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Staff Favorites - Gary Westby
Gary Westby
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Subscribe to My Sommelier Service
I started at K&L in February of 2000, after 4 years of working down the street for another retailer, and although I take care of the Champagne buying here at K&L, I love to drink wine from all over the world. I prize authenticity in wine, and love representative examples of many different styles, whether it is a spicy dry creek zinfandel or a mineral driven Manzanilla. I almost always drink my wine with food, and am drawn to food wines rather than the softer styles that are good for drinking on their own. My wife Cinnamon and I cook a lot of Italian & French food at home, and my list of wines reflects those food choices. I also love value, at every price point, and can't stand "prestige" labels that under deliver in the bottle. I love honest wines for the table. If you love good wine to go with your good cooking too, I think that by joining my personal Sommelier list you will be treated to a wide variety of wines that represent a strong value for money at what ever price range you feel comfortable with. Give it a try!
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Reviews
Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Réserve" Brut Champagne Magnum (1.5L)
Review Date: 09-27-2023
This all Pinot Noir blanc de noirs is one of our very best values in the category, and has clean baguette style toast married to quite impressive Pinot savor on the nose, as well as great texture and a compact, pretty bead of bubbles. This champagne comes from Les Riceys, the most famous village in the Aube department of Champagne, located on the border with Burgundy. With a dry, but in no way austere finish, it is a fabulous bottle to start your next weekend with, and affordable enough to pour for a party!
Price:
$69.99
Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 09-22-2023
This all Pinot Noir blanc de noirs is one of our very best values in the category, and has clean baguette style toast married to quite impressive Pinot savor on the nose, as well as great texture and a compact, pretty bead of bubbles. This champagne comes from Les Riceys, the most famous village in the Aube department of Champagne, located on the border with Burgundy. With a dry, but in no way austere finish, it is a fabulous bottle to start your next weekend with, and affordable enough to pour for a party!
Price:
$29.99
Damien Hugot Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 09-15-2023
This is no ordinary brut sans année. I tasted this with Damien at the maison this May, and three times this week, and I was impressed by the generous, creamy, white fruit character of the wine. This wine is entirely fermented in large oak barrels, and comes from vineyards tended to like a vanity garden. It is composed of 70% Chouilly Grand Cru and 30% Cramant Grand Cru, with 30% reserves from his solera-style foudre of older vintages. The back end not only has the chalk that one would expect but also a very nice chestnut flavor. This is top-class blanc de blancs, and no one that enjoys this style should miss it given the extraordinary price.
Top Value!
Price:
$34.99
Laurent-Perrier "Grand Siècle" Iteration #26 Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-30-2023
Every year the whole K&L champagne team meets to taste the grande marque producers we carry- and this year we tasted 71 different wines from 21 producers, and this was flat out my favorite of all of them. The delicacy and balance of this masterpiece make words fall short- it is the ultimate cure for the jaded palate- and I am still thinking about it everyday. This champagne in the clean, stainless steel style, with a profound depth that is countered perfectly by an aqueux ease of drinking. I hope I'll be lucky enough to drink this again soon, and to encounter it for years into the future. After more than 10 years of ageing for its youngest component, this great tete cuvee is ready now, but will continue to develop for decades in your cellar. Wow.
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Pierre Mineral Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-15-2023
This spectacular brut shows so much charming fresh baguette and sea breeze character and is one of the most charming non-vintage offerings in our stock. I love the great mid-palate richness from the 60% Pinot Noir in the blend, which gives off lovely red fruit without becoming heavy or obvious. The best thing about the wine is the finish, super clean, mineral, dry and long. Be careful- this champagne is way to easy to drink!
Price:
$34.99
Alexandre Le Brun "Tradition" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-15-2023
The hands on crafting of this one-man-show Champagne producer comes through beautifully in this fantastic value bottle. This is composed of a third each Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier from Mr. Le Brun’s estate, and nearly every wine in this blend has gone through malolactic. This Champagne has a rich bready nose from the over 36 months it has aged on the lees and some very nice savory qualities as well. In the mouth the high quality Meunier gives this wine great roundness as well as some tasty baked apple flavors. The cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir show their stuff on the dry, long finish. It is dosed at 6g/l.
Top Value!
Price:
$34.99
2014 Alexandre Le Brun "Cuvée Revelation" Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-21-2023
When we drank a bottle of this wine for our aperitif with figs stuffed with onion jam and cheese, I thought to myself, "this is the best current release Champagne I have had this year!" The golden color belies the extraordinary freshness on the nose and on the palate. The bouquet was generous, with fresh baguette and subtle peach aromas. In the mouth the wine was as elegant as any in our stock, the opposite of the reputation that Meunier has been unfairly given by many of the big houses. Certainly the wine has concentration and power, with layers of toast, green pear and subtle vanilla, but everything is in such perfect balance that I struggle to describe it. The finish is as long and kaleidoscopic as anything I have ever had. Don’t miss this one. There is not a lot to go around!
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Price:
$79.99
A.D. Coutelas "Cuvée Louis Victor" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-13-2023
Growers like Coutelas are making the most innovative wines in Champagne, and no wine in our stock shows that more than the Cuvée Louis Victor. This comes from a single large barrel and is made in the solera style, with wines dating back to 2007 included in the blend. The composition is unknown, as 20% is bottled each year and replaced with the best vin clair in the cellar, regardless of variety. It is then aged for an additional three years on the lees and rested six more months on the cork. This wine has savory, deep richness and fans of Selosse and Krug should take note… It is easily one of the most complex Champagnes that we have on the shelf.
Boulard-Bauquaire "Trepail" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Vieilles Vignes
Review Date: 07-13-2023
This is our most exotic and intense Blanc de Blancs, all from one ancient vineyard in the 1er cru of Trepail. This bottle just took the staff by storm when I poured a flight of all Chardonnay Champagne for my final staff training seminar of the year. The Boulard Bauquaire made bottles twice the price seem hollow with its wonderful richness and white fruit quality. Luckily, this Champagne also has a great dry, long, chalky finish!
Price:
$39.99
2015 Alexandre Le Brun "Cuvée Fascination" Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 07-06-2023
This single vineyard wonder is limited to just 3000 bottles, a single press load, and comes from just two long rows of vines in La Derriere de Mont Aigu in the grand cru of Chouilly. The old vines here have made a fabulous 2015, rich with panettone toast and some exotic white fruit. This concentrated, all chardonnay champagne is as refreshing as it is rich, and is one of the best wines I have tasted from this heralded vintage.
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Price:
$69.99
Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-20-2023
We often drink this wine as the aperitif, and I love the golden color from the large oak cask fermentation, aged solera reserves and the contrast that color has to the freshness and life on the finish. The French bakery aromas in this champagne are framed by subtle candied nuts and stone fruit. The mid-palate of this wine has medium body, with great compact bubbles and a ton of vitality. The finish is the best part, dry, long and subtly spicy. This style of carefully grown and meticulously made wine, utilizing large oak foudres and solera style perpetual reserves almost always costs double the modest price of this Hommage. It is a must try for the champagne lover!
Drink from 2022 to 2022
Price:
$39.99
Ariston Aspasie "Cépages d'Antan" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-13-2023
I sometimes feel guilty for impacting the world supply of this tiny production Champagne with my greedy consumption... But never while I am drinking it. The Cepages D'Antan is made from one press load of the near-extinct Champagne varietals Arbanne, Meslier and Pinot Blanc, and yields only about 3,000 bottles per harvest. Nothing is more electric, satisfying and complete than this exotic beauty. This is the perfect gift for the Champagne lover who has "had it all"... If I leave any behind for them!
Price:
$99.99
2012 Ariston Aspasie Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-13-2023
Not many 2012's are left on the market, and this even blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier is one of my favorites period. This wine has the brightness of a blanc de blancs, yet the richness of a blanc de noir... All for an incredible price.
Price:
$44.99
Ariston Aspasie "Brut Prestige" Champagne
Review Date: 06-13-2023
Made from the oldest vines of Paul Vincent Ariston's Aspasie estate, this wine is always aged for at least eight years on the lees. It has old vine weight and intensity, but still maintains a vigor and brightness that succeeded in tempting me into drinking a little too much of it. Don't say that I didn't warn you!
Price:
$39.99
Ariston Aspasie Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-13-2023
I am not allowed to have favorite champagnes, but any survey of my recycling bin would reveal that this holds a very special place in my heart. 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 or with any shelfish. I love how this wine is always clean and refreshing, but has depth that makes me always come back for more!
Price:
$39.99
2015 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-13-2023
Cinnamon and I were invited to the pre-release party for this great wine at sushi Kusakabe in SF. We drank it with chef Mitsunori Kusakabe’s Hokkaido scallop and sea urchin, his Bluefin fatty tuna roll, his Unagi Shirayaki and a fantastic fish broth umami soup with Kyoto red miso. It was magical. The wine showed extraordinary purity, as Jean Baptiste Lecaillon, the chefe de cave of Roederer, had explained that he had pushed for as much freshness as he could in this warm vintage. The nose had perfect baguette toast, which developed into hazelnuts and nougat with air. This wine is clean, light and airy in the mouth… And far too easy to drink. The finish is saline and mineral and really tells the tale of the chalk on which it was grown.
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Didier Lapie Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne
Review Date: 05-12-2023
The Didier Lapie Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne shows off the chalky, extra cold climate of Pierry, and is one of the best deals in our stock. The special thing for me is the quality of the pearly bead of bubbles and the very fresh, long finish. Meunier is known for its tarte tatin fruit, and this certainly has it, but the clean, zippy back end reminds me much more of a blanc de blancs, thanks to the cold climate of this sub-region. At this price, it shouldn’t be missed!
Price:
$29.99
2008 Krug Brut Champagne
Review Date: 04-21-2023
My expectations were very high for this bottle, given that it was the most anticipated release in my 22 years of doing the Champagne buying at K&L. Those expectations were exceeded. It is a darn shame that so little of this great wine is available… Sadly, I do not know when we may get more. The 2008 vintage’s quality and ripe-yet-fresh style will be familiar to most reading these pages. It was a year that mirrored 1996 very closely, with a very sunny autumn cooled by unusual east winds. This led to very high levels of sugar in the grapes, yet preserved unusually high levels of acidity. Many producers have told me that they were not ready for such packed ingredients as they’d had in 1996, but after seeing them once, were prepared in 2008. One can hardly go wrong with Champagne from this vintage, but this Krug goes much further than other producers. This wine will be a legend like 1945 Mouton, 1978 Hermitage La Chapelle, or 1921 Salon. They nailed it.
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Gobillard Cuvee Tradition Brut
Review Date: 04-07-2023
An inflation busting champagne! This producer is right across the street from the Abbey of Hautvillers where Dom Perignon is buried, and the core of the wine comes from this 1er cru village. Composed of 35% Pinot Noir, 35% Meunier and 30% Chardonnay, it shows off the toasty side of La Grande Vallee of the Marne with a brioche nose and great bready flavors in the mouth. It is a perfect aperitif wine, dry but not too austere at 7g/l of dosage. Your guests will never guess that you spent so little to get a wine so classy!
2008 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart" NFB Brut Champagne
Review Date: 04-06-2023
To say that I was impressed by this wine would be an understatement. The 2008 vintage remains the greatest of my 23-year career buying champagne, and this, along with the Krug and Cuvée Louis Blanc de Blancs, also from Billecart, will be locked in a battle for the best wine of that vintage for generations to come. The wine has a beautiful light gold color, and the most gorgeous tiny streamers, both a product of the incredible patience that this house has shown in ageing this monumental cuvée. The bouquet shows off the Verzenay Pinot Noir in the blend with a fine, detailed hazelnut bread aroma that has the generosity of Richebourg. In the mouth, the wine has an autumnal style, with nougat and warm panettone notes. The finish is what sets this wine apart, and for me is the greatest feature of the wine; it manages kaleidoscopic complexity with yet more nutty depth fused to pure, clean white fruit and chalk. The back end could be from the best pure Mesnil chardonnay on the planet, and is so long and mineral that I am still haunted by it days later.
Drink from 2023 to 2023
2010 Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne Magnum (1.5L)
Review Date: 03-10-2023
What a magnum! With a gorgeous strawberry and copper color and the most perfect tiny bead of bubbles, this wine is just fun to look at. On the nose, it has the pastry crust aromas from over 10 years of ageing on the lees, and subtle, detailed dark maraschino cherry from the ancient vine Pinot Noir that gives the wine its color. The easy drinking, bright and light style of this wine belies the inner complexity of spice, dried fruit and deep chalky minerality in the glass if you pay attention to it. This is a chance to obtain the unattainable, and I will be putting a case in my cellar for the future… If I can keep my hands off of it!
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Price:
$249.99
2010 Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 03-10-2023
One of the greatest vintage champagnes I have tasted- pink or otherwise! With a gorgeous strawberry and copper color and the most perfect tiny bead of bubbles, this wine is just fun to look at. On the nose, it has the pastry crust aromas from over 10 years of ageing on the lees, and subtle, detailed dark maraschino cherry from the ancient vine Pinot Noir that gives the wine its color. The easy drinking, bright and light style of this wine belies the inner complexity of spice, dried fruit and deep chalky minerality in the glass if you pay attention to it. This is a chance to obtain the unattainable, and I will be putting a case in my cellar for the future… If I can keep my hands off of it!
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Price:
$119.99
Lehmann "Jamesse Prestige" Grand Champagne Mouth-Blown Wine Glass #45
Review Date: 03-07-2023
Mouth blown perfection for the champagne lover! This great design, which not only looks great, but brings out the very best in your special bottles, is my own FAVORITE glass for drinking champagne. The mouth blown glasses are fragile, and should not go in the dishwasher, but the thinner material brings out complexity and texture that you can't get any other way. Considering most mouth blown stems cost more than twice this much, consider treating yourself to this best-in-class masterpiece!
Top Value!
Price:
$39.99
Lehmann "Jamesse Reference" Grand Champagne glass #41 (we can only ship in 6-packs)
Review Date: 03-07-2023
This glass is so good- I can't believe that we can buy them direct from the manufacturer in Reims and offer you, the champagne lover, such an incredible deal. They show off the champagne even prettier than in a flute, yet also allow for the aromas to develop and the flavors to pop. On top of that, they are machine washable! At this price, no champagne lover should be without a six pack!
Top Value!
Price:
$11.99
Charles Ellner "Premier Cru" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 02-23-2023
This Champagne comes entirely from the 1er cru vineyards of Dizy, Rilly-la-Montagne, Sermieres and Champillon. It is composed of 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir with over six years of ageing on the lees. This has the personality of a Champagne with much more Pinot Noir than the composition suggests. I love the black cherry on toast aromas and the incredible hazelnut depth on the palate. This is very concentrated, serious Champagne.
2014 Louise Brison Brut Champagne
Review Date: 02-18-2023
When I visited the Aube last May, the star of the show for me was this 2014 Louise Brison Brut Champagne. Composed of half each Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and dosed at 3 grams per liter, it comes across as perfectly balanced, dry style Champagne. This vintage, which had a cool, long, even growing season, is an endangered species in a warming region. The Chardonnay minerality of the Aube is strong in this wine, with clean earth like the best of Chablis. It also has a great Rainier cherry component and subtle sourdough toast aromas. This is lovely, lively, long finishing Champagne that tastes great now, but will age effortlessly for decades.
Drink from 2021 to 2021
2020 Domaine Renaud Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru "Vers Cras"
Review Date: 02-16-2023
This first vintage for 1er cru Pouilly Fuisse has yielded some standouts, but this Vers Cras has been the best that I have tasted. With everything from plump white fruit up front to incredible focus on the back end, this is a white burgundy that punches way above its price tag. The stony, polished, long finish really shows like a wine of twice this price.
Price:
$26.99
2007 Charles Ellner "Séduction" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 01-26-2023
What an incredible bottle of tete de cuvee! This bottle has a lovely lees quality from incredibly long ageing- it is their current release at 15 years old. The subtle high quality brioche on the nose and palate are balanced with great citric lift from the non-malolactic style. This is a complex champagne with the magic of age that does not sacrifice liveliness and zip. I can't wait to have it with scallops at home! One of our top values in vintage champagne and one of our longest aged current releases!
Drink from 2023 to 2023
2012 Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 01-25-2023
This entirely grand cru blanc de blancs, from the spectacular 2012 vintage is rich and opulent but maintains its elegant poise. It is sourced from Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil, a role call of the very best terroirs of the cote de blancs. The nose is an explosion of dark baked sourdough toast, the mid-palate has a nearly lemon bar lusciousness but still manages to stay light. The long finish has all of the grand cru chalk one could ask for. A magnificent Comtes!
Drink from 2023 to 2023
Thierry Thibault Brut Champagne
Review Date: 01-24-2023
Thierry Thibault expanded our allocation of this excellent Champagne this year... Maybe we will have it in stock for a few days after the email this time! Thierry is the son of one of the giants of Champagne, the late great Daniel Thibault who was chef de cave for both Charles and Piper Heidsieck and pioneered the concept of transparency in non-vintage Champagne with his mis-en-cave bottlings. The estate spans two villages in heart of the western valley of the marne- Verneuil and Passy-Grigny. This Champagne is composed of 1/3 each Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier and is aged for three years on the lees. This is a very bright, fresh style with vibrant acidity, but also with wonderful Chablis-like clean earth and complexity. It has a perfect, tight bead and a creamy texture, as well as a very dry and long finish. I was shocked at the price — this is the kind of value that will not last on our shelves!
Top Value!
Price:
$29.99
Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 01-17-2023
I drank this with Damien Hugot and his wife at the Royal Champagne, the newly refurbished hotel and Michelin one-star restaurant just between Epernay and Reims this spring, and have been thinking about it ever since. This is a clean, refreshing style of rosé that gets hints of richness not from the small percentage of ancient vine Meunier that is added, but rather from the Cramant and Chouilly base of Chardonnay that makes up more than 90% of the blend. This is “rosé all day” rosé, with bright red fruit and racy minerality, along with top-notch chalk on the long finish.
Price:
$39.99
Krug "Grande Cuvée" 170ème Édition Brut Champagne
Review Date: 12-20-2022
I first tasted this with Olivier Krug before it was released in the USA. I loved the wine for its bright style, which is typical of the 2014 releases, but this also had the perfectly clean brioche that Krug is so famous for. The Meyer-lemon-like drive in the mouth was matched by beautiful noisette nuttiness as the wine warmed. I found it spectacularly concentrated without a trace of heaviness, and the finish had excellent acidity to carry the fabulous chalkiness.
Drink from 2022 to 2022
2019 Bilancia "La Collina" Syrah Hawke's Bay New Zealand
Review Date: 11-15-2022
I had no idea that new world Syrah could be this good! When we tasted this today, I was blown away by the clean white pepper on the nose and the meaty savor on the mid palate. What impressed me the most was the finish- this not only has the big grip and substantial body that one looks for in Syrah, it also has great acidity. While this showed well today, I believe this is also a wine with a long future ahead of it. A discovery from New Zealand!
Drink from 2022 to 2022
2012 Dérot-Delugny Millesime Brut Champagne
Review Date: 11-10-2022
The best deal in vintage champagne of the year! Originally, this wine was selling for $50, but a great deal from the Derot family and a windfall with the exchange rate allowed us to deeply discount it. I love the still almost clear color, a great sign for further ageing potential, as well as the gingerbread toast on the nose. In the mouth it is expressive and generous, with both high-toned citrus and deep brioche. The bead is fine and compact, and the finish is fresh and driven. I am planning on having this tonight with pork katsu, but it will also make a great pairing with pâté and smoked fish!
Drink from 2022 to 2022
Price:
$34.99
Michel Arnould "La Grande Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 10-05-2022
This is one of my very favorite non-vintage Champagnes! Patrick Arnould is lucky to trade some of his red wine from the grand cru of Verzenay for Chardonnay from the Clos Cazals in Oger- and that is the Chardonnay that goes into this wine. The combination of old vine Pinot from Verzenay and top class Chardonnay is magic... The Grand Cuvee has great Pinot character up front, with a hint of smoke on the nose, a very supple texture and a bone dry, persistent finish that shows off the chalk of the Clos. Get it while we have it!
Price:
$39.99
2014 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 09-01-2022
This vintage of Cristal deserves all of its accolades, and I would argue it might be the best of all recent and upcoming vintages to put in ones cellar. The cool, electric style of the 2014 vintage, combined with the low yields of organic farming and the one-third oak fermentation have yielded a magical bottle of Champagne for the ages. I think that this will keep like the very best of the 1988 vintage has, and prove to be the vintage that every Champagne collector kicks himself for not buying enough of. The white flowers and delicate baguette toast on the nose are seductive, the creamy texture and fine bead beguiling, but it is the electric, chalky finish that goes on forever that truly sets this apart. What a classic!
Drink from 2022 to 2022
2000 Camensac, Haut-Médoc
Review Date: 08-20-2022
Cinnamon and I had this with a Denver cut steak, and it was magnificent! The wine still has a dark purple color, and after 45 minutes in the decanter the bouquet was generous and full of the old school tobacco and earth that I love so much in aged Bordeaux. In the mouth, this 2000 still has plenty of dark cassis fruit and a great silky texture from resolved tannin. My wife said that this wine has an extra element that we don’t often get with our Friday night claret, and I agreed. This wine not only still has the cut for a rich steak, but it also has the poised terre graveleuse of a classified growth. The finish is still bright and fresh, as well as long and complex. It is a great value in great vintage classified growth Bordeaux at the price. Don’t miss it while it is still around!
Drink from 2022 to 2022
2008 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Louis" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 06-23-2022
This Champagne had a white gold color that still had a flash of green after 14 years and a tight bead of dancing bubbles. I found both fresh, Puligny-Montrachet like lime and generous brioche on the nose and on the palate. This has the magic of 2008 with plenty of ripeness and expression but also huge acidity and freshness. The back end is kaleidoscopic, swelling and as long as any champagne I have ever put in my mouth. Will this be the greatest of 2008’s? It is hard to say now, but I am sure it is a contender and I am signing up right now to try it at 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years of age! Sadly, it tastes so good right now that I don’t think much will be kept.
Drink from 2022 to 2022
2007 Potensac, Médoc
Review Date: 03-31-2022
We paired this with a lovely New York steak after giving it an hour in the decanter. This wine impressed me very much with a great combination of dark color, dark cassis fruit, but medium to light body. That old school combination of ripeness without heaviness is getting to be rarer and rarer. It is also an incredibly clean wine, with no brett, only clean gravely minerality. The nose is kissed with a little tobacco from the French oak, but in the mouth I found it aqueux, delicate and far too easy to drink. The finish is long, lifted and the tannin is resolved. If you love old fashioned claret, don’t miss it. This combination of terroir, craft and time is rarely available at such a great price.
Drink from 2022 to 2022
Pierre Mineral Mesnil "Vieillie En Fût" Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 03-29-2022
This Champagne is almost too good to be true. It is made entirely from estate grown Mesnil Chardonnay, 50% of which spends six months in 600 liter oak barrels, and 50% reserves from the previous year which spend a full year in oak. This creamy, balanced blanc de blancs is not oaky in flavor at all, yet has the seamless texture that only wood treatment can bring. It is a super dry, mineral Champagne with finish that won't stop. It is hard not to compare it to the Krug Clos du Mesnil, which is also barrel fermented pure Mesnil! While it doesn't have the extra age of this famous bottle, it sure is good... and 1/20th the price!
Price:
$49.99
Laurent-Perrier "Grand Siècle" Iteration #25 Brut Champagne
Review Date: 03-16-2022
This iteration of Grand Siecle is 60% 20008 and has a pale white gold color and a wonderful bead of precise bubbles. The bouquet has high class brioche framed by hazelnut cream and subtle lime zest- what a perfume! In the mouth it reminded me very much of the few times I have tasted Coche-Dury Puligny Montrachet “Les Enseignieres” with a limey drive that shows so much concentration but also seems weightless. The finish went on and on- this is truly a wine of hidden power- the grace and balance hide the strength inside this great bottle
Drink from 2022 to 2022
Condesa "Clasica" Extra Dry Mexico City Gin (750ml)
Review Date: 03-12-2022
What an incredible bottle of gin! We had this in a big lineup of stone cold London Dry classics, and it showed so spectacularly that I didn't wait five minutes after the tasting to buy one for home. This does the trick that only the best of all drinks can do- it is super refreshing and also complex and interesting. I love the cooling juniper and exotic high tones from this gin- it is all together too good for gin and tonics!
Price:
$39.99
Trudon "Emblematis" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 11-03-2021
Our most exciting new value in Champagne is here, the Emblematis from Jerome Trudon. With more than three years of ageing on the lees, this all estate blend of 70% Meunier and 30% Pinot Noir should be more expensive... Luckily we buy direct and the dollar is strong! This wine has 50% reserves from older vintages and features subtle baguette toast and exotic yet elegant fruit on the nose and in the mouth. Since Jerome does not use malolactic, this wine has great focus and a finish that I would only expect from a wine costing 50% more!
Top Value!
Price:
$34.99
Billecart-Salmon "Le Rendez-Vous #2" Pinot Noir Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 11-02-2021
What a powerhouse! This Champagne is a statement on Pinot Noir from the region, and combines the hazelnut elegance of Verzenay's north facing slopes with the black cherry savor of Ambonnay's south facing slopes. Not only does it have presence and structure, but it also has a dry, lifted and chalky finish. Sadly, we only have a precious few bottles, and this will not be made again. Maybe next year it will be Chardonnay?
Price:
$109.99
Compass Box "Orchard House" Blended Scotch Malt Whisky (750ml)
Review Date: 10-02-2021
I would have bought this whisky at double the price. This offering from Compass Box is one of my biggest surprises of 2021, so much gentle fruit, deftly balanced with concentrated, natural malt and subtle rancio complexity. This is so much better than most single malt at the price and my favorite new release in many years. This is seamless and involved stuff!
Price:
$49.99
Nicolas Maillart "Platine" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 09-07-2021
This is the most exciting new Champagne producer that we have added to our lineup of direct imports in a very long time. This entirely estate-grown Champagne comes from plots in Ecuiel, Bouzy, and Villers-Allerand from mostly old, massal-selected plots. The four years of ageing on the lees have given this wine a lovely, creamy texture and beautiful, toasty aromas. You can feel the power of the Pinot Noir, with some subtle dark cherry fruit and savor. The most incredible thing about the wine is its complexity, which I found kaleidoscopic, something I am not used to in such a fairly priced wine. Every sip is a discovery!
Top Value!
Louis Roederer "Collection 242" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-29-2021
This is one of our best values in fine Champagne! This wine has a lovely fresh baked brioche nose framed by deep meyer lemon fruit with subtle hints of honey. In the mouth it has a precise bead and great texture- not just from the tiny bubbles- but also from the concentration of the wine underneath. It manages to have white fruit, citrus and bready complexity without becoming vinous or heavy. On the contrary, it is a fresh, finessed Champagne with a finish that had me coming back for more and more. What a treat.
Egrot Extra Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-13-2021
The Egrot Extra Brut is made for Champagne lovers who are looking for something extra crisp as an aperitif or to pair with oysters or other shellfish. This Champagne is composed of two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay, entirely from the 2010 harvest. It is dosed at just 2 grams per liter, but with over six years of aging on the lees, it does not come across as overly austere. It actually shows more creamy notes on the nose than the brut, perhaps because of the addition of softer wines from Mutigny from the sunny 2010 harvest. The cherry fruit has a slight hint of exoticism, but it snaps back into laser focus on the finish, which is as dry as Champagne can be without having a mean spirit. I love this with the Kumamoto oysters that we get from Hog Island Oyster Co. up in Tomales Bay this time of year—this Extra Brut richens up with the shellfish, and gets me shucking the next one!
Egrot Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-13-2021
Elisabeth and Jean-Marie are ready to wait for the wine to be right before selling it, and unlike any other producer we work with, their non-vintage Champagne is kept longer than the vintage. The Egrot Brut Champagne is based on 2011, with reserves from 2010, and the current batch has seen eight years on the lees. It is composed of 80% Pinot Noir from the grand cru of Ay and 20% Chardonnay from the 1er cru of Louvois and dosed at a little under 8 grams per liter. This wine has the silky texture and tiny streamers that only patience brings and I think you will be surprised at the finesse of this bottle. That being said, the power is still there, and I love this Champagne with full flavored, hot smoked salmon!
Top Value!
Price:
$34.99
Bollinger "Special Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-22-2021
Bollinger has a sterling reputation for standout quality in Champagne for a great reason—they do the hard work to make great Champagne, and their "Special Cuvée" is the standard bearer for their range. Along with Krug, Bollinger is the only grand marque to refuse to give up their barrels, which they still ferment the wine in to this day. They are located in the village of Aÿ, famous for being the chalkiest terroir for Pinot Noir in all of Champagne, and Aÿ is the soul of this blend. It is one of the fullest, most powerful non-vintages from the grand marques and also one of the driest. If you are a fan of Champagne and haven't tried this classic lately, you should!