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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
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: John Majeski | Review Date: 8/2/2013 | Send Email
By: John Majeski | Review Date: 8/2/2013 | Send Email
Vines have been cultivated on this tiny property in the hamlet of Brouillet for five generations, and it has remained a customer and staff favorite here for several years. Yeasty, full and complex, the Carte Blanche exhibits a fine intensely-focused bead with lively notes of tart apples, dried hazelnuts, vanilla and toast, all in all a remarkably well-built Brut that will compare well to cuvées at double the price. It is perfect for entertaining.
Price:
$37.99
Barbancourt Estate Reserve 15 Year Old Haitian Rum (750ml)
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 7/8/2013 | Send Email
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 7/8/2013 | Send Email
One of my favorite rums. The 15 year old has inviting aromas of orange,spice and ligth carmel. It is a drier style rum,with smooth and subtle spice and carmel flavors. The Barbancourt 15 is great alone or with a little ice.
La Guita Manzanilla Sanlucar de Barrameda
By: Joe Manekin | Review Date: 7/4/2013 | Send Email
By: Joe Manekin | Review Date: 7/4/2013 | Send Email
This is not white wine. It's as refreshing, more complex, and has a far more storied past than nearly any white wine I can think of. The wine is Manzanilla, the lightly fortified white wine aged for several years in old oak casks in the seaside town of Sanlucar de Barrameda. Bright, appley, with notes of sea spray and subtle suggestions of almonds, Manzanilla offers quintessential summer drinking, whether it is as an aperitive with snacks, to accompany cheese and charcuterie, or to pair with your favorite grilled, fried or cured seafoods. Give this a try and see what all the renewed interest in Manzanilla and Fino Sherry is all about!
Darroze Les Grand Assemblages "20 Year Old" Bas-Armagnac (750ml)
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 6/10/2013 | Send Email
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 6/10/2013 | Send Email
This is a world class Armagnac that I think is absolutely delicious. It is soft with round subtle complex carmel and fruit flavors that make a bright and interesting drink. A great way to end an evening.
Launois "Cuvée Réservée" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
By: Jim Barr | Review Date: 5/14/2013 | Send Email
By: Jim Barr | Review Date: 5/14/2013 | Send Email
Produced from Chardonnay [obviously, since it is “Blanc de Blancs”], this amazing Gem throws tons of yeasty, nutty, creamy fruit at you both in the nose and on the palate, with brilliant complexity, and a lush, broad, and rich finish. The Bean has ordered me to bring at least one case of this home for our consumption in the next one to three-plus years. I will probably bring home more than that. 12.0% ABV
Price:
$39.99
Launois "Quartz" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
By: Ryan Woodhouse | Review Date: 5/13/2013 | Send Email
By: Ryan Woodhouse | Review Date: 5/13/2013 | Send Email
Great wine that is a little more reserved than most of Launois' rich, decadent style. From a single vineyard and bottled at a slightly lower pressure. Soft orchard fruits abound, some fleshy peach character and a nice toasty note on the finish with our being overly buttery of nutty. This restraint allows the quality of fruit to show through a little more precisely. Excellent value.
Price:
$49.99
La Cigarrera Manzanilla Sanlucar de Barrameda (375ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 3/7/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 3/7/2013 | Send Email
Manzanilla Sherry delivers so much pleasure for so little money... With the La Cigarrera Manzanilla Sanlucar De Barrameda it might be too much! Cinnamon and I cracked this little half bottle last night for the aperitif and enjoyed some Marcona almonds with rosemary with it. Before we knew it, that half bottle was in the recycling bin! This bone dry, electric Manzanilla has a nose of marzipan and sea air that took my mind back to Andalusia. This light, delicate bottle was way too easy to drink!
Price:
$18.99
2009 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac
By: Steve Greer | Review Date: 3/5/2013 | Send Email
By: Steve Greer | Review Date: 3/5/2013 | Send Email
I think the wines produced in 2009 and 2010 by this
Château are amazing. The 2009 had graphite, black tea and currant on the nose, and there were so many layers to this wine that it continued to show over the hours (and two days later) the same graphite and black tea, plus flinty, rocky minerality, currants, garrigue and cedar. There is a refinement to the structure and mouthfeel of this wine. Just wait until the 2010!
2009 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac
By: Steve Bearden | Review Date: 3/1/2013 | Send Email
By: Steve Bearden | Review Date: 3/1/2013 | Send Email
People are often surprised when I tell them that my favorite 5th Growth Pauillac is not Lynch Bages but rather its close neighbor Grand-Put-Lacoste. Currants,blackberries,cedar,graphite,earth and mineral meld effortlessly in this sleek and powerful wine where the copius fruit is held at bay by the sheer structure. Wine this balanced is difficult to resist but this classic will greatly reward several years of bottle age and could be cellared for well over a decade.
Aberlour 16 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)
By: Mike Barber | Review Date: 2/20/2013 | Send Email
By: Mike Barber | Review Date: 2/20/2013 | Send Email
What would you expect from this great distillery who's popularity keeps growing and growing? Classic speyside- the 16 year is especially rich and malty, with salted caramel flavors and a long, pure finish. Decadent and delicious!
2009 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/19/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/19/2013 | Send Email
This blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc is brooding, backward Pauillac for the long haul. The nose is extraordinary; lead pencil, black currant and high class gravelly earth are all in harmony. On the palate the wine is tense, packed and unyielding. The finish is powerfully tannic but also powerfully complex, hinting at the bright future that this wine has. This wine is from the old school, and is not a 2009 to open early, but the patient will be rewarded, as this Grand-Puy-Lacoste has the structure to unfold like the 1982 has. I am happy to see that wines like this are still being made in Bordeaux.
2010 Gloria, St-Julien
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/18/2013 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/18/2013 | Send Email
*+V Spicy, classic sweet red berry aromas and flavors. An elegant wine.
2010 Gloria, St-Julien
By: Steve Greer | Review Date: 2/18/2013 | Send Email
By: Steve Greer | Review Date: 2/18/2013 | Send Email
Sweet fruit, naturally extracted.
2010 Gloria, St-Julien
By: Ralph Sands | Review Date: 2/18/2013 | Send Email
By: Ralph Sands | Review Date: 2/18/2013 | Send Email
Very nice, high-toned and solid. Could be a value.
La Petite Marquise Crémant de Loire Brut
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 2/17/2013 | Send Email
By: Jeffrey Jones | Review Date: 2/17/2013 | Send Email
There is a lot of wine in the bottle for this low price. The Deligeroy Brut is dry,crisp and fairly light. Easy to drink, it will be a pleasure to drink alone or with salads,fish and chicken.
Price:
$14.99
Fever-Tree Premium Tonic Water (6.8oz 4-pk)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/16/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/16/2013 | Send Email
This tonic is expensive, but it is worth it if you love your gin. I find it to be less sweet and have a high quality quinine flavor than the other tonics available. I have had it with Anchor Junipero, Hendrick's, Royal Dock Navy Strength Gin, Faultline, St. George Terroir Mt. Tam Gin and many others, but my favorite with the Fever Tree is the Cadenhead's Old Raj Gin. This combination, with a nice slice of lime and a couple of giant ice cubes is the most elegant gin and tonic that I have ever had!
Price:
$5.99
Cocchi Aperitivo Americano Rosa Aperitif Wine (750ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/13/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/13/2013 | Send Email
If you are a fan of bitter aperitivo's, the Cocchi Americano Rosa can't be missed. This bottle was open in the K&L tasting bar at the same that I was doing the staff Champagne seminar, and between groups I could not resist making a little Champagne cocktail with it. It was spectacular mixed with half good quality blanc de blancs, and also quite tasty on its own. I am going to buy a bottle today and try it at home in a black (or shall I say Rosa?) Manhattan with Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon and a Luxardo Maraschino Cherry!
2010 Cos d'Estournel, St-Estèphe
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
**+ Toasty oak aromas and violets on the palate. Very refined.
2010 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
By: Mulan Chan-Randel | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
By: Mulan Chan-Randel | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
Ruby red, with plums, cherries, hints of roasted herbs, cassis and tobacco. Wonderful mid-palate richness, with a finish that tapers off with beautiful full-plus yet refined tannins and nice acidity to boot. My top pick for 2010.
2010 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
** 1/2 Pontet-Canet is on a roll. Tasted three times, and each time it was perfect and sexy, with everything in harmony. Very stylish, balanced and fresh. Laser beam fruit. Lovely, open, powerful and dense without being extracted. Long and lush.
2010 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
By: Alex Pross | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
By: Alex Pross | Review Date: 2/11/2013 | Send Email
A must buy! Wild berries, laser beam fruit, good tension and verve, with a long finish. If you can't afford the First Growths or Super Seconds, try this.
2010 Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan
By: Ralph Sands | Review Date: 2/5/2013 | Send Email
By: Ralph Sands | Review Date: 2/5/2013 | Send Email
The high-toned dark fruit and tight zippy structure really stand out. At UGC: Round, tasty, but serious. Best ever to me. **
2010 Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan
By: Ralph Sands | Review Date: 2/5/2013 | Send Email
By: Ralph Sands | Review Date: 2/5/2013 | Send Email
Superb, concentrated and precise. **
2010 Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan
By: Jeff Garneau | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
By: Jeff Garneau | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
A veritable maestro of a wine, deftly bringing together all of the powerful, disparate elements of the vintage in perfect harmony to produce a great red. Classic minerality. Ripe, sweet red fruits. Very bright and fresh in character. Terrific length and concentration. A supremely polished effort, and my pick for one of the wines of the vintage.
2010 Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan
By: Jeff Garneau | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
By: Jeff Garneau | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
One of the standouts of 2009 with its rich, dark fruit and silky texture. In 2010, it's more, more, more. More ripeness, more richly texture, with more obvious acidity and tannin. Big boned, structured, bright, fresh and very firm.
2010 Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
*1/2 Tasted three times, once at UGC, once at the Joanne tasting and once at the Château. It has tons of mineral-driven fruit on the palate to complement the blackberry fruit flavors. Great freshness, long and balanced.
2010 Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan
By: Steve Greer | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
By: Steve Greer | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
Oak spice, extracted blue fruit, modern.
2010 Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 2/4/2013 | Send Email
Wow, this wine is so elegant and seamless, but with lots of power behind it. One of the 2010s where the fruit covers the tannins.
La Caudrina "La Selvatica" Asti
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/1/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 2/1/2013 | Send Email
This tasty wine is almost full Champagne pressure at 5 atmospheres. It is produced from 37-year-old vines at about 900 feet. This spumatne is perfect for wine lovers looking for something a little bit drier, more bubbly and fuller bodied than Moscato d’Asti. I found it to have lots of exotic aroma, a nice mousse and a sweet but clean finish.
Price:
$22.99
Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (375ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/26/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/26/2013 | Send Email
Cocchi makes my favorite red vermouth. I use it for Manhattan’s, in a Negroni, or in my favorite Champagne cocktail, the Negroni Sbagliato. If you are interested in seeing the recipe, search "Negroni Sbagliato" on the blog (blog.klwines.com) to find it, complete with video. If you don’t mind waiting, you can also send me an email with the button above, and I’ll send you the link.
Price:
$16.99
Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (750ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/26/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/26/2013 | Send Email
Cocchi makes my favorite red vermouth. I use it for Manhattan’s, in a Negroni, or in my favorite Champagne cocktail, the Negroni Sbagliato. If you are interested in seeing the recipe, search "Negroni Sbagliato" on the blog (blog.klwines.com) to find it, complete with video. If you don’t mind waiting, you can also send me an email with the button above, and I’ll send you the link.
Price:
$24.99
Campari Aperitivo (1L)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/26/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/26/2013 | Send Email
This is a home bar essential. Campari is fantastic with just soda, in a Negroni, or in my favorite Champagne cocktail, the Negroni Sbagliato. If you are interested in seeing the recipe, search "Negroni Sbagliato" on the blog (blog.klwines.com) to find it, complete with video. If you don’t mind waiting, you can also send me an email with the button above, and I’ll send you the link.
The Durand Corkscrew for Removal of Old Corks with Confidence
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/25/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/25/2013 | Send Email
This excellent tool revolutionized opening old wine for me. It used to be that I planned on the corks disintegrating into a crumbly mess and I would have a tea strainer on hand to aid in the decanting of the wine. Now, I can even get bottles of port from the sixties open without breaking the cork! Be warned, this is not an all purpose corkscrew, and the same support that it brings to an old cork will jam a young cork in the bottle. If you have occasion to open great old wines, you should definitely own the Durand Corkscrew!
Price:
$129.99
Riedel Cabernet Decanter 750ml 1440/13 (87047)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/25/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/25/2013 | Send Email
Cinnamon and I collect decanters, and use them almost every night we are home drinking still wine. At last count we had 30 of the things, taking up a lot of the surfaces in the house- on top of the liquor cabinet, on top of the record racks and on the kitchen counters. This is the one that we use most, and for good reason. It takes up the least amount of space on the table, pours the best, cleans up easily, and inverts nicely for drying. If you are only going to have one decanter, this should be it! If you buy a second, take a look at another shape, otherwise you will forget which wine is in which carafe at dinner parties!
Price:
$69.99
Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne (1.5L)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/18/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/18/2013 | Send Email
From my top 10 Champagnes of 2012: I opened this magnum as business petered off on Christmas eve for the staff here in the Redwood City store, and it made me a popular man at K&L. Carrying a magnum around to the various work stations put a smile on many faces here, and the wine inside the bottle kept those smiles. 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 in the final moments of the retail rush…or just about any time! I need to buy this for my cellar.
Price:
$99.99
Ariston Aspasie "Brut Prestige" Champagne (1.5L)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/18/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/18/2013 | Send Email
This is your last chance for the old vines- they were destroyed in hail in 2003.
Price:
$99.99
Stiegl Brauerei "Goldbräu Premium" Lager, Austria (16oz Cans)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/18/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/18/2013 | Send Email
I wonder how much of the Stiegl that we buy for our stock at K&L is sold to the staff. If I were to guess, I would say over 50%. These tall boys are perfect after a long day, and do an exceptional job of washing away the tannin after tasting to many overblown red wines. The style is Germanic; clean, lively, refreshing and the execution precise. If you love a good lager, and like having 4 oz. left after 12 have been enjoyed, this is the beer for you!
Price:
$3.49
Domaine du Manoir de Montreuil "Reserve" Calvados Pay d'Auge (750ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/15/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/15/2013 | Send Email
This very light colored Calvados is the key ingredient in making my new favorite winter cocktail, the Bentley. Charles Neal published the recipe in his excellent book Calvados: The Spirit of Normandy which is where I first read about it, but apparently this cocktail was in the original Savoy Cocktail Book. I have experimented with a number of different Calvados bottlings and red vermouths, but settled on the Montreuil and the Dolin Rouge Vermouth de Chambéry as my favorites. Here is the recipe: pour 1 & 1/2 ounces of Calvados and 1 & 1/2 ounces of red vermouth in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add one dash of Angostura Bitters and stir thoroughly with a cocktail spoon. Strain into a martini glass. Try to drink it slowly!
Lemorton "Reserve" Calvados Domfrontais (750ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/15/2013 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 1/15/2013 | Send Email
The Lemorton is a great bottle of Calvados and being from the Domfrontais has a lot of pears in it. It is round and rich, with lots of extroverted fruit flavor. It still finishes nice and dry and is far to easy to drink. I have been enjoying a snifter of this by the fire as a digestive in the evening and it is a great nightcap. Recently, Cinnamon took a flask of this mushroom foraging with her and she found it invigorating. I hope you'll try it out!
Price:
$59.99
Chinaco Blanco Tequila (700ml)
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 1/7/2013 | Send Email
By: David Othenin-Girard | Review Date: 1/7/2013 | Send Email
This is my favorite blanco. It's got tons of character and at this price it may be the best tequila in the store.
Price:
Hidden
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
By: Mike Barber | Review Date: 12/27/2012 | Send Email
By: Mike Barber | Review Date: 12/27/2012 | Send Email
Bright and racy with a little toast, this is our best deal in champagne!
Price:
$37.99
Einstök Icelandic Arctic Pale Ale (12oz)
By: Kirk Walker | Review Date: 11/30/2012 | Send Email
By: Kirk Walker | Review Date: 11/30/2012 | Send Email
Best Pale Ale I've had in years!
Price:
$1.99
Plymouth Navy Strength English Gin (750ml)
By: Mahon McGrath | Review Date: 11/4/2012 | Send Email
By: Mahon McGrath | Review Date: 11/4/2012 | Send Email
It had been bruited about that such a creature as “navy strength” Plymouth gin existed, or once had, and here in the midst of the great cocktail revival, where many a long-lost dream comes true, it once more graces these shores. If you’re familiar with Plymouth gin, there are no great surprises in store for you here; which is just fine. Why mess with success? The Navy Strength bottling is simply a brawnier version of the classic Plymouth taste. When this is, for instance, mixed up simply 1:1 gin to vermouth(Noilly Prat), no garnish, as a Wondrich reprint of an early 1850's San Francisco Gibson recipe suggests, this is a fabulous drink, and one in which a standard proof just wouldn't cut it. With the Navy Stength, you can taste the gin’s presence clearly and distinctly. An excellent addition to the canon!
Price:
$33.99
La Petite Marquise Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé
By: Christie Brunick | Review Date: 9/28/2012 | Send Email
By: Christie Brunick | Review Date: 9/28/2012 | Send Email
This is one of my all time favorite Bubbly Rose and a fraction of the price of Champagne.I love the new cuvee of my Deligeroy Rose. Its much softer and more feminine that the last cuvee which was a touch herbaceous. This Cab Franc based blend is aimed to please this holiday season! Its the perfect party wine that will please a crowd instantly. Subtle fruit with balanced acid and a clean, dry finish! You wont believe your wallet! It has subtle red berry and sweet herb undertones with its racy acid and minerality keep it refreshing but still full on the palate. Perfect for any gathering or romantic date, or just sip and savor alone! Its that good
Price:
$14.99
La Petite Marquise Crémant de Loire Brut
By: Sarah Covey | Review Date: 9/28/2012 | Send Email
By: Sarah Covey | Review Date: 9/28/2012 | Send Email
What a screaming deal at $11.99! This bubbly from the Loire Valley will delight you with its refreshingly pleasant acidity, fine bubble structure, and hints of pear, apple and minerals. Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay & Cabernet Franc. When I first brought this wine home, I admittedly had intended to just mix it with my Mathilde Cassis for a Kir Royale, but I wanted to give the wine its proper due and poured a glass out straight first. A wonderful surprise met me, and I never did add that cassis.... the wine somehow disappeared too quickly! Perfect for holiday entertaining!
Price:
$14.99
2009 Barde-Haut, St-Emilion
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 9/27/2012 | Send Email
By: Clyde Beffa Jr. | Review Date: 9/27/2012 | Send Email
*1/2 Ripe blackberry fruit. Super fine. Lost 50% of their crop to hail.
Laird's Bottled In Bond Apple Brandy (750ml)
By: Jeremy Bohrer | Review Date: 9/26/2012 | Send Email
By: Jeremy Bohrer | Review Date: 9/26/2012 | Send Email
I was skittish to try this at first. Apple brandy from the US?? Hmmm... The bottle looks like something that you would see on the bottom shelf of the neighborhood bar, with that solid layer of dust that makes you wonder how long has that been there. Believe me, the stuff inside the bottle is a knock out. It's 100% apple brandy with no neutral spirits added, and you can tell. If you're at all serious about making cocktails, you need this in your bar.
Price:
$39.99
Ferrand "1840 Formula" 90 Proof Cognac (700ml)
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 9/11/2012 | Send Email
By: Gary Westby | Review Date: 9/11/2012 | Send Email
This Ferrand is a great ingredient, and works far better than much more expensive (and far more subtle) Cognacs in cocktails. The 1840 Formula is made in the three star style from the 19th century, and is a full 5% higher in alcohol than standard Cognac. It is also oilier and weightier with lots of flavor- it won’t get lost in a mixed drink. Here is a great use for it: The French 75- 2 parts Ferrand 1840 Formula 90 proof Cognac, 1 Part Fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 Part simple syrup, 2 parts Champagne (Blanc de Blancs if you have one open), Lots of fresh ice, Lemon rind for garnish. We use an ounce per part for ours- and that makes a pretty big aperitif. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the cognac, lemon juice and simple syrup. Shake thoroughly and pour into a rocks glass filled with more fresh ice. Top with Champagne, and stir if you like (I do!) finally garnishing with lemon rind.
Byrrh Grand Quinquina Aperitif Wine (750ml)
By: Mahon McGrath | Review Date: 9/4/2012 | Send Email
By: Mahon McGrath | Review Date: 9/4/2012 | Send Email
What sort of aperitif is this? I'd liken it more to Dubonnet than sweet Vermouth, though it has a brighter, fresher berry-fruit character to Dubonnet's plush, bass heavy profile, and a more pronounced bitterness as a counterpoint. Note, though, that this is skewed more towards the sweet than the bitter, and therefore seems to me to suggest it wants dilution of some sort, whether passively by serving it over ice, or through mixing: dust off your copy of the Savoy Cocktail book for a few suggestions on how to get started if that latter course strikes your fancy.
La Petite Marquise Crémant de Loire Brut
By: Mike Parres | Review Date: 8/25/2012 | Send Email
By: Mike Parres | Review Date: 8/25/2012 | Send Email
On the nose you will find generous fruit, releasing hints of apples and peaches. The palate has wonderful balance and elegance, dry & crisp, but admirable fullness and length, closely mirroring the nose. This is an excellent aperitif for all social occasions.
Price:
$14.99