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Staff Favorites - Alex Leonardini

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Reviews

Dérot-Delugny "Milieu Naturel" Blanc de Noirs Brut

Review Date: 04-09-2026

The Derot Delugny Milieu Naturel Blanc de Noirs is more about its pinpoint-perfect texture than it is about any individual flavor profile. 100% Meunier from the oldest grower-producer in this region, the wine is seductively silky, with fine, shiny bubbles and a broad, mouth-filling texture. Neither rich and heavy nor lean and acid-driven, it is layered with juicy pear, golden apple, and French baguette with a hint of raspberry trailing into the silky, creamy finish. This may be one of the most texturally appealing Champagnes I've ever had the pleasure of tasting, and I can't wait to have more.

Price: $39.99

2022 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Review Date: 02-17-2026

The 2022 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine that harkens back to the Napa Valley of old and perfectly encapsulates everything that Napa wine should be. The structure is silky yet lithe, fresh acidity and fine-grained tannins balancing on a pinpoint. Then there's the palette of aromas and flavors, kaleidoscopic in their interlacing breadth. Black cherry, cassis, violet, fresh herbs, anise seed, graphite, eucalyptus--the list goes on and on. This is one of the most complex and focused wines I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. No cellar is complete without it.

Price: $79.95

DC: 99

Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne

Review Date: 02-06-2026

The Damien Hugot “Hommage 1920” is perhaps the mostly subtly seductive wine in the line-up. The nose is more restrained, wafting hints of yuzu, apple, and salty ocean air lifting from the glass in slow, lazy pulses. It isn’t shy, exactly, just quietly reserved, hinting at an underlying complexity without needing to show off. The palate is similarly focused, with sea salt, oyster shell, zested yuzu, peach skin, and toasted almond all tracing a linear path across the palate into a precise, mineral finish. This is a bottle that demands you take your time, slowly unpacking all it has to offer. Really impressive.

Price: $49.99

2016 Damien Hugot Grand Cru "Cramant" Blanc de Blancs Millesime

Review Date: 02-06-2026

The 2016 Damien Hugot "Cramant" Blanc de Blancs is one of the purest examples in terroir and most precise bottles of wine I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. The nose is enticingly fresh and mineral-driven, and the palate unfolds in alternating layers of oyster shell, freshly baked sourdough, struck flint, green apple, crushed limestone, and key lime citrus fruit. The wine is perfectly structured with electric acidity jumping from bubble to fine bubble in arcs of barely contained energy. To say this is one of my favorite Champagnes of the year is an understatement; this is one of my favorite Champagnes of all time. It is a wine for the Champagne lover and a wine to convert the non-sparkling drinker; to impress friends and colleagues, and to drink in celebration. This is a comprehensive lesson in minerality and a reminder of the heights that great Champagne can reach.

Price: $64.99

Damien Hugot Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru

Review Date: 02-06-2026

A slightly leaner yet notably more fruit-driven sibling to the Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs, the Extra Brut bottling shows layers of red and green apple, baked pear, white peach, and jasmine. All the minerality, toast, freshly baked brioche, and leesy richness of the Brut is present as well, and the finish is noticeably chalkier, but the extra fruit profile leads this to be perhaps the more approachable of the two bottlings in this batch. I suppose the only way to know is to try both, preferably side-by-side.

Price: $49.99

Damien Hugot Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Review Date: 02-06-2026

It’s no secret that Damien Hugot is one of my favorite Champagne producers around, and the entry-priced Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs exemplifies the level of balance and complexity managed by this small grower at an absurdly reasonable price. Pear and green apple electrify the palate, paving the way for intense oyster shell and sea salt minerality to flood the gates. Then, just when you think you’ve figured the wine out, locking it away it in the “lean, mean Champagne” box, it expands with spicy ginger, delicate white flowers, and toasted brioche. The finish is long and spiraling, forging ahead with ripe, almost juicy pear and apple, guided by chalky minerality, and held aloft by alternating waves of freshness and richness. This is a Champagne that refuses to be categorized, daring instead to do it all. And it does it all supremely well.

Price: $42.99

Lehmann "Jamesse Reference" Grand Champagne Glass #40 (we can only ship in 6-packs)

Review Date: 10-22-2025

We've been carrying the Lehmann "Jamesse" Champagne glasses at K&L for quite some time, but it wasn't until I spent several days drinking out of them in Reims and Epernay that I truly fell in love with the shape and style. Visit Champagne and these are the glasses that you will find in almost every winery, Champagne bar, and restaurant in the region, and for good reason. Flutes are far too narrow to allow the lifted aromatics of Champagne to truly soar, and standard wine glasses allow the bubbles to dissipate far too quickly. The Lehmann "Jamesse" glasses give you the best of both worlds, and the entry level "Glass 41" is thick enough to bring out for guests yet sleek enough to truly impress. These have become my go-to glasses for Champagne and for the price an absolute no-brainer. If you enjoy Champagne, these are a must.

Price: $12.99

2017 Launois "Helia" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Review Date: 10-15-2025

The 2017 Launois "Helia" Blanc de Blancs, which in past vintages would have been bottled as the Special Club offering, lives among the best Champagnes in the store. Crisp green apple and lemon curd harmonize with richer roasted hazelnut and baked sourdough flavors, while the zippy acidity and soft texture find perfect cohesion. If you, like me, have bottles of Launois' Special Club bottlings tucked away for future consumption, the 2017 "Helia" has more than earned its place in the stash.

Price: $79.99

Egrot Brut Champagne

Review Date: 10-15-2025

The Egrot Brut Champagne is a wonderfully approachable and delicious wine at a terrific value. The nose opens clean and crisp with subtle hints of brioche and beautifully ripe Golden Delicious Apple and Asian Pear fruits. The palate is equally alluring, with crisp apple, Asian Pear, and ripe yellow peach graciously complimented by warm, freshly baked brioche buns. Less toasty than some of the comparatively priced bottles, and less strikingly mineral than others, the Egrot Brut Champagne finds a cozy niche in the middle ground, making for an extremely approachable and dangerously drinkable bottle of Champagne great for any and all occasions.

Price: $37.99

A. Bergère Brut Origine Champagne

Review Date: 06-20-2024

The A. Bergere "Origine" Brut Champagne may be new to the shelves of K&L, but the Bergere family has been fastidiously tending vines on the slopes of the Valee du Petit Morin since 1849 and making their own Champagne since 1949. The wine is composed of 70% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir, and 10% Meunier, all of which is fermented in barrel with reserve wine making up 30% of the final product. The result is a wine of dual personalities: succulent, unctuous texture and dry, mineral-driven freshness. There's so much weight and leesy, toasty delight through the midpalate, but the wine manages to finish with an almost chalky minerality, balancing the best of both worlds. This one is well worth trying for yourself.

Price: $54.99

2021 Burn Cottage "Sauvage Vineyard" Pinot Noir Bannockburn Central Otago

Review Date: 03-14-2024

The 2021 Burn Cottage "Sauvage Vineyard" Pinot Noir is as pretty and elegant and complex as they come. The nose isn't so much explosive as it is pervasively intense and nuanced, with each smell offering a new layer of aromas. First, crushed rose and gardenia petals that are followed by a layer of graphite and pencil shavings. Then, red cherry is followed closely by sea brine until bright, ripe strawberries and a touch of peppercorn take the lead. The palate is magnetic, bringing all the florals and fruits and minerals from the nose together in a seamless and never-ending spiral of complex beauty. This is a wine structured for aging, but with so much happening now and soft enough tannins that it isn't required for optimal enjoyment. This isn't bargain wine, but there are few Pinot Noirs as staggeringly thought provoking as this, and the few there are cost far, far more.

Price: $74.99

More Favorites

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2021 Hendry "Estate" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($59.95)

2023 Method Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($22.95)

2022 Cobb "H. Klopp Vineyard" Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($64.95)

2021 Cobb "Doc's Ranch Vineyard" Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($69.95)

2022 Storrs "Christie Vineyard" Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay ($29.95)

2016 Les Pagodes de Cos, St-Estèphe ($64.99)

Michel Arnould "Observation" Grand Cru Verzenay Brut Champagne ($39.99)

Michel Arnould "Gènese" Verzenay Grand Cru Brut Rosé Champagne ($39.99)

Alexandre Le Brun "Passion" Brut Champagne ($49.99)

Damien Hugot Grand Cru "Vieilles Vignes" Blanc de Blancs Champagne ($99.99)

Alexandre Le Brun "Tradition" Brut Champagne ($37.99)

2023 Matthiasson "Linda Vista Vineyard" Napa Valley Chardonnay ($29.95)