Reviewers
- All Staff Reviews
- Aaron Hughes (10)
- Adam Winkel (97)
- Alex Leonardini (8)
- Alex Schroeder (149)
- Alex Pross (594)
- Alexandre Tweedie (7)
- Amy Monroe (1)
- Andrew Nunes (1)
- Andrew Kitz (1)
- Andrew Whiteley (125)
- Cindy Westby (60)
- Clyde Beffa Jr. (809)
- David Othenin-Girard (335)
- Dejah Overby (147)
- Diana Turk (125)
- Dulcinea Gonzalez (115)
- Gary Lai (56)
- Gary Westby (540)
- Greg St. Clair (389)
- Illya Haase (147)
- Jacques Moreira (704)
- Jason Marwedel (73)
- Jeffrey Jones (372)
- Joel Nicholas (29)
- John Flanigan (1)
- John Downing (80)
- John Majeski (296)
- Julio Santos (1)
- Kate Soto (11)
- Keith Mabry (432)
- Kirk Walker (276)
- Lilia McIntosh (44)
- Mandana Tourani (12)
- Michael Benoit (7)
- Michael Pires (14)
- Miles Philippe (7)
- Neal Fischer (33)
- Ralph Sands (222)
- Ryan Kewin (4)
- Ryan Moses (388)
- Ryan Woodhouse (891)
- Sal Rodriguez (34)
- Scott Beckerley (307)
- Shaun Green (82)
- Thomas Smith (357)
- Tom Martinez (1)
- Trey Beffa (183)
- Will Blakely (26)
- Zaitouna Kusto (3)
K&L Email Alerts
Sign up to receive custom alerts, new arrivals and the latest happenings from K&L Wines
Staff Favorites - Joe Manekin
Joe Manekin
| Send Email
|
Subscribe to My Sommelier Service
Joe arrived at our doors in February 2007 from far away, Washington, DC to be exact. Just so no one gets the wrong idea, though, he was merely earning a living in DC; Joe’s cultural identity, as well as his professional sports allegiances and, when he has a few drinks in him, his accent, are all Baltimore through and through. After working on the wholesale side of the business for nearly 4 years, Joe decided that he wanted to work wine retail with the best, so he emailed Cindy Westby at K&L and the rest is history. While Joe is well versed in a number of wine regions, he most enjoys the wines of Europe, though he is growing increasingly interested in the great wines of the Santa Cruz mountains. When he is not at K&L, Joe enjoys cooking, traveling, catching up on The Wire, doing occasional PR, booking and recording work for reggae band JohnStone (www.johnstonemusic.com), and writing for his wine, food and music blog, Old world Old School (www.oldworldoldschool.blogspot.com)
|
Reviews
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne (1.5L)
Review Date: 09-11-2018
The mere fact that this cuvee from Fallet Dart has a whopping seven years on the lees should immediately grab your attention. That said, it's not all about the lees, you need to start with great base wine. This is absolutely the case for this delicious bottle of Pinot Noir based bubbles made an hour west of Epernay. A bright nose loaded with citric fruits leads to a focused, lively, fresh and engaging palate. Compared to their also tasty Grande Reserve, this wine comes across as drier and slightly lower dosage. Fantastic value for money, and a likely selection for house Champagne at our place. If you are inclined to do the same, it will be super affordable at under $35!
Price:
$74.99
San Venanzio Fortunato Brut Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore
Review Date: 08-21-2018
This is fun, easy drinking prosecco, with an effortless balance between ripe appley fruit and fizz. It finishes dry, not bone dry, and is just really easy to drink! Wildly popular bubbles, and with good reason.
Price:
$15.99
2015 Lanessan, Haut-Médoc
Review Date: 06-12-2018
Got to love Lanessan! While this Haut Medoc property has invested and made some notable improvements in the winery over the past 8 or so years, I think it's important to note that whether it's the earthier 99's or 01s, or perhaps the slightly funkier back vintages of the mid 90's and earlier, these wines are amongst some of our absolute favorite Bordeaux values and have been for years. There is a snappy, slightly brushy, red currant quality to the fruit in this 2015, in an elegant, fresh frame that brings to mind the type of Bordeaux I would love to be served by the glass at a neighborhood bistro. Delicious young, and as I noted earlier, this has a fine track record of improving in bottle for many years. A must have Bordeaux for your table and your cellar.
1977 Graham's Vintage Port
Review Date: 11-06-2017
Graham's Vintage Port from a vintage as strong as 1977 is truly one of the greatest and most long lived wines around. This '77 shows all the trademark richness and generosity on the palate, with a lovely herbal and almost amaro-like complexity which certain fine vintage Ports begin to acquire after 40 years of bottle age. A great bottle of wine and ideal gift for 40th birthdays or anniversaries.
Billecart-Salmon "Sous Bois" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 10-23-2017
Containing base wine that is barrel fermented, and then given a generously long ageing on its lees, this cuvée is rich, elegant and expensive tasting. That said, given the quality of the base wine and the blocking of malolactic, there is a fine line of acidity marking this rich barrel aged Champagne, as well as a soft bead as well. A great Champagne for a meal, though for my taste I would be just as happy sipping on this and simple hors d'oeuvres as I would be enjoying it with a sumptuous meal.
Trudon "Emblematis" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-08-2017
During our recent Champagne tasting, we were discussing the Pinot Meunier grape - its unique personality, versatility, ability to make a delicious wine on its own and even its contribution of savory richness to the Krug house style. Well, we have a new Meunier based Champagne (70% PM, 30% PN) from Trudon, and it is delicious - a fantastic example of the power and tastiness of this grape variety. Juicy, subtly spicy and refreshing, Trudon Emblematis reminds me of Michel Loriot Brut Reserve, whose bottles I have nearly depleted in my cellar over the past couple years. I will surely be replacing them with Trudon. Delicious, and affordable, Champagne!
Bollinger "Special Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-07-2017
Oh man, is this good, soooo good! We have to be careful around here about picking favorites in the Champagne category, because the fact is that we all love Champagne and our current favorite may be bested by yet another delicious bottling before long. That said, for many of us, Bollinger is a long-time favorite amongst the grande marques, a true original and - without going into detail - a process that is ridiculously labor intensive, manual and expensive even for their Special Cuvee. With aromas of loquat, and a slightly savory, Beurre Blanc like note, the current bottling immediately drew me in in. It may be the 1/3 barrel fermented aspect of the base wine, the presence of 10-20 year old reserve wine, or my experience with the other great chalky soil based wine region of Europe, but I detected just a passing resemblance to Manzanilla here! A bright, delicious, complete and complex palate seals the deal and Bollinger continues to be one of my absolute faves.
Laurent-Perrier "La Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-07-2017
Laurent Perrier will soon be releasing a new bottling of their NV Brut, which will go by the name of "La Cuvee." It is not simply a re-launch with a neat new package (well it's that too, of course), but a wine that sees 5% more chardonnay - reflecting their recent purchase of another house with prime Chardonnay holding - as well as an additional 6 months ageing on the lees for a total of 3.5 years lees ageing. And how is the wine? Well, tasted side by side with a bottle of LP's former cuvee, there is a notable difference. Yellow and white fruits on the nose lead to a nicely rich palate, with great presence and autolytic, yeasty qualities. It's saline, intense, and dry, seemingly with a lower dosage than in the past. I like them both, though for my money this new release is definitely a step up!
Fallet-Dart "Grande Sélection" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-07-2017
The mere fact that this cuvee from Fallet Dart has a whopping seven years on the lees should immediately grab your attention. That said, it's not all about the lees, you need to start with great base wine. This is absolutely the case for this delicious bottle of Pinot Noir based bubbles made an hour west of Epernay. A bright nose loaded with citric fruits leads to a focused, lively, fresh and engaging palate. Compared to their also tasty Grande Reserve, this wine comes across as drier and slightly lower dosage. Fantastic value for money, and a likely selection for house Champagne at our place. If you are inclined to do the same, it will be super affordable at under $35!
Top Value!
Price:
$34.99
Caves Messias Santola "Crab Wine" Vinho Verde
Review Date: 06-12-2015
Beware the crab! This inexpensive summer sipper is a delicious, sweet-tart apple, slightly fizzy vinho verde and amongst our most popular wummer whites. Refreshing and so easy to drink!
Price:
$9.99
Alexandre Le Brun "Tradition" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 04-01-2015
A finely balanced Champagne, this is all Challah dough on the nose, which leads to a dry, elegant, tasty palate. We like to joke about the recent trendiness of the Aube, or Cotes des Bar, the warmer, southern zone that is closer to Chablis than to Epernay and the rest of Champagne. That said, wines as good as Le Brun's provide serious competition to the established names up north!
Price:
$34.99
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 05-07-2014
Carte Blanche is always tasty, a Champagne with a soft bead, nice toast, crowd appeal and great value. This current batch, though, based on the very strong 2008 vintage, is impressive. Brighter than usual, with great purity and tasty fruit, easily the most impressive batch we have received. I'd be happy with this at $40, but for $28 it's one of our great values right now.
Price:
$34.99
La Guita Manzanilla Sanlucar de Barrameda
Review Date: 07-04-2013
This is not white wine. It's as refreshing, more complex, and has a far more storied past than nearly any white wine I can think of. The wine is Manzanilla, the lightly fortified white wine aged for several years in old oak casks in the seaside town of Sanlucar de Barrameda. Bright, appley, with notes of sea spray and subtle suggestions of almonds, Manzanilla offers quintessential summer drinking, whether it is as an aperitive with snacks, to accompany cheese and charcuterie, or to pair with your favorite grilled, fried or cured seafoods. Give this a try and see what all the renewed interest in Manzanilla and Fino Sherry is all about!
2009 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph
Review Date: 07-09-2011
This is a great producer. Gonon's wines just seem to get better and better, and this 09 is no exception. A nose suggesting a recently re-paved road and intense plums is slightly pungent (as you might imagine) but still pretty. The fruit on the palate is pure dark fruit, soft and juicy, with excellent focus and no winery mucking around to take away from its purity. This is delicious, true syrah, one of our best right now.
2007 Cal Blanca Toro
Review Date: 04-02-2010
This is spectacular Tempranillo. Very dense and muscular, but incredibly mineral as well; you can almost sense the deep limestone soils in the structure of this wine. If you have liked other Tempranillo-based wines such as Numanthia Termes, Venta Mazzaron or, more recently, Federico, then know that this is right up there, arguably even finer than two of these three (with less noticeable oak as well) and every bit as good a value.
Ariston Aspasie "Brut Prestige" Champagne
Review Date: 03-31-2010
This shows the power and intensity of the great 2002 vintage in Champagne. Rich, yeasty, stone fruit inflected nose leads to a ripe, yet balanced palate - a fun wine for drinking.
Price:
$39.99
Michel Arnould "Réserve" Grand Cru Verzenay Brut Champagne
Review Date: 07-06-2009
Very, very good for the money. MIxed wild berry fruit show good richness with terrific cut and focus as well. Did I mention that this is a lot of wine for the money??
Price:
$34.99