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Staff Favorites - Steve Bearden
Steve Bearden
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I’m the Bordeaux liason for the San Francisco store, starting my run there around 2000. Over the years I've gained a great respect for subtlety, finesse, elegance and terroir, or a sense of place, that I believe all great wine should have. I enjoy practically anything and everything but mostly French and Italian with heavy emphasis on Rhône and Bordeaux. Be adventurous. There is tremendous diversity in regions, varieties and styles, so don’t let your palate get pigeon-holed.
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Reviews
2009 Coufran, Haut-Médoc
Review Date: 09-30-2021
This shows the warm, baked character of the 2009 vintage to a tee and the wine is filled with ripe Merlot fruit flavors along with plenty of blackberry. The middle is firm, dark and deep but with no hard edges or aggressive tannin to get in the way of the pure drinking pleasure. Over 10 years bottle age and from a great vintage for less than 25 bucks!
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-03-2021
This is so fresh and vibrant at first but as it warms and gets air lemon Brule`, cream, apricot and wet stone all emerge in the mid-palate and finish. The aromas and flavors stay bright, clean and focused even as the texture turns creamy and rich. Just amazing for the money.
Price:
$37.99
Bollinger "Special Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-22-2021
This family owned and independent House still makes one of the best and most reliable oak aged Champagnes on the market. Three to four years aging on the lees has filled this with notes of caramel, toast, ripe apricot, and touches of oak in a bold and chalky style. This is big, full-bodied bubbly that is filled with richness and tension.
2018 Peyrabon, Haut-Médoc
Review Date: 03-03-2021
Here is a delicious value filled with jammy raspberries and earthy black cherries. The wine is lively and sweet with a juicy middle of cherry syrup and a finish of herbs and flowers. Very ripe tannin suggests some ageing potential.
Franck Bonville Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 12-09-2020
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.
Cruse Wine Co. "Tradition" California Sparkling Wine
Review Date: 11-06-2020
One of the most complex Domestic Sparklers I've tried lately and one of the most compelling. This is chock full of flavors and aromas of green apple, tangerine zest, ginger and citrus. The pinpoint mousse on the zesty body even has hints of green melon and kiwi. The clean and chalky finish seem to go on and on. Gorgeous stuff!
Laurent-Perrier "La Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 10-30-2020
To draw attention to the fact that they have greatly improved the already amazing quality of their standard Brut bottling Laurent Perrier has renamed it "La Cuvee". The bright "Wedding cake" aromas and flavors remain but the "La Cuvee" is toastier and has a much broader palate impression and a more layered texture. There is now a rich array of stone fruit flavors that add complexity which combined with the extra weight and length make this a more profound wine and one of the great values in Champagne. Delicious and priced for every day enjoyment.
Pierre Sparr Brut Rosé Crémant d'Alsace
Review Date: 10-23-2020
This amazing value starts with high toned aromas and flavors of Bing Cherry and sweet cranberry that carry right through the full, creamy and frothy middle. There is a wonderful sweet/tart counterpoint on the bracing finish. A well made over-achiever.
Pierre Sparr "Réserve" Crémant d'Alsace Brut
Review Date: 10-23-2020
This offers a full mousse filled with green apple, lilac and honeysuckle that is mouth filling and refreshing. There is a citric tug on the finish which hints at green tea, talc and limestone minerality. This is a great value and an overall delicious bottle of bubbly.
2015 Barde-Haut, St-Émilion
Review Date: 09-11-2020
A bit more flamboyant than many Barde-Haut offerings and showing the richness of the vintage but with plenty of tension and tell tail mineral on the finish. This shows off ripe raspberries, fig and dark plum fruit in the dense middle before the tannin and mineral buried underneath pull the finish along.
La Petite Marquise Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé
Review Date: 06-06-2019
This is long and fine with red cherry fruit and a persistent limestone laced finish. There is an amazing amount of elegance and restraint showing here for only 13 bucks. A remarkable value that is as easy on the palate as the wallet.
Price:
$14.99
2015 Branaire-Ducru, St-Julien
Review Date: 01-05-2019
This property next to Chateau Beycheville produced a smooth, rich and somewhat sexy wine with plenty of underlying structure and tension. For now lush black raspberries and sweet cherries take center stage along with flowery aromas, but there are touches of smoke, spice and earth poking through the creamy middle.
Gilbert Jacquesson "Cuvée Tradition" Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne
Review Date: 02-14-2018
This is a new producer for K&L and a great bottle for those who like their bubbly in a darker and richer style. 100% Pinot Meunier give this volumes of sweet red fruit flavors along with a touch of spice and hints of marzipan, maple, apricot and dark plum. A bottle of Champagne this flamboyant and exotic for only $25 is hard to believe.
Price:
$29.99
Gilbert Jacquesson "Cuvée Eugénie" Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 02-14-2018
This 100% Pinot Meunier wine sees some skin contact resulting in a vivid pink color and even a touch of structure on the back end. Dried cherry and ripe raspberry aromas and flavors jump from this bracing wine and there is a savory note on the long, dry finish. There is the faintest tannic tug on the end allowing this to stand up to hearty fare. Surf and turf anyone?
Price:
$34.99
2014 Poujeaux, Moulis
Review Date: 01-31-2018
Compared to the warm, layered 2009 this seems compact, tense and elegant. The 2014 may be a bit coiled for Poujeaux but it is vibrant, packed and will age beautifully into a sumptuous and complex bargain. Its unlikely you will pull a better $30.00 bottle of Bordeaux out of you cellar in 5 or 10 years.
2016 Cos d'Estournel, St-Estèphe
Review Date: 06-24-2017
This is almost ethereal in texture and despite the power and richness present, grace and balance are the hallmarks. The mid-palate is deep but clean and the dark fruit, Asian spice and touch of clay that poke through are finely tuned and perfectly integrated. The long, saline finish hides plenty of ripe tannin but glides smoothly and effortlessly. This was very easy to taste.
2016 Gloria, St-Julien
Review Date: 06-08-2017
Gloria is filled with possibility and should blossom into a beautiful super value for the appellation. Right now the wine is round, juicy and very fresh but solidly tannic on the finish.
2016 Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac
Review Date: 06-06-2017
The most opulent of the First Growths in 2016 has an almost flamboyant fruit profile but stays firm, dry, powerful and super fresh on the finish. This has a strong middle of blackberry and raspberry cream, lots of mineral and a long, sweet finish of finely integrated tannin. This was easy to taste and already delicious.
2016 Margaux, Margaux
Review Date: 05-19-2017
This is tight, clean, classy and weightless with a glassy, polished texture. There is obvious strength to the intense and steely middle but the seamless integration of elements allows this to glide effortlessly from beginning to end. This is pitch-perfect and will only blossom with age.
2016 Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux
Review Date: 05-19-2017
Rich and creamy though a tad less fruity than the Malescot, a touch more elegant and of equal quality. This is sweet and sappy with potpourri, ripe red fruit, velvety texture and a long, precise finish.
2016 Langoa-Barton, St-Julien
Review Date: 05-19-2017
This is surprisingly bright and balanced with crisp and effortless texture to the substantial body. Black cherry, dark plum, cola and damp clay are present in this structured, clean and fresh wine.
2016 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
Review Date: 04-26-2017
Pontet Canet, Mouton and Pichon-Lalande were the 3 most voluptuous Pauillacs we tasted the first week of April and the Pontet comes in as #1. This is ripe, dark and concentrated with huckleberry jam, raspberry fruit, vanilla, spice oak and more on a powerful and creamy yet classy frame. The tannins are sweet, ripe and rounded on this ultra rich wine of almost exotic proportion that still manages to come off as bone dry. I suspect someone will score this 100 points.
A.D. Coutelas "Cuvée Louis Victor" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-12-2015
This multivintage blend which includes harvests from 2007 through 2012 is a must try for those who like their bubbly on the rich side but without giving up any complexity. This is chock-full of red fruit and berry flavors and there is an additional layer of maturity provided by the inclusion of the older stocks. This is produced using the solera system (as in sherry) and there is nothing else quite like it.
Price:
$39.99
2009 Meyney, St-Estèphe
Review Date: 08-30-2012
This fat, rich and accessable wine will age well but is hard to resist now. The nose of sweet berries and oak is followed by flavors of crunchy dark currants, blackberries and licorice that turn thick and juicy on the finish. The palate coating fruit is sweet and sexy in this balanced and aromatically complex wine.
2005 Verdignan, Haut-Médoc
Review Date: 01-17-2012
Here you have an over achieving Chateau coupled with the outstanding 2005 Bordeaux vintage resulting in amazing value. This is dark in color and deep in fruit with hints of earth, savory herb, spice and a touch of smoke. The wine is quite full bodied with a meaty texture and ripe, silky tannin. Decant now or age another 5 years.
Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne
Review Date: 12-29-2009
Chardonnay from Brouillet makes a richer, creamier style of Blanc de Blanc than other areas of Champagne. This is an easy to like style that is perfect for less formal occasions like New Year's eve toasts and quiet sipping during parties. This generous, rich bubbly is an amazing deal to direct buy pricing.
Price:
$44.99