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Staff Favorites - Philip Roufail
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Reviews
2014 Ariston Aspasie Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-31-2026
2014 was the last "cold" vintage in Champagne and age has been very kind to it. There's a real tactile difference between champagne produced pre-2015 and post-2015. Now, the grapes are riper and the acidity is more restrained. The 2014 Ariston Aspasie Brut Champagne harkens back to a bygone era when the acidity was off the charts and the struggle was to ripen the grapes. The 1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Noir, and 1/3 Meunier are sourced from young vines only, which is a key component of Paul-Vincent Ariston's vintage wine philosophy. Vintage champagne must express what nature wrought from a single year and old vines are the opposite of that. A beautifully toasty nose, with notes of bitter almond, caramel, apple, baked pear, and citrus. On the palate, the autolytic character also takes center stage -- toasted baguette, pastry crust, and lees are indicative of Aspasie's extended lees aging, a whopping 11 years and 5 months for the 2014! The young vines produce fresh vibrant fruit and the (last) cold vintage adds zippy acidity to complete the package. A great vintage expression from a house that's been cranking out the bubbly for 232 years.
Price:
$49.99
Ariston Aspasie "Cépages d'Antan" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-30-2026
Are you ready to get your pre-World War II champagne on? Enter Ariston Aspasie Cepages d'Atan Brut Champagne - a blend of three of the four "other grapes" of Champagne. Before WWI turned Champagne to rubble, it was teeming with many grapes other than the "big three" - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier, which ascended to exclusive prominence when Champagne was rebuilt after the war. Grown together "vigne en foule," or "vines in a crowd," the vineyards included Fromenteau (Pinot Gris), Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier, Arbanne, Savignan, and Gouais just to a name a few. The “seven grapes rule" came into effect in 1938, when new plantings of the four minor varieties (Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, and Petite Meslier) were discontinued, leaving only the three main ones in use. Legally, the other four can still be used as long as they are sourced from vines planted before 1938. Thus, the Ariston Aspasie Cepages d'Atan ("Grapes of Yesteryear") is a champagne unicorn. A blend of 40% Arbanne, 40%, Petit Meslier, and 20% Pinot Blanc, the d'Atan is chalky, floral, herbal, and exotic. You have to try this old style of champagne to truly appreciate how distinctive and delicious it is. Most people who try it love it. You will not be disappointed!
Price:
$119.99
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-30-2026
The Ariston Aspasie Reserve Brut Champagne is 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, and 30% Meunier. It is a blend from two Crus, which in Champagne means villages, and has 15% - 20% reserve wines. Paul-Vincent Ariston loves to age his champagnes and this Brut Non-Vintage, which only requires 12 months of aging on the lees by law, spends 5 years sur lie! It's toast-y, lees-y, citrus-y, cream-y, brioche-y, and yumm-y with notes of peach, pink grapefruit, and baking spices. Aspasie is in Brouillet, a super cold micro-climate, giveing this cuvee popping acidity to compliment all of its other charms. This flag ship Brut NV is a great introduction to Aspasie's unique and delicious house style.
Price:
$37.99
Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-30-2026
The Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne is 100% Chardonnay and is a real "La Goutte d'Or," or "drop of gold," produced from a single variety grown in a single-vineyard in a single village, Brouillet, which has a super cold microclimate that gives the Aspasie champagnes mouth watering acidity. Crisp with a round finish, loaded with stone fruit, yellow apple, citrus, and pear. It's no wonder that piles and piles of empty Aspasie Blanc de Blancs bottles can be found in Gary Westby's recycling bin 24/7/365.
Price:
$44.99
2018 Launois "Helia" Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 07-30-2026
In 2013, Launois produced its last prestige cuvee through the Champagne Special Club and began working on their "Helia" series. Because of the long aging, the first release was in 2017, but it was only the Blanc des Blanc. Launois delayed production of its prestige rose a year because 2017 was stellar for Chardonnay, but tricky for Pinot Noir and Meunier. They were well rewarded for their patience. The hot 2018 vintage produced lush ripe fruit that gives this champagne an elevated red fruit profile (10% old vine still Pinot Noir added to the blend) to go along with the 90% toasty Grand Cru Chardonnay from Mesnil and Cramant. Think strawberries, cream, and the perfect croissant and you'll get an idea of why the Helia rose lives up to its prestige designation.
Price:
$74.99
Launois "Veuve Clemence" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 07-30-2026
Launois continues to be one of our most popular grower-producers. Based in the Cotes des Blancs Grand Cru village of Mesnil, the gold standard for Chardonnay in Champagne. The "Veuve Clemence" is a Blanc de Blancs and customer favorite of those who like leesy, brioche-y champagne from extended lees aging, in this case 4 years! On top of that, the Clemence has a secret. It's really a vintage champagne, but it's unlabeled. Why? Because the Launois philosophy is that vintage champagne can only be 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay that is 100% from the mid-slope. While the Clemence is Grand Cru Chardonnay, it comes from the tops and bottoms of the hills - not the mid-slope. On the nose lemon-lime, saline, caramel, butterscotch, and candied fruit. On the palate, medium bodied, baked pastry crust, sourdough, lees, citrus, with a long creamy finish. If you're a fan of the Cuvee Reserve, you should definitely try the Clemence!
Price:
$44.99
Launois "Cuvée Réservée" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 07-30-2026
The Launois "Cuvée Réserve" Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne is the all-time undisputed champion of K&L's Direct Import Champagne portfolio. It's our best selling champagne, our most repurchased champagne, and it's in K&L's Top 10 selling products across all categories every year -- and all for (still) under $40! Consistently excellent, the "Cuvée Réserve" pedigree is beyond reproach -- 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay sourced from three of the most prestigious Grand Cru villages in the Cotes des Blancs: Mesnil, Cramant, and Oger. This region has the chalkiest soils in Champagne in which Chardonnay thrives. Beautifully balanced, with it's chalky minerality, and toastiness from three years of aging on the lees (the legal requirement for vintage champagne), it's a crowd-pleasing bubbly masterpiece crying out for oysters, sushi, and caviar!
Price:
$39.99
2017 Launois "Helia" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 07-23-2026
Every time I have the Launois 2017 "Helia" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs it brings me more joy. It just rocks. 2017 was a stellar vintage for Chardonnay so when it's sourced from old massal-selected vines in the Grand Cru villages of Mesnil, Cramant, and Oger, in the iconic Côte des Blancs, and is aged for over 6 years on the lees, you should expect great things. Launois makes other champagne that are a single year (e.g., Veuve Clemence), but they only vintage date it if it's 100% Chardonnay that's 100% from the mid-slope. On the amazing nose, sweet cream, biscuit, lemon, lime, orange, and hints of dark toast. Medium-bodied, ripe orchard fruit, sweet vanilla, peach, pair, hints of white pepper, and zippy acidity up front but soft on the finish. An outstanding champagne of power, depth, and complexity that will continue to evolve and become more delicious!
Price:
$79.99
Baron-Fuenté "7" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-23-2026
The Baron-Fuente 7 Brut Champagne has the depth and complexity of a Grand Marque. Layers and layers of flavors wrapped up in toasty package that's 7 years in the making. Produced from old vines on colder sites than the rest of their line, this tete de cuvée is all-estate fruit, 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Meunier, with 90% fermented in stainless steel tanks and 10% in oak barrels. That 10% in barrel adds great texture to the blend's pinpoint minerality, baking spices, and candied fruit. Baron-Fuente promotes the 7 as a gastronomic champagne, so it pairs with everything from poultry and seafood to grilled meats with heavy sauces.
2018 Baron-Fuenté "Rebelle" Brut Nature Champagne
Review Date: 07-23-2026
If you're a fan of K&L Champagne Buyer Gary Westby's Instagram account like I am, you've learned that the "Rebelle" is vigneron Ignace Baron's passion project. "He wanted to make something he wanted to drink." You don't see many Chardonnay-Meunier blends, but the Rebelle is 50% of each, so already a departure from typical champagne. 2018 was as "solar" (read: HOT!) of a year as you can get - it holds the record for being the hottest vintage in Champagne ever. However, the result was beautiful ripe fruit with generosity and approachability. Perfect for a Brut Nature! With all that lush ripeness and candied Meunier, you might expect a fruit bomb, but it's the toasty autolytic character that dominates the nose and palate. What a treat!
Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Brut Champagne (formerly Esprit)
Review Date: 07-23-2026
Quinconce means "clink clink," which is the sound champagne bottles make when they're being stacked "sur latte" in a cellar.I have no idea why Baron-Fuente decided to make the name change, but the champagne is excellent. This "elegant and harmonious blend" is unique. The grapes are sourced from Baron-Fuente's best Coteaux de Rivière slopes, which they consider their "finest grapes." 50% of the blend is a perpetual reserve that spans three harvests and 50% of the blend is Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier in equal amounts. Then they "clink, clink" it into the cellar for a full years on the lees. The result is a magnificently toasty champagne bursting with orchard fruit and baking spices. I was super impressed with this expression, and for sub-$40 it's a steal!
Price:
$39.99
Baron-Fuenté "Grande Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-23-2026
First off, shout out to Gary Westby who has figured out how to keep the very popular Baron-Fuente "Grand Reserve" Brut Champagne at $29.99! It's our most economically priced champagne and it delivers. In fact, this is the best B-F Grand Reserve I've tasted in my 4 + years with K&L. The majority Meunier gives it a full fruit forward body, but it's perfectly balanced by the 30% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir, and the 3 years it ages on the lees. It has a beautiful toasty nose and a round creamy texture. A real stand out. Please note: the magnum is aged for 5 years on the lees!
2021 Vigneti Repetto 'Sfera' Barbera Colli Tortonesi
Review Date: 06-19-2026
Our Italian Buyer Straordinario, Orazio, said the bright cherry, plum, and spice of this juicy easy drinking Barbera would pair perfectly with a burger and now I can't think of anything else! I love Barbera because it has elevated acidity like many Italian red grapes, which makes it great with food. Fresh, vibrant, and gastronomic. What more do you need from a versatile everyday red?
Price:
$19.99
2023 Vigneti Repetto "Quadro" Timorasso Derthona DOC
Review Date: 06-19-2026
Friends, Romans, Italian wine enthusiasts, if you haven't heard about Timorasso yet, lend me your ears! This Italian white grape from the Piedmonte region was all but extinct except for the efforts of one man, Walter Massa , "The Master of Monferrato," who single handedly revived it. Timorasso is so unique, distinctive, and utterly Italian, that there's been a "Timorasso Rush" of winemakers following in Massa's pioneering footsteps, and Repetto may be just as unique and distinctive as the grape itself. Using traditional winemaking philosophy and modern technology, Gia Paolo Repetto (an engineer as well as a winemaker) takes this beautiful grape and vinifies/ages it without racking so it's never exposed to unnecessary oxidation. The result is a magnificent, aromatic, clean and pure expression of Timorasso - white peach, lemon, acacia, crushed stones, almond, and saline. A must try!
2018 Fallet-Dart Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
Fallet-Dart has been in Charly-sur-Marne, in the far western Marne Valley, since 1611 - that's 13 generations of tradition and know-how! Their historic property and terroir lends itself to Meunier, but unlike other grower-producers in the region, they do not limit themselves to Meunier dominant champagnes. Quite the contrary. The 2018 Extra Brut is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir - no Meunier! Ripe orchard fruit indicative of the hot but excellent 2018 vintage, along with notes of citrus, minerals, hazelnut, candied pear, almonds, and spices, and a has very toasty autolytic character from an extended 7 years on the lees and the aged Chardonnay.
Price:
$49.99
Boulard-Bauquaire "Trepail" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Vieilles Vignes
Review Date: 06-17-2026
Trepail is a 1er Cru village in the Montage de Reims unique for its ability to ripen Chardonnay in Pinot Noir country. Trepail gets loads of morning sunshine that prevents the frost that can be lethal for Chardonnay grapes. Sourced from a single vineyard with old vines that are 75+ years old and aged for 3 years on the lees, the Boulard Bauquaire Trepail Brut Blanc de Blancs has aromas of pear, lime, orange blossom, and green apple. On the palate, chalky, creamy, fresh bread bakery, lime blossom, hazelnut, pear, honey, and acacia.
Price:
$44.99
Boulard-Bauquaire "Carte Noire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
This Blanc de Noirs from Boulard Bauquaire in Cormicy, "the last village of Champagne" because of its far northern location, is a customer favorite. 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Meunier, you get the chiseled body and structure of Pinot Noir married with the fruit-forward richness of Meunier. Vinified in stainless steel and aged for 4 years on the lees, this is a full-bodied, creamy, and rich champagne bursting with stone fruit, strawberry, cherry, almond, peach, plum, hints of smoke, and sharp acidity indicative of its northern terroir.
2017 Boulard-Bauquaire "Les Fervins" Verzenay Grand Cru Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
This is Boulard Bauquaire's prestige cuvee - a tiny production - only 300 bottles, first press only, for the entire world! 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay sourced from a single vineyard, Les Fervins, in the Grand Cru village of Verzenay in the Montage de Reims. Spring flowers, hazelnut, lemon poppy seed, citrus, fresh sourdough, wildflower honey, saline, tea leaves, incense, and notes of chalky minerality.
Price:
$119.99
2019 Fallet-Dart "Pur Meunier" Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
The 2019 Fallet Dart Pur Meunier comes from two stony old vine (80-90 years) plots in Charly-sur-Marne in the far western Marne Valley, home of Champagne Fallet-Dart since its inception in 1970, and the Fallet family since 1611. 2019 is considered one of the top champagne vintages of the last quarter century characterized by its ripe balanced fruit and outstanding acidity. This is not a champagne for oysters and shellfish. It's big, full-bodied, concentrated, and fruity, with savory notes, tarte tatin, baking spices, apple, stony minerality, ginger, almond, and white cherry. Do yourself a favor and pair with pate and rich creamy cheeses.
Price:
$69.99
2018 Billecart-Salmon 250th Anniversary Vintage Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
K&L Wine Merchant's LOVE Billecart-Salmon! We are the largest buyer and seller of Billecart-Salmon in the United States, and the United States is one of Billecart's first export markets and now it's largest and most profitable. Given those facts, it should come as no surprise that Billecart's special 200th anniversary limited edition 2018 vintage champagne is also a celebration of America's 250th birthday and was created especially for us! There's even a sketch of the Statue of Liberty (a gift from France!) on the label. Elegant and refined on the nose, the Anniversary is 65% Grand Cru Pinot Noir and 35% Grand Cru Chardonnay, vinified in stainless steel (97%) and a tiny bit in barrel (3%). 2018 is solar (hot!) but highly rated vintage characterized by fruitiness, elegance, freshness, and delicacy. Partial malolactic conversion maintains the wine's freshness. The dosage is 4.9g/l, keeping with Billecart's pivot to drier champagnes. On the nose and palate, brioche, chalk, white flowers, poached pear, almond, peach, mirabelle plum, and stone fruit. Load up for July 4th!
Price:
$119.99
Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Les Amoureux" Pinot Blanc Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
The three noble grapes of Champagne are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Meunier, but there are four other OG grapes that are part of Champagne's storied history and are still legally allowed to be used in champagne, though rare. Jean Jacques Lamoureux's Les Amoureux is one of those rare champagnes - it's 100% Pinot Blanc planted in 2010! Pinot Blanc is still used frequently in the crémants of Alsace, but you have to search for one in Champagne and when you do find one it's usually blended with the other three - Pinot Gris, Petite Meslier, and Arbanne. If you've ever wondered what a pre-World War I champagne tastes like, the Amoureux is your ticket to a different era. Aromatic and exotic, many of the flavors are familiar - peach, citrus, pear, apple, and almond, but the floral and herbal elements reveal a cuvee that is out of the ordinary. This is a great sparkler that is a liquid unicorn!
Price:
$49.99
Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Cuvée Gabin" Brut Zero Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
Jean Jacques Lamoureux is in the most southern part of Champagne - the Aube, aka Cotes des Bars. What separates the Aube from the rest of Champagne is the soil. While limestone, it's not the chalk that dominates the rest of the region. Just north of Chablis, the Cotes des Bars shares it's Kimmeridgian clay-limestone (along with Sancerre), giving the champagne, including Lamoreaux's Gabin, a distinctive ancient sea minerality. The Aube is also known for its Pinot Noir. The area is frost-prone and reliably growing and ripening Chardonnay can be challenging. The Gabin is 100% Pinot Noir, aged for 4 years on the lees, On the nose and palate, orange zest, white flowers, potpourri, brioche, smoke, and red berries. This is a true Brut Nature - bone dry on the finish, but "never austere." Pair with shellfish.
Price:
$44.99
2017 Franck Bonville "Belles Voyes" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
Everything about Champagne Frank Bonville's vintage dated prestige cuvee is special. It's from the oldest plots (planted in the 1920s/1930s) of a single vineyard, "Les Belles Voyes," from a single Grand Cru village in the Cotes des Blancs, Oger, and is 100% Grand Cru chardonnay. "The Beautiful View" is a hilltop vineyard that overlooks the village of Oger (population 514) and, as you can imagine, it is stunning. The 2017 vintage was solar, but exceptional specifically for Chardonnay. It's vinified and aged in 228L barrels before bottling and the dosage is 2.5g/l, giving it a bone-dry finish that allows the fruit shine. On the nose and palate, orange zest, mocha, pastry crust, green apple, almond, toast, and a long honeyed, lemon, and chalky finish. A remarkable champagne of depth and character.
Franck Bonville Unisson Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
Champagne Frank Bonville's Unisson Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs is one of our best deals. It's a remarkable, distinctive high-end non-vintage champagne that maintains its NV grower-producer price.Sourced from the Grand Cru villages of Avize (where Bonville is based) and Oger, an alluring, creamy rich nose gives way to apple, grapefruit, peach, pear, baking spices, citrus, and toasted baguette. Round (dosage is 6.7g/l), balanced, with zippy popping acidity indicative of the base vintage - one of champagne's best. It's absolutely outstanding. If you like Blanc de Blancs, Unisson is a must try and rebuy!
Maison 76 Côte des Blancs Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 06-17-2026
Our first round of K&L's inaugural champagne collaboration, Maison 76, broke sales records, and why wouldn't it? This incredible new champagne from fourth generation grower-producer superstar Olivier Bonville of Champagne Franck Bonville and K&L's own champagne buyer, Gary Westby, is 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay from the renown Cote des Blancs village of Avize, where Bonville has been operating since 1936 (first bottling under the Franck Bonville name was in 1959). It's 40% base vintage with 60% reserve wines, aged for 4 years on the lees, and the dosage is 5.8g/l. On the nose and palate, beautiful ripe orchard fruit, green apple, lemon, hazelnut, fresh dough, honeysuckle, with a chalky backbone and richness mid-palate. Maison 76 is everything you want from a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs!
Price:
$44.99
Fallet-Dart "Heres" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 05-20-2026
The Fallet family has been growing grapes in the far west of the Valle de la Marne since 1610 and everything in the vineyard and cellar are done in the most traditional way - by hand! The Fallet-Dart "Heres" Brut Champagne is 70% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay, and 15% Meunier. Vinified in stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, you will see "Tirage 2019" on the front label, which means it was bottled in 2019 and the base vintage is 2018, which is an EXCELLENT VINTAGE! It was hot, so the fruit is ripe but lush and balanced. Aged for 5 years on the lees, dosed at 6g/l, and was disgorged in November 2024 (which means it's ready to drink - if you know, you know!). Straw colored with a fine steady bead, this medium-bodied sparkler has aromas of ripe yellow fruits, grapefruit, peach, olive oil, lemon-lime, and brioche. On the palate, there are notes of pear, fig, Mirabelle plum, and ripe green apple with a subtle backbone of toast and vanilla.
2021 Far Mountain "Amotus - Alta Vista Vineyard" Moon Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 05-03-2026
If you like mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, you must discover Far Mountain Winery, run by husband and wife winemaking team Mai Errazuriz and Rodrigo Soto. Their specialty is "dramatic wines from dramatic sites." All single vineyard wines from Sonoma Valley and the Moon Mountain District (on the border between Napa and Sonoma) you get beautiful concentration balanced by high elevation acidity. From the Alta Vista Vineyard on Moon Mountain, the Amotus is, in Rodrigo's words, their "Grand Cru" and it tastes like it! 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in French oak for a year, 40%-50% new, followed by 10–12 months in 1,000–2,000 liter foudres "for integration". A seemingly endless reservoir of plush red and black fruit, tobacco, pine needles, new leather, graphite, and mint. This is a big tannic mountain wine that delivers on its unique terroir! Exceptional, and still a baby! Only 1440 bottles produced so grab this artisanal gem while you can!
2021 Far Mountain "Fission" Moon Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 05-03-2026
If you like mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, you must discover Far Mountain Winery, run by husband and wife winemaking team Mai Errazuriz and Rodrigo Soto. Their specialty is "dramatic wines from dramatic sites." All single vineyard wines from Sonoma Valley and the Moon Mountain District (on the border between Napa and Sonoma) you get beautiful concentration balanced by high elevation acidity. One of their flagship Cabernets is "Fission" sourced from the Alta Vista Vineyard on Moon Mountain. We have two releases right now - the 2021 and the 2019. The 2021 spent 12 months in French oak, 35% of it new. True to the Far Mountain style, it's savory and bursting with dark brambly fruit. Still a little more fruit forward than the 2019, it also has notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, fresh herbs, minerality from the vineyard's volcanic soils, and a long stony finish.
2019 Far Mountain "Fission" Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 05-03-2026
If you like mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, you must discover Far Mountain Winery, run by husband and wife winemaking team Mai Errazuriz and Rodrigo Soto. Their specialty is "dramatic wines from dramatic sites." All single vineyard wines from Sonoma Valley and the Moon Mountain District (on the border between Napa and Sonoma) you get beautiful concentration balanced by high elevation acidity. One of their flagship Cabernets is "Fission" sourced from the Alta Vista Vineyard on Moon Mountain. We have two releases right now - the 2021 and the 2019. The 2019 is their inaugural vintage and is already showing layers of complexity that were surprising to me since it's not that old. Full bodied, silky, with loads of savory dark fruit, blackberry, spice, eucalyptus, dried herbs, violets, leather, and a vein of minerality from Alta Vista's volcanic soils!
2022 North Valley "Compass" Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
Review Date: 04-25-2026
Willamette Valley Pinot Noir for only $19.95? Well, yes and no. Yes, it's $19.95 at K&L, but it's higher everywhere else - if you can find it. The 2022 North Valley Compass is a blend from five biodynamically farmed vineyards in the Willamette Valley and is pure organic Oregon Pinot Noir that punches way above its price point. Aged for ten months if French oak, 25% new, the Compass has notes of black tea, blackberry, dark strawberry, cranberry, pomegranate, rose petals, and baking spices
2024 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel
Review Date: 04-25-2026
$18.95 for this California classic? Are you kidding me!? Seghesio Family Vineyards has been in Healdsburg since 1895 and is the oldest continuous family owned and operated winery in California. That's 125 vintages over 5 generations! Seghesio is only 1 of 100 California wineries that operated during the tragic scourge that was Prohibition. And you can't get more California classic than Zinfandel! USA! USA! USA! The Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel is an institution and the 2024 delivers in spades. On the nose and palate, blueberry, dark chocolate, espresso, spice, fennel, blackberry, soy sauce, and fresh herbs. An excellent new chapter in the storied history of Seghesio. Love it!
2021 Red Car Sonoma Coast Syrah
Review Date: 04-22-2026
Sourced from Red Car's Estate and Romondo vineyards, the 2021 Red Car Sonoma Coast is classic cool climate Syrah - savory with bright acidity and polished tannins. It is aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 18% new. Savory aromas of black olive, lavender, dark plum, mint, black pepper, with bright, vibrant acidity, and a weightlessness on the palate common to Sonoma Coast wines.
2023 Monte Rio "Old Vines" Lodi Zinfandel
Review Date: 04-22-2026
What a great yummy old vine Zin! I can't believe it's only $15 because it sells for $25 on the Monte Rio website! A blend from four organically farmed Lodi vineyards with 95-year-old Zinfandel vines, the 2023 Old Vine Lodi is pressed and fermented whole cluster in stainless steel followed by 10 months is neutral barrels. Low intervention in the cellar and no sulfur added. Bottled unfiltered. This is the opposite of a big jammy high alcohol Zin, which is say it's better. Medium bodied with flavors of blackberry, blueberry, red and black cherry, black pepper, tobacco leaf, and dried herbs.
2018 Anonymous Wine Collective "Extended Tirage" Sonoma Coast Brut Sparkling Wine
Review Date: 04-12-2026
"En tirage" is a French term to describe how long a champagne ages on its lees (the dead yeast cells that remain after the second fermentation in the bottle). In Champagne, the minimum requirement for vintage champagne is 3 years by law. In America, we do whatever we want. There are no rules, yet this Anonymous sparkling wine spends a full 7 years on the lees before disgorgement and release. 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, it is medium bodied, rich mid palate, with notes of vanilla and lemon cream, orchard fruit, pie crust, nectarine, ginger, and peaches in syrup.
Price:
Hidden
2021 Anonymous Wine Collective Sonoma Coast Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine
Review Date: 04-12-2026
Another vintage sparkling gem from our domestic Anonymous series. From 2021, this delicate, light-bodied fruit forward Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) is all elegance. Subtle notes of lemon-lime, fresh dough, green apple, orange blossom, white flowers, with a crisp saline finish!
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2021 Doren "Reserve" Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 04-09-2026
Another great deal from domestic buyer Ryan Woodhouse! Everything about the limited production (only 85 cases!) Doren Reserve Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is dark - dark cherry, dark plum, dark chocolate, dark roast espresso, and black pepper. Notes of cedar, garrigue, and black raspberry. Velvety on the palate. Bottled unfined and unfiltered after barrel aging for over 3 years. Great steak wine!
Laurent-Perrier "Cuvée Rosé" Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 03-25-2026
Laurent-Perrier's Cuvee Rose Brut Rose Champagne is one of the top rose champagnes in the world, both with critics and consumers, and is made using the saignee method where the juice is macerated on the skins for 48-72 hours (depending on the vintage) and bled off. Most rose champagne is made by adding a small percentage of still red wine. LP first released their Cuvee Rose Brut Rose in 1968, helping create the rose champagne category with Grand Marque rival Billecart-Salmon, which is one of the top rose champagnes that uses still red wine. Made with 100% Grand Cru Pinot Noir grapes from 10 different villages, LP's current release is showing brilliantly. Layers of creamy velvety wild strawberry, raspberry, dark cherry, orange zest, roses, and little hints of flint. It's sooooooooooo gooooooooooood! This is one of those iconic wines that lives up to every bit of its hype!
2025 Anonymous Wine Collective Oakville Sauvignon Blanc
Review Date: 03-18-2026
Our new Anonymous Sauvignon Blanc is a warm climate tropical masterpiece! On the nose and palate, melon, papaya, guava, pineapple, green apple, and peach, framed by flowers and spice. This is a beautiful wine, just everything you want from a white wine on a hot day or on the dinner table.
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Laurent-Perrier "Grand Siècle" Iteration #26 Brut Champagne
Review Date: 03-18-2026
The goal of every Grand Siècle release is to create the "perfect year," and Iteration #26 is as near perfect as you can get. The 100-point Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Iteration #26 is a blend from three exceptional years - 2007, 2008, and 2012. The 2008 and 2012 vintages are two of the highest rated Champagne vintages of the 21st century! The cepages is 58% Chardonnay and 42% Pinot Noir from 8 Grand Crus from 2012 (65%), 2008 (25%), and 2007 (10%) - all traditional cold weather vintages - and is aged for 10 years on the lees in LP's seven miles of caves dug out the Champagne's famous chalk soils. I've been very fortunate to taste man Grand Siècles and this is the best one I'ver had. It definitely lives up the hype of 100-point sore. A must have for your cellar or special event!
Fallet-Dart "Clos du Mont" Brut Champagne (2006)
Review Date: 03-11-2026
The 2006 Fallet Dart Clos du Mont Brut Champagne is big in every way. It is barrel fermented in French oak, from a single vintage (2006), a single vineyard ("Les Hauts des Clos du Mont"), and has spent a mind boggling 15 years on the lees. That's more than most prestige cuvees from the greatest and oldest houses in champagne. This is a beast in all the best possible ways! Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, ripe and developed with vanilla cream, toasted baguette, gingerbread, peach, pear, hazelnut, almonds, Meyer lemon, lime, dried fruit, apple, and aged barrel notes like butter, honey, and caramel.
Price:
$79.99
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 03-11-2026
Fallet-Dart has crafted champagne since 1610 so they must be doing something right! The latest release of their "Grand Selection" is the best one I've tasted since I started working at K&L in 2022. 70% Pinot Noir, 15% Meunier, and 15% Chardonnay, let's start with the extended lees aging - 6 years - giving the champagne beautiful leesy character that gives champagne-o-philes (now a word) who love autolytic character a real treat. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels. Powerful, elegant, and round, with aromas and flavors of brioche, ripe orchard and stone fruit, candied red fruit, nuts, fig, pepper, baking spices, hints of chalky minerality, and a long popping finish. A complex and distinctive champagne for under $40!
Price:
$37.99
2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Review Date: 03-11-2026
This has such a beautiful nose for a Chardonnay! Citrus, saline, green apple, vanilla, pie crust, and a zippy dose of minerality are just a few of the delectable aromas wafting out of the glass of this 2014 Anonymous Chardonnay Sonoma Coast. On the palate, a bouquet of flowers, orchard fruit, graham cracker, lemon-lime, with a long tart finish. There is concentration from the old vines, but still restrained and balanced. The new French oak gives it some extra structure and focus. This s an outstanding expression that's going to continue to evolve to greater heights.
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2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Review Date: 03-11-2026
The Anonymous series continues with two great selections from the Sonoma Coast. This Pinot Noir meets the high expectations attached to any juice sourced from the Russian River Valley - dee-licious, without the RRV price! On the nose, dark cherry, red berries, cola, vanilla, dried herbs, fennel, and spice. On the palate, light bodied, seamless and soft, with loads of dark red fruit depth and character, cherry cola, espresso, with hints of oak. A must try!
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2019 K&L Discovery Series Bordeaux, Pomerol
Review Date: 02-26-2026
The Discovery series continues in the world renown Right Bank (of the Gironde River) village of Pomerol, known for its rich, plush, Merlot based blends grown in gravel, iron rich clay, and sand. The 2019 K&L Discovery Series Pomerol is a traditional blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc from an epic vintage whose hot dry summer produced consistently excellent wines that are aging into classic old school Bordeaux that are round and luscious. On the nose, cigar box, olive tapenade, crushed stone, fennel, dark red berries. On the palate, coffee bean, sweet vanilla, red plum, chocolate, with subtle notes of bell pepper and herbs. This Pomerol continued to open up throughout the day, slowly revealing its historic pedigree and terroir. For a wine that is ready to drink, or can be cellared for another two decades, all for $29.99 this new K&L offering is a no-brainer!
Price:
$29.99
Billecart-Salmon "Le Rosé" Champagne
Review Date: 02-18-2026
Billecart's "Le Rose" is not only one of the best-selling and highly rated rose champagnes in the world, but its release in 1970 was an announcement that rose champagne was now a thing - a luxurious, premium sparkling category that had never existed in Champagne's long and storied history. Made in the "assemblage method" -- adding still red wine to the blend -- Le Rose is 43% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir, and 24% Meunier. The dosage was dropped from 9g/l to 5.1g/l, resulting in a much drier and more refined style of champagne. This is the reason for the name change from Brut Rose to Le Rose. The current release is Extra Brut. Next year, it may be brut again. Billecart will make that decision once each harvest is complete. Wines were fermented in stainless steel tanks and went through partial malolactic fermentation to preserve freshness. When Billecart-Salmon decided to make a rose champagne, they approached it with the idea that if tasted blind, you wouldn't know it was a rose because its elegance and finesse would match that of regular champagne. It's a historical fact that their approach worked like gangbusters, and Billecart's Le Rose has become THE iconic offering from this old Grand Marque. Just one of those champagnes that always lives up to its hype.
2022 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 02-18-2026
The 2022 Napa Valley vintage was "legit tough" because of a terroir-turning heat wave that divided the wines into those made with grapes picked before the heat wave and those that were picked during and after. Before, resulted in bright, fresh, and crunchy reds that are easy on the palate, but lack some of the complexity that more time on the vine may have developed. After, are big, plush, wines pressed from grapes bursting with sugar. The 2002 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon falls into the first category, and the result is a beautifully complex, classic, old-school, Napa Cab coming in at a delectable 13% ABV. Layered with dusty black fruit, bell pepper, eucalyptus, baking spices, herbs, and subtle notes of vanilla, clove, and cedar. Ready to drink and will evolve for years to come!
Rhys "Perpetual Reserve" California Sparkling Wine
Review Date: 02-18-2026
The question I have when I see a domestic sparkling wine for $60, is, "What champagne can I get for $60 and is this as good?" The answer is almost always, "Plenty and 'no'." There are a few exceptions, and this Rhys Perpetual Reserve is one of them. The first thing to know about Rhys is that they have 9 estate vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Anderson Valley. The grapes (i.e. clones and rootstocks) Rhy's uses in their sparkling wine is planted specifically for that purpose, so they're coming from plots that will maximize acidity levels. The perpetual reserve is a solera style blend from 2016-2023, comprised of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sourced from Bearhollow in Anderson Valley and Mt. Pajaro in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The seven-vintages-old-perpetual-blend is 30% of the cuvee, 70% is the harvest year, and it is then aged for 3 years on the lees with a dosage of 5.g/L after disgorgement. The result is a complex creamy sparkling wine with lemon custard, orchard fruit, zippy acidity, brioche, and zesty mineral laden finish. Add some chalk and it could be champagne!
Damien Hugot Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
Review Date: 02-11-2026
Damian Hugot's Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is 70% harvest year fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve the acidity, and 30% perpetual reserve that is aged in a foudre (very large barrel!). Viscous, creamy mouthfeel with notes of fresh sourdough, citrus, ginger, green apple, and stone fruit in syrup. Rich, tropical, with great balance, freshness, and complexity.
Price:
$49.99
Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 02-11-2026
The latest iteration of Damien Hugot's "Hommage" (to his grandfather, who planted their Meunier vines in 1921) is a great window into this grower-producer's style: 75% Chardonnay from the harvest year sourced from Monthelon, a cold micro-climate in the Sud d'Epernay, and barrel fermented, and 25% is a combination of Pinot Noir and Meunier, sourced from Chavot (also in Sud d'Epernay) from a perpetual blend aged in barriques. That's a lot of barrels! The slow oxygenation gives the champagne a depth and complexity that can only be drawn out through the judicious use of wood - not to mention the old vines! On the palate, lemon-lime, sourdough, baking spices, peach in syrup, saline, almond, and chalky minerality!
Price:
$49.99
2023 Method Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 02-11-2026
Method is a négociant project from Master Sommelier Ian Cauble (featured in the documentary "Somm") and Precision Wine Company's vintner Trevor Sheehan. Their jam is to source high quality grapes from small plots across California and turn them into premium wines at Tuesday night wine prices. A classic Napa red, full bodied, silky and hot, the 2023 Method Napa Valley is majority Cabernet Sauvignon and includes small amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. On the nose, violets, blueberry, mocha, eucalyptus, and black fruit. Since most Napa Valley Cabs start at $50, the price on this is mind-boggling.