Staff Favorites

Bollinger "Special Cuvée" Brut Champagne

By: Ryan Woodhouse | Review Date: 6/22/2021 | Send Email

Beyond the fact that this is Agent 007's preferred glass of fizz, I must admit I love Bollinger. It is unashamedly a rich style, barrel fermented, round, toasty, packed full of Pinot Noir's red fruited richness. The wine contains 50% older reserve wines, and it shows in the wine's depth and persistence on the palate. Four years on the lees gives a lovely autolytic presence to the wine along with a lick of oak barrel spice that lingers long in the finish. I can see why Mr. Bond is partial to this...it's powerful and sophisticated.

Price: $69.99

Bollinger "Special Cuvée" Brut Champagne

By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 6/22/2021 | Send Email

This is magically rich champagne (about 30% spends time in barrel) made from 50% reserve wines that are actually painstakingly aged in magnum sized bottles. The result is a plush, complex profile of dried apricots, pears, peaches, and honeyed almonds that are balanced wonderfully by vibrant acidity. The long, arduous production method means that it requires the relatively low dosage of 9g to balance out the rich profile.

Price: $69.99

Bollinger "Special Cuvée" Brut Champagne

By: Diana Turk | Review Date: 6/22/2021 | Send Email

Bollinger’s classic release, the "Special Cuvée", is one of my first choices when looking for a grande marque, since it offers both the prestige name and relative value—the quality feels higher than many fancy brands at a similar price point. On any given day, the wine has a quicksilver character about it: nimble and bright enough to cut through fried foods, yet lush when complementing more classic pairings such as seafood. Founded in 1829, Bollinger clearly cares about luxury and detail at every level. Yet the house itself is set among its own vineyards in the unassuming village of Aÿ. For the "Special Cuvée", 80,000 magnums are disgorged by hand! Wines are aged at least three but often five years (more than the appellation’s required fifteen months). Bollinger only seems expensive if you haven’t seen the care that goes in to making it.

Price: $69.99

J. Lassalle "Cachet d'Or" 1er Cru Brut Champagne

By: Dulcinea Gonzalez | Review Date: 6/10/2021 | Send Email

Fans of Pinot Meunier or anyone looking for a zippy crowd-pleasing party Champagne is going to want to take heed. The nose is shy with subtle notes of cherry but surprisingly supported by a fresh jolt of bright acidity and the hallmark flavor of pomegranate. Super fun pick, and the price is right!

Price: $39.99

BH: 91

VN: 90

Montechiara Prosecco

By: Mike Parres | Review Date: 6/5/2021 | Send Email

Italian bubbles for Eleven bucks, what did we just step back in time? Nope just another Great bargain wine from K & L! This is the perfect wine for all your parties all year long, for there is nothing better than Prosecco, for crowd pleasing and value. This has a light straw yellow hue and has a fine mousse and delicate, with a long-lasting bead. On the nose you will find generous fruit, releasing hints of pear and nectarines. The palate has wonderful balance and elegance, dry & crisp, but admirable fullness and length, closely mirroring the nose. The perfect party wine all year long. Don't forget to grab a bottle of Aperol Aperitivo for your Spritz's.

Price: $10.99

Montechiara Prosecco

By: Greg St. Clair | Review Date: 6/5/2021 | Send Email

With the explosion of Prosecco on the market at ever escalating prices you can't find a better Extra Dry Prosecco at this price point, clean, richly textured, fresh, crisp so easy to drink with a wonderfully balanced mousse! This is the perfect afternoon refresher, just as you finished gardening or if you love Aperol Spritz this will be your companion mixer! Friends coming over before dinner aperitif, everyone loves a little Prosecchino!

Price: $10.99

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/5/2021 | Send Email

Glenfarclas is unmatched in many ways, but the dedication to quality and value is my favorite point to highlight. Price increases from this special distillery are nearly as rare as hen's teeth. Even as the Scotch world continues to boom and every multinational drinks company seems to raise their prices weekly and without reason or merit, Glenfarclas and the Grant family hold the line. Sure costs go up over time, but any time we've ever seen the prices increase on these special malts, it's been super reasonable, incremental increases. Housekeeping aside, let's taste the 25 - a banner for 'Farclas that flies high. This is some of Scotland's finest whisky. It's refined and genial. The nose is loaded with stone fruit but balanced with an equal measure of barley forward cereal notes. The barrel regime utilizes sherry casks heavily, but this is no sherry bomb. A combination of many types of casks allows a finesse and balance that is so rare in today's single cask, over the top, cask strength bottlings. The palate has a lot of chewiness and is never heavy. It's rounded out by a really pretty vanilla and cream note and brings in a fair amount of tropical fruit flavors like pineapple and coconut. The finish is long and clean. This is the type of Scotch that will make you fall in love with the category all over again. It's a stone cold classic. If you were introduced to Scotch recently, there's a good chance you've never tasted this and nothing will put it on your radar. It's not a trophy, it's not a bottle people scour the country looking for. It's just damn good Scotch at a great price from a family run distillery.

Price: $274.99

Germain-Robin XO California Alambic Brandy

By: Neal Fischer | Review Date: 6/2/2021 | Send Email

This isn't quite the same as the Germain-Robin XO you might remember from 10 or 15 years ago, but it's some dang good brandy. Fig and damson plum come out of the glass--sticky but not cloying. The oak asserts itself, but then richer fruits come back to the foreground accented by cigar box, citrus zest, and burnt sugar. The palate reminds me of cherry-stuffed crepes I used to get at my favorite Colorado breakfast spot with an orange flambé flare. Assertive oak shows the brandy's boldness and age without undermining its grace.

Price: $99.99

WE: 94

Germain-Robin XO California Alambic Brandy

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/2/2021 | Send Email

It would be a singular feat to make brandy that has a legitimate claim to rivalling Cognac in quality. To be able to argue that your bigger contribution is providing an augmentation to (and perhaps an improvement upon) a centuries old tradition is another thing altogether. While Cognac will always hold a special place in my heart and my liquor cabinet, so too will Germain-Robin. Unbound by tradition and appellation law, the willingness to take Cognac techniques and tweak them to the finest wines California has to offer has resulted in a phenomenal brandy unlike anything available in any other region of the world. One nosing of the XO and it's hard to argue with the results. Deeply intense cherry and apple play perfectly with fresh Madagascar vanilla bean. A dusting of cocoa powder adds both savor and sweetness. Tobacco leaf and Moroccan mint provide an herbal complexity that entices me to taste the elixir but also could happily freeze me in the nosing stage for an hour. Once you actually taste it, you are trapped in an endless cycle of pouring, nosing, tasting, and savoring until you've reached your limit or the bottle is empty. Harmony comes to mind. It's powerful, mouth-coating, and assertive. But it's also delicate, lively, fresh, lithe, and zippy. It does not overpower. It's basically the perfect ending to an evening as it's robust enough to enjoy on its own but won't leave you feeling heavy and bogged down like some sweeter tipples. It's difficult to taste this and not realize you're consuming a part of California history, inextricably linked to a place and time when great creators and serendipity worked together in unprecedented ways.

Price: $99.99

WE: 94

Germain-Robin California Alambic Brandy (750ml)

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 6/2/2021 | Send Email

A perfectly exquisite nose starts things off right. Pour me this blind and I'm definitely going to think it's high-end Cognac (I might be thrown by the lack of boise and caramel; all the better). It's extremely rich in fruit and jumps between peaches, nectarines, apples, even some red berries and a lovely, toasted oak and vanilla. Be sure to explore the nose for some time before taking your first sip—once you do, your senses will latch onto more wood notes in the nose for a time. Come back to the glass and things will have shifted again into flaky pastry, croissant, apple pie crust, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a complex touch of varnish, a very developed character that is a surprise if you're thinking about the 7-year age statement. Then again, most of the brandy in the bottle hovers around the 20-year mark, so this makes more sense. The palate itself is sweet yet very lively, never cloying. There is more to discover as you taste over time. Green apples morph into green and then roasted nuts, baking spices double down, refined tannin gives a persistent and silky mouthfeel. The finish lingers for a very long time, a pleasant reminder of what was in your glass when it was full. I'll admit, I was terrified when Gallo purchased this California classic. Not that they don't have a reputation for quality (they make a phenomenal number of great wines), it's just that they also have a reputation for big ol' bulk wine too (not to mention huge quantities of inexpensive brandy). To my immense relief, the impeccable quality on which Germain Robin built their reputation remains firmly intact now that we're 3-4 years into the Gallo ownership. It is my hope and belief that this will continue and the resources of Gallo will allow the Germain Robin brand to continue to flourish and forever push the boundaries of what is the very best California Brandy has to offer. Certainly, they have done that here in their flagship bottling. Bravo!

Price: $69.99

WE: 98

2009 Coufran, Haut-Médoc

By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 5/29/2021 | Send Email

Great vintage and a superb value property. Tons of blackberry aromas and flavors. Very ripe. Still drinking well. The ripe style of the vintage blends well with the rustic style of the property. We have sold over 7500 bottles to date.

Price: $24.99

WE: 90 - 92

Ardbeg "Corryvreckan" Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 5/28/2021 | Send Email

The Corryvreckan will take over a room. It's a massive powerhouse of a whisky. Scorched earth, sea spray, and roasted nuts mesh with fruit compote, dark roast coffee, lovely oak spice and sweet vanilla. It's one of the most distinct noses in all of Scotch and something that you likely love or hate. If you haven't had this staple in a long time, it's worth a revisit. If you've never had it before, caveat emptor, it is not for the faint of heart. If you don't love smoky whisky - this isn't your dram. If you do, nothing else will likely suffice when the craving strikes. Ardbeg is one of the few major Scotch distilleries that hasn't skyrocketed their prices in recent years and arguably with its ravenous cult following and exceptional quality it has one of the best excuses to if they wanted to. Fortunately for now it remains one of the best deals available in any core brand lineup.

Price: $109.99

WA: 95

High West "Campfire" American Whiskey

By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 5/26/2021 | Send Email

To say this is the end of an era is an understatement. Highwest Campfire has long stood as a symbol of the risks that the special Utah distiller was willing to take as well as their prowess as blenders. It is indeed their ability to acquire and expertly blend whiskies that made High West the exceptional property that it is today. But the shear boldness of mixing high quality American whisky with heavily peated Scotch to create a new category of whisky truly put these guys on the map. Many were skeptical at first, writing off their efforts as a gimmick or a novelty, but ultimately this product has been embraced by so many in the whisky community who appreciate it's balance and versatility. Now, with word that they'll be transitioning this product to a distillery only release, there's been a renewed sense of urgency from many of those who have come to rely on this bottle when they found themselves craving something shall we say "in between" categories. Still now, years after its initial release, the campfire offers something few else can. The nose is a luxurious amalgam of sweet new oak, tangy rye spice and deep sooty smoke. On the palate the wood does a lot of the talking and falling distinctly in the texture range of a good straight bourbon or rye. The sweetness is tempered perfectly by the top note of clean Islay peat, twinges of ash and iodine don't distract at all from the gorgeous caramel and spice. Altogether an idiosyncratic expression that won't necessarily make everyone happy all the time, but when you're in the mood there's nothing else that can quite scratch that itch and since you'll have to head to Utah to get this one in the future, it's probably a good move to grab one or two just in case.

Price: $64.99

WA: 91

WE: 91

High West "Campfire" American Whiskey

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 5/26/2021 | Send Email

Word on the street is that High West is transitioning Campfire to be a Utah only product. They're not going so far as to yank product from other markets, but to just naturally let it run dry and no longer replenish it after March 2021. This means unless you've got a post pandemic trip to Park City in the works you've gotta stock the bar now. It's what we did. There's no telling when it'll be sold out in CA for good, but the end is near. It's a tragedy for whisk(e)y lovers without ties to Utah as Campfire has been one of the more creative and interesting whiskies available for quite some time. It's a beautiful mélange of bourbon's classic highlights of sweet corn, vanilla, caramel, and butterscotch mixed with an impossibly complex rye profile. Cracked pepper, sweet cinnamon and nutmeg, spicy black pepper and cut grass all work harmoniously with the bourbon. The kicker though - is the peated Scotch. This component really ties it all together in an unexpected way that just works. The slightly salty and robustly smoky elixir makes its presence known from nosing through to finish, but it never overwhelms. The Campfire name really is perfect. If you're dying to get outside and have a drink around the fire with friends, this is a great place to start.

Price: $64.99

WA: 91

WE: 91

2020 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien

By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 5/23/2021 | Send Email

This wine was huge when tasted from 2 week old sample. Reserved in the nose, but opens with air. Red rose aromas and cassis flavors. Very well structured for the cellar.

Price: $99.99

2020 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Pessac-Léognan

By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 5/23/2021 | Send Email

Tasted twice in Redwood city store. 1st time-Perfumy white peach aromas. Seamless wine which is lush on the palate with plenty of acidity and a touch of oak, but very well balanced-Long and lovely. 2nd sample from property-Citrus and fig aromas. Lovely texture on the palate. Seamless and superb length and depth. Very focused and balanced-elegant and almost perfect. The second wine Esprit de Chevalier-will be a great value in stock-

Price: $119.99

Billecart-Salmon Le Rosé Champagne (375ml)

By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 5/12/2021 | Send Email

These are more than just cute half bottles, this is the benchmark in rose Champagne, and it deserves every bit of its fame. I find it elegant and balanced every time that I have it, and the blushing pink color is always perfect. If you are looking for a famous producer that delivers the goods, the Billecart Salmon Brut Rose Champagne is a great choice. I like the wine best as an aperitif, the only thing it need to pair with is a good glass.

Price: $59.99

Billecart-Salmon "Le Rosé" Champagne (1.5L)

By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 5/12/2021 | Send Email

Nothing is better than Champagne from magnum, and this is the benchmark in rose Champagne, and it deserves every bit of its fame. I find it elegant and balanced every time that I have it, and the blushing pink color is always perfect. If you are looking for a famous producer that delivers the goods, the Billecart Salmon Brut Rose Champagne is a great choice. I like the wine best as an aperitif, the only thing it need to pair with is a good glass.

Price: $219.99

Elijah Craig "Small Batch" Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 5/6/2021 | Send Email

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Elijah Craig Rye since it was first released to limited markets in the U.S. in early 2020. Over a year and many prominent awards and critical reviews later, it feels like I've waited a lifetime. Fortunately, now that it is actually in my glass, it has actually lived up to my expectations and the hype. It has fully delivered on the value proposition that is the Elijah Craig brand, a move that makes Heaven Hill one of the greatest in the business. The whiskey is bursting with flavor; rye obviously takes center stage, but it is so well supported by the high corn and malted barley content that it never overshadows its co-conspirators. Sweet spice (i.e. not peppery spice) envelops the palate. Generous toasted oak leans towards coconut. The caramels and vanillas are also there; I want to say prominent, but it isn't the right word, because while it's robust, there are no hard edges. It's a rounded rye in style and texture. At 94 proof (the same as EC's small batch Bourbon) it has the easy drinkability I associate with the brand without missing the punch so many modern whiskey fans love and expect. A modern classic, no doubt, and one that has managed to stay true to everything I expect from Elijah Craig. No easy feat considering the very high bar I hold for the mark.

Price: $22.99

WA: 94

WE: 94

Dalmore 25 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)

By: Andrew Whiteley | Review Date: 5/5/2021 | Send Email

Aroma pours forth from the glass. It's lifted and bright with sweet fruit, candied grain, and a hint of tropical flavor. It's hard to not enjoy this pour right from the get go. The palate is more robustly tropical and meshes citrus with chocolate and nougat. A complex baklava spice and honey keeps you guessing from start to finish. If you need a bottle will impress - it's tough to go wrong with Dalmore 25.

Price: $1,950.00

Drappier "Carte d'Or" Brut Champagne

By: Heather Vander Wall | Review Date: 3/26/2021 | Send Email

I recently got to revisit this lovely Champagne, and I'm sorry to say it had been a couple of years since I tasted it last. It is more stunning than I remember. A champagne on the richer side, with great depth of nutty, lees-y character, complementing the fresh red berry fruit and bright crisp acidity. If you are a fan of classic, balanced brut Champagne that tends towards the nuttier, richer style, this is the wine for you.

Price: $44.99

JS: 91

BH: 90

WS: 90

Drappier "Carte d'Or" Brut Champagne

By: Stephanie Vidales | Review Date: 3/24/2021 | Send Email

Drappier's Carte d'Or is a Champagne for any occasion. Pinot Noir makes up a majority of the blend which lends a lovely red fruit character on the palate. Stone fruit and brioche notes are also expressed with minerality throughout. It's beautifully balanced and makes a great aperitif. It's a bargain for the quality and not to be missed!

Price: $44.99

JS: 91

BH: 90

WS: 90

Drappier "Carte d'Or" Brut Champagne

By: Lilia McIntosh | Review Date: 3/23/2021 | Send Email

Dry, mineral driven Champagne with lovely fresh brioche aromas and flavors along with bright citrus notes and hint of meadow flowers. It lingers on the palate with crunchy acidity and touch of red apple flavor. Delicious Champagne that can be enjoyed every day at this price!

Price: $44.99

JS: 91

BH: 90

WS: 90

2018 Gazin, Pomerol

By: Steve Bearden | Review Date: 3/12/2021 | Send Email

This is a big and husky wine that is filled with earthy Black Raspberry fruit. The middle is deep and chewy but holds a core of acidity that keep the wine fresh and balanced. The long and chalky finish plays well against the sheer richness.

Price: $99.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Jennifer Lee | Review Date: 2/9/2021 | Send Email

This champagne is perfect for a New Year's Eve celebration bubbly as it's liveliness shines through and tantalizes your palate with crisp, juicy and refreshing notes. Aged 60 months on the lees, the Ariston Aspasie Reserve will not disappoint and this greal deal it's a steal. Chill, sip and enjoy.

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Muriel Sarik | Review Date: 2/9/2021 | Send Email

This Champagne is TRUE value and TRUE pleasure! I am always in awe of how well made this champagne is. This time I found the aromas to be more floral with a subtle musky perfume. The work and time spent on making this alone is worth more than $34.99. It shows aromas of sourdough yeast and crisp green apple on the palate. The price allows one to buy a case for all the celebrating to be done from now until next year.

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Jordan Stone | Review Date: 2/8/2021 | Send Email

The "Carte Blanche" Ariston Aspasie bottling allows you to buy well crafted Champagne that is made within the strict rules of the Champagne region at a very reasonable price. This Champagne has richness but is very light in feel. Nice green apple flavors, brioche and vanilla bean, chalky with a mousse texture. Just lovely.

Price: $37.99

Laurent-Perrier "Cuvée Rosé" Brut Rosé Champagne

By: Tim Telli | Review Date: 12/30/2020 | Send Email

A lovely Rose. Bright and yeasty with some toasted brioche. There are a good amount of bubbles with a nice sweetly fruited chalky finish. This wine is very well balanced and drinks extremely well. It is a classy refined Rose that I really enjoy. Perfect for any occasion.

Price: $89.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Giovanni Bueno | Review Date: 12/20/2020 | Send Email

My wife and I drink a bottle of Champagne every Friday, we call it Champagne Friday. It’s been running strong for almost a year now and I am amazed that we haven’t gotten around to Ariston Aspasie Réserve. The price wrongly directed me to think that this wine would ride the middle of the road in terms of quality and taste and I’m always happy to admit I’m wrong when the reward is this good. In the bright and sultry nose it’s all lemon peel, pretty orange flowers, toasted almonds, flaky croissant and a hint of orchard fruit demonstrating the power of this 40/30/30 ratio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. You can really taste the zippy, zingy and punchy flavor of the exceptionally well grown cool climate grapes and world class wine making facilities. We enjoyed our bottle with a succulent and fatty pork chop--not too intensely flavored but rich in flavor and the biting acid of this wine really helped to make the flavors sing---but aperitif and after dinner cheese would also make this sing.

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Heather Vander Wall | Review Date: 12/18/2020 | Send Email

If you ask any K&L staff member for a champagne recommendation, this is most likely the bottle they will instinctively reach for. Why? Because this is the wine that time and again has graced our own tables, marked our celebrations, and found its way, more often than not, into our weekly wine diet. This is undeniably one of the best values for true champagne that we offer. The wine is both approachable and layered, with distinctive toast and brioche notes complementing the orchard fruit on the palate. Whether you need some bubbles for your dinner tonight, you want to gift a friend with something special, or you're celebrating with your family, you really can't go wrong with this wine.

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Chris DePaoli | Review Date: 12/18/2020 | Send Email

Warm candied oranges and fresh herbal notes make this an incredibly delicious wine that keeps you coming back for another taste. I've always loved how the greatest champagnes are process driven, and in the Aspasie Reserve you can taste the level of effort five years on the lees gets you. Yet another overachieving bottle of champagne we're directly importing; and while I love the high end bubbles of the world as much as the next person, it's so easy to forget how good these bottle can be when you look at their crazy low prices.

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 12/17/2020 | Send Email

A great mousse, clean apple, subtle cherry. Lovely freshness with a distinct bready top note. Rare to find a better value than this in Champagne, the Ariston's commitment to quality is second to none and thanks to our DI relationship, we're selling this at crement prices!

Price: $37.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: Alex Schroeder | Review Date: 12/17/2020 | Send Email

Olivier Bonville carries on the tradition of his grandfather, Franck, producing wines of incredible finesse and complexity with his own prized vines in the Grand Cru villages of Avize and Mesnil on the Cote de Blancs. It has rich flavors of Anjou pear, Meyer lemon, white apricots and a touch of delicate spice with the lovely chalky minerality and zippy acidity that the Cote de Blancs is famous for. When you consider that similar offerings from the Big Houses cost three to four times more, this becomes a must-buy for anyone who dabbles in Champagne.

Price: $53.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Shaun Green | Review Date: 12/17/2020 | Send Email

Ever since I had this wine at my wedding in 2008, it has been getting more and more impressive, the name has changed from 'Carte Blanch' to Reserve but it's the same wonderful Champagne. This current cuvee is the most amazing value yet in a truly first class Champagne. You owe it to yourself to try one if you haven't yet. My number one pick of Champagne values in the store!

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Scott Beckerley | Review Date: 12/17/2020 | Send Email

Excellent bubbles at an excellent price! For those of you who like Veuve Clicquot, this effort from Ariston has ample yeast and toast but, not too much. Golden apple fruit and hints of caramel and vanilla. Great by itself or with chicken, salmon or pork. Update: 12/17/2020-As is standard with this gem, it still has that bread dough, yeast and toast quality but, this latest version has a nice hint of zippy acidity, minerals, and lemon curd. Also, still retains that caramel and vanilla bean background. Buy some to drink and some to lay down for a year or so. The caramel comes out even more as it ages. The quality has increased quite a bit over the past two years, so it just keeps getting better and better! A staff favorite.

Price: $37.99

Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne

By: Greg St. Clair | Review Date: 12/17/2020 | Send Email

I've always been a fan of this wine since we started bringing it in way back in 2001. It's always been the top price performer for the price point, but when I tasted the latest batch I did a double take. I had to ask Gary Westby if he had poured me the right wine, and he nodded at me and said ya, you figured it out, this batch is out of this world! There isn't a Champagne around that can compete at this price point with the Carte Blanche, layers of complex brioche, wonderful aromatics...wow!

Price: $37.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: Jennifer Lee | Review Date: 12/13/2020 | Send Email

This Franck Bonville blanc de blanc is a grand cru that is often sold by the case. It is a trendy champagne that delivers 8.33 g/L dosage and will leave notes of lemon, white apricots and hints of pear on the palate. If you love minerality and crisp acidity with brioche, pear, pineapple, fuji and green apple flavors and a hint of brioche and umami at the finish, then this Cote de Blanc is a champagne for you.

Price: $53.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: Steve Bearden | Review Date: 12/9/2020 | Send Email

When it comes to Champagne this is probably our all time staff favorite. The fact that it is a direct import and sells for less than half what it would if it went through the same distribution system as the big name brands doesn't hurt either. Fresh and ripe Chardonnay flavors, intense mineral notes and hints of earth leap from this vibrant and full-textured bubbly. Classy and delicious.

Price: $53.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: Muriel Sarik | Review Date: 12/8/2020 | Send Email

Another great Grand Cru bottle at such a reasonable price, especially with 50% reserve wines which is almost never heard of. This is fresh and tart like grapefruit but has a roundness that softens that acidity to give it a tropical feel to the fruit. There is lots of minerals swirling in this bottle too. This champagne will hook you right at the very 1st sip! This is a can't miss out bottle!

Price: $53.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: Miles Philippe | Review Date: 12/8/2020 | Send Email

I couldn’t ask for anything more from this champagne…I always have a few bottles tucked away somewhere in my stash! On the nose it’s clean and elegant with a slight white-floral aspect; on the palate the fruits are pure, lean, and beautiful, with the classic chalky texture that you find in all of the best champagnes; on the finish, it’s like an old friend that leaves 45 minutes after the first “Good-bye!” is said.

Price: $53.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 12/8/2020 | Send Email

This is basically the non-vintage champagne that everybody wants, everybody needs, and everybody can have! It checks every box. It suits any occasion. It fits nearly any budget. It delivers in every single way. Perfect blanc de blancs nose, vibrant soft white fruit, fresh crisp apples and citrus, slight saline, and that grand cru chalkiness that you can't miss. Lively, pointed and open - it slips from the glass like a slithering snake, just disappears. Where did it go? I don't know. Buy another. Buy a case. Don't think just drink.

Price: $53.99

Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 12/8/2020 | Send Email

This is one of K&L's best selling Champagnes for a very good reason. The Bonville family has some of the best terroir imaginable for growing Chardonnay--every acre that they own is super chalky, east-facing Grand Cru on the Cote des Blancs. They have been making their own Champagne here since the 1920s, and growing here for many generations before that. This is their entry level bottling, and what a way to start! It is made of at least half reserve wines, giving it not only the dry, chalky drive that makes this area famous, but also giving the wine toasty, creamy, delicious drinkability. A must-try for any Champagne lover!

Price: $53.99