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Staff Favorites - Alex Leonardini
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Reviews
Dérot-Delugny "Milieu Naturel" Blanc de Noirs Brut
Review Date: 11-16-2024
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, the Milieu Naturel 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.
Price:
$34.99
2019 Gilbert Jacquesson Vintage Brut Champagne
Review Date: 11-16-2024
Generously fruited and powerfully concentrated, the 2019 Gilbert Jacquesson Brut Champagne seamlessly blends rich brioche and a beautiful bouquet of crisp apple, juicy tangerine, and ripe strawberries with fresh, zippy acidity. The result is sunshine in a bottle; both toasty yet crisp and decidedly impossible not to jump from sip to glorious sip until the bottle finds itself empty.
Price:
$49.99
2021 Eric Kent "Sangiacomo - Green Acres" Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Review Date: 11-07-2024
The 2021 Eric Kent "Sangiacomo - Green Acres" Chardonnay hails from the Sangiacomo Vineyard's cool Green Acres block and is a selection of all Hyde clone vines. The result is both distinctly Californian and deeply rooted in old world style. Lemon curd, green apple, and struck flint bring nervy energy to the forefront of the palate but slowly shifts and softens into juicier pear and quince. Just a kiss of new oak (5-10%) lends a hint of baking spice to an otherwise chiseled wine. There is enough creamy texture to pair perfectly with comforting winter foods while retaining plenty of verve and acidity to draw you into each sip. This is expertly crafted Chardonnay.
Price:
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2022 Eric Kent "Small Town" Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Review Date: 11-07-2024
The 2022 Eric Kent "Small Town" Pinot Noir is bright and vibrant up front, with tart raspberry, rose petal, and wild strawberry broadening out into creamier red and black cherries in the midpalate. These softer fruits are joined by nutmeg, clove, dried flowers, and forest floor as the site's coastal proximity balances the wine's bright, lifted profile. Fine-grained tannins are perfectly balanced by lively acidity, making the wine both incredibly drinkable and perfectly food friendly.
Price:
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Egrot Brut Champagne
Review Date: 10-22-2024
The Egrot Brut Champagne is a wonderfully approachable and delicious sparkler 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:
$34.99
2016 Damien Hugot Grand Cru "Cramant" Blanc de Blancs Millesime
Review Date: 10-04-2024
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:
$59.99
Krug "Grande Cuvée" 172ème Édition Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-30-2024
Krug "Grande Cuvee" in almost any edition is a wine so electrifyingly good and kaleidoscopically complex that it's almost difficult to review. The 172Eme, based on the 2016 vintage rather than the warmer, more opulent 2015 base of the previous edition, includes a whopping 42% reserve wines from as far back as 1998. The result is simultaneously tightly wound and incredibly expansive, with a sphere of toasty brioche, roasted nuts, frangipane, and ground nutmeg barely containing the wine's reverberating core of lemon drizzle and green apple. The crackling acidity cracks through, carrying the flavors through a long, fractal-like finish. I find few wines in these upper cost echelons to be worth the money, but Krug, and especially the Krug 172Eme, is one of the very few worth saving up for. The wine just doesn't let up, and it certainly never disappoints.
2013 Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 08-24-2024
Whoa. The 2013 Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne" a wine of seismic proportion. The nose is incredibly expressive, with tropical mango and passion fruit, baked green apple, lemon curd, and buttery, freshly baked croissant all leaping from the glass. The palate is equally open and intense, with layer upon layer of complexity. Tropical fruits shift into citrus before that buttery brioche croissant unfolds and is joined by baked apple and pear. Then, before you can take the next sip, the flavors rebound and unfurl all over again. It's hard to call a $190 bottle of wine a value proposition but, compared to its adversaries on the Tete de Cuvee shelf, I find it difficult not to make that argument.
2023 Xanadu "Estate" Chardonnay Margaret River Western Australia
Review Date: 08-23-2024
Focused and angular, with enough textural complexity to appeal to a wide variety of palates and a level of tension well beyond its price-point, the 2023 Xanadu Chardonnay is an absolute triumph of a wine. Crisp green apple, freshly sliced pear, and salty ocean air combine with a lightening strike of acidity, while a touch of nutty, lees-y richness adds depth and dimension. The wine crackles across the palate, electric in its freshness, before rounding out into a long, gently supple finish. This is the kind of acid/texture balance usually reserved for great white Burgundy and coastal California Chardonnay that costs 3-4x the price. This wine is absolutely addicting.
2020 BK Wines "Gower" Pinot Noir Adelaide Hills South Australia
Review Date: 08-15-2024
The 2020 BK Wines "Gower" Pinot Noir is a wacky, wild ride of a wine. The wine is pale brick in color, shattering expectations of what young Pinot Noir should look like in the glass. Take a waft, however, and the wine is vivacious and otherworldly- delicate yet full of complexity. Aromas of fresh game, forest floor, Enoki mushrooms, and grilled white cherry permeate the senses with unexpected persistence. The palate strikes with surprising intensity, simultaneously deeply savory and lifted and fresh. Dried flowers and a touch of salinity join the wide palette of aromatics, and the finish spirals on and on. Wild a ride as it may be, it's one I don't want to end.
2022 Division "Un" Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
Review Date: 08-14-2024
The 2022 Division "Un" Pinot Noir leaps from the glass with spiraling aromatics of cranberry, minerality, and dried flowers. The palate is equally lifted with bright, crunchy strawberry and cranberry fruits that are lent backbone by crushed, dried flowers and volcanic minerality. This is the perfect Pinot Noir for the summer.
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:
$59.99
Baron Fuente "Quinconce" Brut Rosé Champagne (formerly Esprit)
Review Date: 06-20-2024
The fan-favorite Baron Fuente "Esprit" Rose is back and better than ever under it's new "Quinconce" name. This 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Meunier still utilizes the Saignee method of making rose to craft a Rose Champagne with richness and texture. Creamy cherry and strawberry fruits are underpinned with crushed, dried rose petals and a subtle suggestion of toast, and the rich texture and hint of tannin structure lend a wonderfully food-friendly nature to the wine. This makes an incredible case for being the best value alternative to Laurent-Perrier Rose.
Price:
$39.99
Petiau Brut "Carte d'Or" Champagne
Review Date: 06-20-2024
The Petiau "Cote D'Or" Champagne is the perfect combination of fresh and toasty. Flavors of freshly baked sourdough and toasted French bread underpin an amply fruited core of yellow apple, white peach, and juicy pear. The "Cote D'Or" bottling shows a more toasty complexion than the "Grande Reserve" while still finishing dry and crisp. This makes for tasty drinking.
2019 Jonata "Todos" Ballard Canyon Red Blend
Review Date: 04-30-2024
The 2019 Jonata Ballard Canyon Red Blend sits purple and opaque in the glass, a dense and brooding ball of intensity. The nose doesn't lift from the glass so much as it pulls you in, relaying the full, muscular structure that awaits the palate. Charred cedar, charcoal, and earth wrap around grilled herbs, black pepper, and graphite while blackberry fruit provides a juicy, softening counterpoint. The wine is broadly structured and firm, just waiting to be paired with smoked brisket or well seared steak. This is serious wine with depth of complexity to match the density and richness it exhibits.
2009 Blagden "Monte Rosso Vineyard" Moon Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 04-16-2024
One of the most common questions I field in Redwood City is, "Where's your section of aged California Cab?" Aside from the occasional old and rare gem, most of which require you to open your wallet wider than many are comfortable with, well aged domestic Cab just doesn't come by like it does for Bordeaux. In that way, this 2009 Blagden "Monte Rosso Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit of an enigma. 15 years of age, massale-selection vines, and a top quality vineyard designation, all for $40? Oh, yes. And the kicker: the wine is absolutely stunning. Cigar box, cedar, and leather intermingle with redcurrant and red plum skin on the nose, and the wine continues to open and expand with more and more air. The palate is equally fresh and spicy, with red plum and incense, cedar and currant, spicebox and leather all coming together in harmony. This isn't big, concentrated, ultra-modern Napa. This is a wine that harkens back to the golden age of California wine, and to those wineries who prioritize balance and ageability. So open a bottle, grill up a steak, and enjoy.
Price:
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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.
2022 Walter Scott "La Combe Verte" Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Review Date: 11-16-2023
Clear and precise, the 2022 Walter Scott 'La Combe Verte' Chardonnay opens with notes of noble reduction: struck flint and matchstick. Give the wine some air and those reductive notes transition into steely aromas of graphite, rock salt, and oyster shell, with white peach, orange zest, honeysuckle, and orange blossom adding layers of complexity. The wine's structure is pulled taut between steely, minerally acidity and a doughy softness lent by full malo. An excellent example of how great Oregon Chardonnay can be.
2019 Martin Woods "Havlin Vineyard" Van Duzer Corridor Chardonnay
Review Date: 11-07-2023
The 2019 Martin Woods "Havlin Vineyard" Chardonnay is another shining example of the astounding quality to be found in Oregon Chardonnay. Hailing from the cool, windy Van Duzer Corridor-a gap in the coastal range that funnels cold ocean air into the valley-the wine rolls savory, minerally, and fruity all into one. White peach, pear, and candied lemon peel mingle with flavors of vanilla bean and creme brulee while chalky, struck match minerality reverberates around the edges. This isn't your ultra-lean, ultra-high acid Chard; there's enough weight to the body to balances the nervy acidity through a savory finish. There's a lot of stuffing here for sub-$30.
2008 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart" NFB Brut Champagne
Review Date: 04-12-2023
The 2008 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvee Nicolas Francois" is very serious stuff. This wine leans more toward power than Billecart's typically elegant style, but without tipping the scales in that direction while maintaining a balancing freshness. Confectionary notes of lemon tart, baked apple, and honeycomb fall into a lush bed of pie crust, toasted almond, marzipan, and hazelnut while the finish rounds back out to a long, clean line of white stone fruit flecked with minerality. I can't exactly call a wine with this price tag a value, but if you're looking at the upper echelons of Champagne and can't decide, well, this suddenly seems like an obvious choice.
2021 Chalone Vineyard "Estate Grown" Chalone Pinot Noir
Review Date: 04-05-2023
The 2021 Chalone “Estate Grown” Pinot Noir perfectly balances the lush fruit of California Pinot Noir and the intense minerality that comes from vines grown on such drastic limestone mountainsides. Plush cherry, red plum, and pomegranate complement underpinnings of graphite and wet river stones beautifully while fresh rosemary and thyme layer over top. Fresh, juicy acidity carries both red fruit and minerality through a lingering finish and into each next sip. How so much complexity is wrapped into a sub-$30 package is baffling, but you won’t find me telling anyone to raise the price.