the nose and in the mouth, olive tapenade, lemon-lime, tangerine, and cherry. At our most recent in-store Champagne tasting, the Cuvee Prestige was the lineup's sleeper hit! Another great direct import and an unbelievable price!
Price:
$39.99
Heiwa Shuzou "Tsuru-Ume" Suppai Plum Wakayama Sake (720ml)
By: Brooke Farnden | Review Date: 2/19/2023 | Send Email
By: Brooke Farnden | Review Date: 2/19/2023 | Send Email
This plum sake is great! Nice and sweet for a dessert style wine balanced by an incredible acidity. I go to sushi restaurants where plum wine is an option, and I've always been so curious to try it. I'm so happy I did! You definitely get a lot of plum character from this of course, but there are other factors such as a fine minerality and honeydew sweetness. I'd be curious to try this as a sweetener in a cocktail.
Price:
$36.99
Fallet-Dart "Éocène" Extra Brut Champagne
By: Philip Roufail | Review Date: 2/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Philip Roufail | Review Date: 2/18/2023 | Send Email
Part of Fallet-Dart's 18 hectares of vineyards around Charly-sur-Marne is a special property in Drachy called Clos du Mont that "produces delicious and powerful wines." "Clos" in this context means a walled vineyard, which are mostly attributed to the abbeys of Catholic monks who once owned the land and originally planted the vines. Champagne's most famous example is Dom Perignon, the Benedictine monk credited with turning Champagne from a red wine region to the center of the sparkling wine world. Back to Clos du Mont. This premium grape growing vineyard is the source of Fallet-Dart's top wine, the 2004 vintage Clos du Mont Brut Champagne. However, Fallet-Dart produces two additional wines sourced from the Clos du Mont vineyard and the "Eocene" is one of them. The primary difference between the Clos du Mont and the Eocene is how long it's aged sur lie. Though not labeled as a vintage champagne, the Eocene is all from 2009, so aged for five years less than the Clos du Mont but that time on the lees produces an autolytic character of finesse and elegance. On the nose and palate, brioche, tart green apple, citrus, saline, pineapple and other tropical notes. I'm going to wrap up this review with a major wine geek fact: "Eocene" is the second epoch (55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago) of the Tertiary period (66 million years to 2.6 million years ago) and alludes to the system of rocks that were deposited during that time. Enjoy!
Price:
$69.99
2019 Lamothe-Bergeron, Haut-Médoc
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 2/15/2023 | Send Email
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 2/15/2023 | Send Email
Well known for it's terroir that is sandwiched in between St-Julien and Margaux, Lamothe-Bergeron is a go-to value nestled in the heart of the Left Bank. The composition varies from vintage to vintage, but most years it is an even split between Merlot and Cabernet, with a bit of Petit Verdot to balance it out. Gravelly and deeply fruited on the nose with hints of cedar and currant, it leads to a palate that is balanced with spicy minerality, juicy blackberry, fine grain tannins, and a long, textured finish. For fans of Bordeaux, this will be a brilliant cellar defender while young, but there are enough layers to hint at a wonderful evolution that will unfold in the next ten to fifteen years with ease.
Fallet-Dart "Cuvée de Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Philip Roufail | Review Date: 2/15/2023 | Send Email
By: Philip Roufail | Review Date: 2/15/2023 | Send Email
Fallet-Dart Cuvée de Réserve, a Blanc de Noir produced exclusively from estate fruit, has a round fruity style compliments of the Pinot Meunier, but maintains a bright, crisp, backbone of acidity. The lengthy sur-lie aging gives it fine bubbles and an elegant toasty autolytic character. On the nose, citrus, red berries, and brioche. On the palate, cherry, strawberry, pear, and apple with a long tingling finish. An easy drinking every day champagne. That's right. I said it. EVERY day!
Price:
$34.99
Fallet-Dart "Éocène" Extra Brut Champagne
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/13/2023 | Send Email
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/13/2023 | Send Email
Based on 80% Chardonnay, the Eocene, coming from Clos du Mont, is a real showstopper. Filled with a bevy of citrus, white florals and hints of stone fruit, leading into a consistent and long mineral-tinged finish. This is an absolute bargain that hugely overdelivers with exceptional complexity for the money.
Price:
$69.99
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/13/2023 | Send Email
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/13/2023 | Send Email
Where the Cuvée de Réserve is a fun and delightful entry to the portfolio, things get a little more serious with the Grande Sélection. With upwards of 8 years on the lees, the complexity here is unparalleled for the humble price tag. A powerful, yet elegant bottle of bubbles, full of toasty brioche, ripe citrus and a melange of stone fruits. Another stunning value from the fan-favorite Fallet-Dart!
Fallet-Dart "Cuvée de Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/13/2023 | Send Email
By: John Christensen | Review Date: 2/13/2023 | Send Email
The Fallet-Dart Cuvée de Réserve is a wonderfully inviting and delicious Champagne! The Pinot Meunier based Blanc de Noir entices the senses with ripe red cherry, crunchy red apple and toasty Brioche, and a sneakily long and persistent finish. A perfect apéritif one should always have on hand.
Price:
$34.99
Egrot Extra Brut Champagne
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 2/12/2023 | Send Email
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 2/12/2023 | Send Email
The Champagnes from Egrot always seem to be elegant and have a lot of finesse. This extra brut continues this tradition. The nose is inviting and delicate. In the mouth, there is a wonderful balance between the acidity and fruit flavors. It dry but not austere, and is lively and refreshing.
Price:
$39.99
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
Silky and creamy with rich citrus fruits on the palate and toasted hazelnut notes, it's deep in flavor with long finish and supple textured flavor. Real steal for the price!
Fallet-Dart "Cuvée de Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
Creamy and brioche like, it's an easy Champagne to enjoy as an aperitif yet complex and richly textured with hint of toast, hazelnut and lemon curd. It has long persistent finish and very balanced profile overall.
Price:
$34.99
Egrot Extra Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
One of the best sub-$50 bottles of Champagne in the store. I can’t think of a better oyster accompaniment than this Aÿ Pinot-dominant extra brut from Elisabeth and Jean-Marie Egrot. It has elegant flavors of citrus, gala apples, and white nectarine with a touch of smoke and toast from the long lees aging. It has a nice lightness on the palate while retaining complexity and elegance only extending aging can bring.
Price:
$39.99
Gilbert Jacquesson "Cuvée Prestige" Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
What an interesting an intricately crafted champagne from the "Master of Meunier" Gilbert Jacquesson! Almost half of it is 10 year old reserve meunier that was barrel fermented, balanced by younger and very fresh Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It has beautiful and intense nectarine, citrus and rainier cherry fruit with equally intense acidity and a lovely toasty element from the extended aging.
Price:
$39.99
Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
This has an incredible nose reminiscent of a rich Meursault with ripe citrus and granny smith apples, a touch of flinty smoke, and briny minerality. The richness is nicely balanced by lifting acidity and a robust fine bead. Perfect with food or as an aperitif.
Price:
$49.99
Fallet-Dart "Éocène" Extra Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
"Eocene" comes from one of the great walled vineyards of Champagne, the Clos du Mont, in the western Marne Valley. Composed from 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir vinified in oak, then aged for well over a decade on the lees, this showcases a richness and exuberance rarely achieved at this price. It has rich baked apple, dried apricot, and meyer lemon fruit with honeyed walnuts on the nose. It has a rich texture which is lifted by bright acidity and subtle minerality.
Price:
$69.99
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
This is a value I often like to compare to one of the bigger brands in Champagne (with an iconic orange label) that has a similar grape profile. This has bright distinctively ripe citrus and apricot fruitiness, cream, flowers and toast from the seven years on the lees, and amazing texture from the chalky soils. Throw in that you actually save money for all that quality, and it becomes a no-brainer!
Fallet-Dart "Cuvée de Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 2/7/2023 | Send Email
This Blanc de Noirs is one of the best-kept secrets of the Western Marne Valley. Made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and aged for a particularly lengthy four years on the lees, it has wonderful fresh pear, Bing cherry and apple fruit profile, a broad presence on the palate, and a crisp finish that left a nice yeasty flavor lingering for over a minute! If you’re on the grower-producer train, this is an essential.
Price:
$34.99
A. Smith Bowman Distillery "Bowman Bros" Small Batch Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)
By: Adrian Gomez | Review Date: 1/22/2023 | Send Email
By: Adrian Gomez | Review Date: 1/22/2023 | Send Email
This delicious whiskey opens up with candied green apple, pear and honey on the nose. The first sip introduces cinnamon and baking spice on the palate with a hit of citrus that lingers on tongue. As the whiskey opens up in the glass the aroma changes to fresh cherries and blueberry. maple syrup and brown sugar gets mingled in with the cinnamon from before and the finish mimics the nose of fresh cherries that are subdued quickly by the cinnamon citrus notes.
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
By: Dejah Overby | Review Date: 1/21/2023 | Send Email
By: Dejah Overby | Review Date: 1/21/2023 | Send Email
Another winner from the K & L's direct import Champagne line-up! Easy to enjoy on its own with its freshness of red berries, med sized bubbles and lush extra dry finish. This is a delicious and lengthily blend that is easy to sip solo but can stand up to petite appetizers also.
Price:
$44.99
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
By: Michael Pires | Review Date: 1/21/2023 | Send Email
By: Michael Pires | Review Date: 1/21/2023 | Send Email
The Damien Hugot Rose Extra Brut Champagne is dry, crisp, and bright. This Extra Brut is bursting with strawberry, fresh lemon, orchard fruit, and melon characterisitcs. Delicious and complex... this Rose Champagne will be a crowd pleaser for any occasion!
Price:
$44.99
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 1/21/2023 | Send Email
By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 1/21/2023 | Send Email
This bottling from Damien Hugot has a irresistible nose of bright raspberry, nectarine, black cherry and wet stones. In the mouth, it starts out bright and crunchy, with black raspberry fruit. As it settles on the tongue and towards the back of the throat, it becomes fuller with ripe strawberry and cherry punch. Finishes clean and crisp with minerals. Very easy to drink! Perhaps too easy.
Price:
$44.99
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 1/19/2023 | Send Email
By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 1/19/2023 | Send Email
I love rich texture of this Rose Champagne and vibrancy from acidity that supports lovely deep flavor of raspberry and strawberry. It's long on the finish with bright freshness of Meunier grape in a blend and crunchy mineral notes from Chardonnay, creating unforgettable experience. Great aperitif style Champagne!
Price:
$44.99
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 1/19/2023 | Send Email
By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 1/19/2023 | Send Email
This gorgeous Champagne demonstrates how pretty and playful Chardonnay can be when accented by Meunier. The nose presents bold cherry immediately, then as tingling acidity builds the fruit aromas morph into blue razzberry. Scents of salt spray come through with light lemon notes. The palate shows off ripe berries, black cherry, lemon-lime soda, and has a refreshingly crisp finish.
Price:
$44.99
Heiwa Shuzou "Tsuru-Ume" Lemon Wakayama Sake (720ml)
By: Hope Cooc | Review Date: 1/18/2023 | Send Email
By: Hope Cooc | Review Date: 1/18/2023 | Send Email
If you're looking for a playful and dessert style sake look no further! This is the limoncello of sake! The ume gives you a sweet creamy texture, while the lemon gives you that perfect balance of tartness. They use not only the juice of the lemon, but the skin of it too that awakens your tastebuds. Drinking this well chilled is highly recommended and experiment with it too in a cocktail, you'll be surprised by how versatile this sake is!
Price:
$39.99
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/17/2023 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/17/2023 | Send Email
I drank this with Damien Hugot and his wife at the Royal Champagne, the newly refurbished hotel and Michelin one-star restaurant just between Epernay and Reims this spring, and have been thinking about it ever since. This is a clean, refreshing style of rosé that gets hints of richness not from the small percentage of ancient vine Meunier that is added, but rather from the Cramant and Chouilly base of Chardonnay that makes up more than 90% of the blend. This is “rosé all day” rosé, with bright red fruit and racy minerality, along with top-notch chalk on the long finish.
Price:
$44.99
2019 Latour-Martillac, Pessac-Léognan
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 1/16/2023 | Send Email
By: Ryan Moses | Review Date: 1/16/2023 | Send Email
The nose screams Pessac, with stone-laden dark fruits, cassis, and black pepper on impressive and expressive aromas. The palate is silky, composed, and shows great depth and pedigree. The stony minerality surrounds blackberry fruit, good concentration, and a thread of acidity that carries the finish. The texture and complexity hint at great things to come, but there's already a lot going on with this remarkably priced gem.
2009 Langoa-Barton, St-Julien
By: Austin Jenkins | Review Date: 1/11/2023 | Send Email
By: Austin Jenkins | Review Date: 1/11/2023 | Send Email
A beautifully structured wine with a firm tannic structure and soft acidic backbone. The bouquet offers notes of blackberry, cedar, and redwood while surrounding itself with a gentle periphery of tobacco and red fruit. Finishes beautifully inviting the drinker for another sip. Ready to drink now but could benefit from several hours of decanting, with that being said I'd be curious to see how this wine drinks in another four years considering its drinkability now.
The Illusionist Bavarian Dry Gin (700ml)
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 1/11/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 1/11/2023 | Send Email
The opaque black bottle is elegant and unassuming. When you pour from it, it’s hard not to smile as the bright blue liquid comes flowing out. It just makes me happy. Then you smell the glass - and that too makes me happy. It’s a beautiful array of citrus peel, sweet and savory spices, and the kind of floral notes that aren’t overly perfumey, but are pretty and elegant. The Illusion promised by the name comes when you add tonic. Right before your eyes it changes from blue to pink, but this quirk of butterfly peas isn’t the reason to buy the gin, it’s just a fun side effect in my book. It’s the composition, balance, and texture that makes The Illusionist so compelling. There is a sweet and spicy nuttiness underneath the objectively refreshing citrus notes and it’s all tied together beautifully by a strong juniper backbone and deft selection of other herbal botanicals. I find this to be an extremely versatile gin that tastes just as good in a G&T as it does straight out of your freezer or in a complex cocktail like The Last Word. Bravo.
Price:
$29.99
2009 Langoa-Barton, St-Julien
By: Hope Cooc | Review Date: 1/11/2023 | Send Email
By: Hope Cooc | Review Date: 1/11/2023 | Send Email
Cherry cola and sweet sappy fruit aromas resonate on the nose. The tannin structure is well defined and rounds out on the pallet. You get blueberry, tobacco, oak, and a tough of sweet fruit at the finish. I would highly recommend decanting for a few hours to get the most out of this wine.
Nikka "From The Barrel" Blended Japanese Whisky (750ml)
By: Hope Cooc | Review Date: 1/4/2023 | Send Email
By: Hope Cooc | Review Date: 1/4/2023 | Send Email
This full-bodied whisky is full of surprises. On the nose, you get cracked pink peppercorn, oak, poached pear, and floral notes. The pallet starts off with sweet toffee followed by hits of cocoa and zesty baking spices. Nikka from the barrel is well-balanced and is wonderful on its own, but also enjoyable in a Manhattan or a high ball.
Nikka "From The Barrel" Blended Japanese Whisky (750ml)
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 1/3/2023 | Send Email
By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 1/3/2023 | Send Email
It is an absolute thrill whenever we get to take the time to write up what are otherwise instant sell out items. Nikka From The Barrel was one of those secret treats for those with insider knowledge who visited Japan long before the massive Japanese whisky boom of the last decade. With the intro of the 750ml version for the US market and the subsequent winning of Whiskey Of The Year from Whiskey Advocate in 2018, the secret was out. As a consequence, it has been all but impossible to get our hands on a decent quantity of stock since it's domestic debut. In production since 1985, this high proof rarity is the consummate expression of Nikka - after all, blending for complexity, harmony, and completeness, is the hallmark of most great Japanese whisky - even the single malts are built upon many different lots of varied distillate from the single distiller that produces them typically. When all of Nikka's whisky sources come together thoughtfully and are allowed to marry over a long period with the slightest and slowest reduction in proof, the result is pure magic. It is robust and yet elegant in every stage of tasting. The nose is soft and sweet, but powerful, helped by the higher ABV. Orange zest, orchard fruit, candied ginger snaps, sweet cooked grains, and loads of butterscotch, vanilla, and oak that will instantly satisfy jaded Bourbon drinkers but also offer something new. On the palate, more of the same but deftly combined with a savory edge and the smoky flavors of toasted oak. A little more raisined fruit than on the nose and a sultry mix of dark chocolate and pink salt. While the flavors border on perfect, it is the texture that really sets this whisky apart. It's so much more full than many whiskeys on the market today, it has that textural je ne sais quoi of vintage whisky that is so rare to see in contemporary offerings. The finish is cool, long, and sweetly spiced. While this whisky defines easy categorization, it is safe to say that any lover of brown water will find it an enjoyable and flavorful pour at a very fair price point.
Nikka "From The Barrel" Blended Japanese Whisky (750ml)
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 1/3/2023 | Send Email
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 1/3/2023 | Send Email
It's been a long time since we've had a chance to sit down and enjoy a bit of "From the Barrel." That's because this product has been next to impossible to lock down since it's award winning release and 2018 Whisky of the Year award. But since long before that I've coveted this little bottle and it's odd square shape, not for its rarity, but for it's incredible character. While the whisky does not meet the criteria for 'Japanese Whisky" in the new voluntary labelling system that the large Japanese producers have developed, the reason why makes it even more desirable in my book. This is almost certainly a blend of the well known single malts and grain whiskies made at Nikka's two distilleries (Yoichi, Miyagiko, and Coffey grain & malt), but also their exceptional Scottish distillery, Ben Nevis. These whiskies are all carefully blended into a marrying vat and slowly lowered to a hefty 51.4% abv for bottling. It remains one of the most characterful and charming Japanese made whiskies on the market and I think, along with Hibiki, should be considered a benchmark in the category -despite not qualifying technically as such. Here we go! The nose starts rich with vanilla and oak, almost bordering on bourbon levels of vanilla and caramel, but pointed with rich roasted espresso bean and tiny wisps of smoke and green earthy tones. The palate is full bodied with plenty of sweet cream, butterscotch and powerful barrel spice. This doesn't need any water, but loves to play on the rocks if you choose. It's also my absolute go to in a high ball these days, adding richness and character that many other lesser options lack. It's difficult to deny how damned appealing and drinkable it is -offering character without being challenging- and I also love that the price hasn't exploded exponentially like so many other hard to get Japanese whiskies. This is one of those whiskies I always buy a back up or two since I know it's going to get drunk.