Reviewers
- All Staff Reviews
- - Operations Culver City (1)
- Aaron Hughes (10)
- Adam Winkel (97)
- Alex Leonardini (8)
- Alex Pross (644)
- Alexandre Tweedie (7)
- Andrew Nunes (1)
- Cindy Westby (60)
- David Othenin-Girard (335)
- Dejah Overby (147)
- Dulcinea Gonzalez (115)
- Gary Lai (56)
- Gary Westby (540)
- Jacques Moreira (704)
- Jason Marwedel (73)
- 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)
- Orazio Campoli (4)
- Ralph Sands (222)
- Ryan Moses (457)
- Ryan Woodhouse (891)
- Sal Rodriguez (34)
- Scott Beckerley (307)
- Shaun Green (81)
- Thomas Smith (359)
- Tom Martinez (1)
- Will Blakely (26)
K&L Email Alerts
Sign up to receive custom alerts, new arrivals and the latest happenings from K&L Wines
Staff Favorites - Alexandre Tweedie
|
Reviews
Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Les Amoureux" Pinot Blanc Champagne
Review Date: 01-16-2025
The hidden gem of a Secret Champagne Grape, the sheer lack of produce to fill a press-load each vintage, the absolute purity of minerality and lift - Jean Jacque Lamoureaux's "Le Amoureux" ticks every box for a Special Bottle of Bubbles, and it's finally back in stock after five long years of low-yielding vintages! Sun-dried white flowers dance from the glass, leading to an electric display of green apple purity, touches of bakery warmth and *gentle* toast compliment layers and layers of uplifted marine minerality, lounging between silky and oceanic. A rare treat, a special grape, a delicious bottle!
Price:
$49.99
2022 Norris "Norris McKinley Estate" Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir
Review Date: 01-13-2025
Hailing from the *tiniest* AVA in Oregon, Norris's '22 bottling of Ribon Ridge pinot noir shows off the purity of fruit and minerality that this unique region has to offer - sweet earthen tones of moss and myrtle circle the glass, while black cherries and pomegranate zest enliven the nose with touches of fresh fruit and spice. Throughout this wines lengthy and winding finish, the palate balances fresh fruits and earthy savor dexterously, slowing fading and transitioning from fresh cherries and violets to dried cranberries and toasted moss . A stellar bottle of AVA specific style, at an even more stellar price!
Price:
Hidden
2021 Château de Pibarnon Bandol
Review Date: 01-06-2025
Bandol Rouge with every piece of the puzzle neatly in line and bursting from the glass. Spices of all genre float above dense, jet-black berry fruit - nutmeg dust & Chinese cinnamon bark anchor the intense spice of the nose, while floral tones of coastal scrub and garrigue transition to semi-masculine hints of cologne and musk. The palate is filled edge to edge with rich, ripe red fruits, tucking dark cherries and crème de cassis at the center of the show. Easy enough to learn that I absolutely adore Mourvèdre, and when it comes down to it, Bandol is king and Pibarnon is a happy Prince!
Price:
$54.99
2016 Legacy (Stonestreet) Alexander Valley Chardonnay
Review Date: 01-03-2025
Compared to their 2013 vintage, Stonestreet's 2016 Legacy bottling shows a more pronounced penchant for acidity and herbal characteristics - bright and clean aromatics of fresh bee balm, dried white verbena flowers, with touches of wild honey spinning around the edges of these herbal tones. The palate has a lifted, focused acidity that peels right into a rockier minerality when compared again to the 2013, the minerality is still river-stone dominant, but just a hint more lively, think roughly hewn riverbed rocks as opposed to slow rounded stones, in a very positive manner! With this mineral lift in mind, the palate pays a touch closer attention to crisp orchard fruits of green apple and lime, while still allowing depth from oak to flesh out and deepen the tenser fruit on display. Blow-torch roasted pineapples, slices of sea-salted green apple, playful corners of toasted marshmallow and vanilla bean - a truly stellar deal for a truly stellar library release California Chardonnay!
2022 Mitchell Masotti Sonoma County Proprietary Red Blend
Review Date: 12-02-2024
For $15, this well crafted blend of Sonoma fruit has absolutely no business being this good! A cool spearmint earthiness opens from the glass, leading to aromatics of softened leather, sweet cigar spices, with heaps of fresh black and red fruit - juicy blackberries and plums with soft edges of vanilla bean and bakers chocolate, this wine has everything that I'd desire from a bottle of Sonoma red at an absolute fraction of the price - fresh, filling, and absolutely friendly, Masotti's Sonoma blend is a total shoe in for Holiday Star Status!
Price:
Hidden
2012 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Louis" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 11-15-2024
If Billecart Salmon has one mission in the creation of their champagne it is this: Preserve Freshness. Good lord, this champagne is pure freshness captured from the spring of life itself. A bakery that just turned its lights off for the night, a salted tortilla with just-cut garden fresh Pico, the smell of brine on the beach of a well deserved vacation, mussels in white wine butter, a coral reef.....Cuvee Louis is a sheer master class on how to capture the pure essence a season, with cascading flavors of which none are identical, and complexity is inherent. Once in a while I am shown a bottle like this 2012 Cuvee Louis, take notes, and suddenly my writing on this one wine is a page and a half long list of flavors, adjectives, ideas, even concepts - most of them all: freshness.
2023 Union Sacré Monterey County Pinot Noir
Review Date: 11-12-2024
Tasting Union Sacre's '23 Monterey Pinot here in November has brought me some deep joy through the early winter rains and sudden chill weather, because oh *man* this pinot is just pure summer fun and freshness in a bottle! Pure and pristine cherry drops, splashes of squeezed watermelon juice, with bright pops of wild strawberries and pomegranate zest. If you're reading this under the gloom of Northern-California winter, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of Union Sacre's '23 Pinot - at less than $25 for a bottle it's definitely cheaper than a flight to Sunny San Diego, but almost just as fresh and vibrant - a total joy of a wine for when winter wears you down!
2020 Guarachi "G" Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 11-11-2024
Due to the high stress of Atlas Peak's elevation and intensely low vigor volcanic soils, Gaurachi was able to harvest their small yielding 2020 harvest just a few weeks before the outbreak of the Glass Fire, saving this pristine fruit from smoky demise and ultimately crafting a stunning bottle of pure Atlas cabernet. Pouring into the glass almost darker than midnight, the sheer intensity that this mountain top site provides the fruit is immediately evident - eclipsing layers of heady blackberry and jet-black forest fruits, surrounded with a masculine tannin structure that feels big but very well integrated. Pervasive and forward minerality punches up the dark fruit of the palate, like a #2 pencil that scrawls out notes in espresso powder and blackberry crème. This is one of the *best* Napa wines from the 2020 vintage that I have tasted to date, nothing feels adjusted or hidden to fix a notion of smoke taint - this wine is pure, smoke free, and truly delicious.
2019 Derby Estate "Fifteen 10" Templeton Gap District Paso Robles Red Blend
Review Date: 11-11-2024
Chocolate cherry confections dipped in a gentle mint glaze - Derby's 15-10 Rhone Blend is next up in our holiday deal extravaganza, just in time for thanks giving celebrations. A blurred line between baking and cooking spices, light menthol touches and savory herbs mingle together, lifting up juicy red fruits with a great sense of spiciness and balance. With a central core of plump & sweet-toned red fruits, this blend will absolutely love to be drank along side stuffing and cranberry sauce, much less every turkey sandwich that will be crafted post-thanksgiving dinner - once again over delivering at its holiday price point, 15-10 is incredibly food friendly, and ready for any holiday occasion!
2021 T Berkley "Ophelia" Sonoma Valley Cabernet Franc
Review Date: 10-28-2024
I love Cabernet Franc, I love Sonoma Valley, I love this wine! Densely layered with purple flower petals, fresh tilled black earth, and gorgeous shades of dried fruit and harvest preserves. A tannin structure that reminds me of a walnut liqueur like Nocino - drying and tingly, but these tannin transition back into the semi-bitter notes violet flowers, enhancing a greater picture of depth and layering. Fig spread, pine thistles, fir tree tops, and not a single note of bell pepper or poblano (the classic pyrazines that can sometimes turn consumer off from Cabernet Franc), so if you're a Franc skeptic, Ophelia might just be able to change your mind entirely on the varietal - Favorite Cab Franc of the entire year here for me, just dead-set delicious!
2022 Paringa "Peninsula" Pinot Noir Mornington Peninsula
Review Date: 10-21-2024
Just south of Melbourne across the Port Phillip Bay lies the windswept, cool climate Pinot Paradise of the Mornington Peninsula, where wines of pure freshness and energy can be crafted with the ocean breezes flowing north from the Bass Strait. This chilly oceanic outlook brings the wines from Paringa an immediate sense of lift, with vine-fresh black fruit aromatics jumping from the glass. An unshakable core of acidity carries this fresh fruit up and down the palate, with dashes of pomegranate juice and plump black cherry to balance the cold climate brightness. If you typically imagine Australian Reds as being heavy handed and regally rich, hop across Melbourne and across the Bay to the chilly restraint of the Mornington Penninsula - freshness awaits!
2022 Bojador "Vinoho de Talha" Tinto Alentejo
Review Date: 10-21-2024
Ancestral techniques, ancient clay vessels, generational knowledge passed down through centuries of vilification: this is this wine culture of Alentejo, these are the wines Bojador! Comprised of three grapes that are rarely, if ever, seen outside of Portugal, much less the sub-region of Alentejo (40% Trincadeira, 30% Moreto, 30% Tinta Grossa), the nose and palate of this wine is familiar and foreign at the same time. Opening etches of fresh pressed red fruits lead to aromatics of moist clay and warm leather, with more subtly savory undertones resting gently below fresh layers of plum and purple orchard fruits. If you've had amphora aged wine in the past and felt it was a little too rustic or earthy, give clay a second chance with Bojador's '22 Tinto: the amphora is gentle, well comprised, and well crafted, providing considerably restrained touches of petrichor and moistened cigar wrapper to the aromatics. Amphora doesn't have to be funky, and with Bojador it's delicious!
Price:
$21.99
2020 Argot Wines Bennett Valley Chardonnay
Review Date: 10-18-2024
For a few years now, Argot's wines have struck a consistent chord me, and that is one of bottling "scenes" - moments and memories, that "sense of place" you hear so often in the wine world is front and center with every vintage. Their 2020 chardonnay is a scene of harvest time at an heirloom apple orchard: deeply phenolic scents of flint and wool lead the nose, which provide the groundwork for a style of minerality that reminds me of the warmth of the sun on a windy autumn day - Freshly fallen golden apples lay in their harvest baskets, with gentle white flowers dancing in the wind. The palate fleshes this golden apple out fantastically, leading to more warm feelings of orchard fruits slowly baking in the oven, with a hint of short-crust and moist filo dough, structed by gentle, yet present, weight on the palate to providing a soft cushion for this apple tartlet. All of this warm harvest tonality is wrapped up nicely with a fine center line of acidity to compliment and prop up the softer side of the golden fruit. Argot is capturing moments in a bottle like no one else in their area - reach for a bottle of their 2020 chardonnay, reach for the gentle warmth of Harvest Season!
2022 Patricia Green "Freedom Hill Vineyard" Mt. Pisgah Pinot Noir
Review Date: 10-18-2024
With the cooling effect of the Van Duzer corridor just to the west, the fruit grown in Freedom Hill Vineyard experiences a longer growing season, allowing the Pinot Noir to ripen slower over time and develop full phenolic ripeness - this longer, more even growing seasons helps craft the world class wines of Patricia Green, presenting us with Lovely winter spices and fresh herbs that wrap around a layered presentation of crisp rainier cherries and crimson forest berries. With a gentle nose of fresh picked violets and subtly earthen hints of forest floor savor and delight. Patricia strikes a key balance between ripe fruits and earthy undertones with an acid structure that calls to mind the tart tonalities of a pomegranate: a bright, pith driven crunch that leads to juicy fruit and reward. Though only two years old as an official AVA, at this special pricing you are now more able than ever to experience the beautiful balance that the fruit of Mt. Pisgah and Freedom Hill brings to the Oregon Wine World!
2023 Argot Wines "Steiner Vineyard" Sonoma Mountain Sauvignon Blanc
Review Date: 10-17-2024
From their 2023 harvest on Sonoma Mountain, Argot has absolutely captured spring breeze in a bottle - an airy breeze carrying delectable scents of nectarine fruit, with peach skin and juicy honeydew balancing and playing off of each other fantastically - a "fruitier" presentation of Sauvignon Blanc, but one that is tamped with a splash of ocean salt and mountain air. The palate dances between more nectarine fruit and musk melon, like a fruit platter served at a chic garden party in Healdsburg - Argot is in the business of making great wine, and bottling moments with memories in a way that feels honest and true, not just a marketing story - pure spring time in a bottle, absolutely stellar wine!
Price:
$22.95
2023 Swinney Mourvedre Rosé Frankland River
Review Date: 09-20-2024
Swinney's estate is all bush-trained vines, planted in 1998 directly on the banks of the Frankland River in remote Western Australia - for a grape that likes its face in the sun and its feet in the water, Mourvèdre is perfectly at home, and beautifully crafted into this bottle of Rose. Pristine dried flowers flow from the glass, like the freshness of spring air after gentle rains, leading to orange blossoms and cool ocean saline. The palate is very polished and glossy, with glistening field strawberries, sandy rhubarb stalks and juicy rainier cherries, bundle together with small dashes of river salt and flower shop savor. For me as a consumer, Mourvèdre is the be-all and end-all grape for perfect rose, needing just the right heat and proper water access in delicate balance, and Swinney has perfectly captured what it means to grow world class Mourvèdre, no wonder they're also a key contract grower for Penfolds! This is my absolute favorite rose from West Australia's '23 Harvest, if not one of my favorite Australian wines in general!
2016 Amapola Creek "Cuvée Alis" Sonoma Valley Rhône Blend
Review Date: 09-16-2024
Driven purely by the sweet harmony of maturity, Amapola Creek's 16 Cuvee Alis is a feast of secondary and tertiary notes - the nose speaks to the age of the bottling, presenting a semi-sweet earthy timbre that reminds me of sun-dried burlap, the spice of a root-beer-barrel candy (think sassafras root - not sugar-sweet but heavily spiced), and freshly milled nutmeg powder. All of this spice and musk on the nose transmute to an earthy presentation of fruit on the palate with blackberry reduction, perfumed cherries and one of my favorite "fruit" notes to find in well aged GSM - squash! Like the savory sweetness of a brown sugar-baked butternut squash, not quite 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 vegetal, and definitely not "fruity"! Though made from the classic Rhône GSM varieties, if you're a fan of well-aged Médoc Bordeaux or earth-dominant California Zinfandel, this blend will feel deeply at home to you - a personal favorite!
2022 Oakridge "Willowlake Vineyard" Chardonnay Yarra Valley Victoria
Review Date: 09-11-2024
Like river stones plucked from a cool flowing stream and nestled gently in a cotton pouch, Oakridge's 2022 Willowlake Chardonnay presents a wine of gentle weight, lined with an all encompassing sense of dexterity and complexity. Finely woven layers of quince, fresh white peach skins and Bartlett pear zest highlight the pretty aromatics, while a bright center line of acid lies at the heart of this wine, lifting the rich palate's stone & orchard fruit up and into the cool breeze. I am a constant fan of almost any wine from the Yarra Valley, and Oakridge has been consistently delicious and deeply rewarding for several vintages in a row - not just a "value wine", Oakridge truly is making singular wines with a distinct sense of place, their home in the Yarra Valley!
2023 Diatom Santa Barbara County Chardonnay
Review Date: 09-01-2024
Bright and fresh as the day is long - Diatom's '23 release is packed with hyper-pure notes of white peach skin, sun-dried linens, and clear-as-glass lime fruit. The nose is a delightful journey of flowery jasmines and linden blossom, with delicate hints of pestle ground spearmint and caraway seed. So pretty and aromatically inviting, with precise and taught acidity that highly compliment the citrus-flower dance of the nose. Minerals of pulverized river stones, small flashes of flint, and dare I say - Diatomaceous Earth! Not as forwardly peachy and fruited as the '22 vintage, '23 brings in more nerve and tension, showcasing a clearer vision of citrus and lift, anchored by a mineral core that drives home the precision sought in these wines - a stellar vintage for Diatom!
2019 Stolpman "Estate - Own Rooted Field Blend" Ballard Canyon Red Blend
Review Date: 08-31-2024
Plump fruit with a lighter styled body, Stolpman's 2019 Field Blend is a juicy delight of soft fruit and great acidity. My key note for the fruit on this blend is
"Blueberry Pie Perfume" ten different times in a row -cinnamon spice, sandy minerals, a solid splash of earthy pepper on the finish, but in between those notes? Blueberry Pie! Like if short crust and blueberries fell into the fermenter, this wine brings absolutely killer blue fruit sheathed in a solid layer of minerals, and the fruit glistens! If you're in the mood for a little juicy delight, jump right to Stolpman's Field Blend.
2019 Stolpman "Estate - So Hot" Ballard Canyon Syrah
Review Date: 08-24-2024
Delectable nose of hearty redcurrant fruit, blackening spices, with a savory anchoring of bacon fat and fond pan-sauce. Herbal fruit in the palate, blackberries rinsed with sage smoke, curtailed by a mineral core of sandstone and volcanic rock. Bright acid, great crunch, and a lengthy finish of cracked pepper!
2021 Rocky Pond "11 Dams - DD Vineyard" Columbia Valley Red Blend
Review Date: 08-07-2024
Dark black cherries, shavings of bakers chocolate, slow drip café mocha, wrapped with intensely lifted baking spices and Autumn wind - A slowly rolling palate of soft plums & blackberries, with a noticeable (and very welcoming) weight from the Malbec to shift and balance the dark fruit brooding in the blend. Incense and roasting smoke twinkle through the finish, landing on sundrenched saddle leather and strands of twine - A Malbec focused blend that feels balanced and deft, never weighed down or needlessly heavy, all with good tension and depth!
2021 Buehler "Papa's Knoll - Estate" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 08-07-2024
A truly sleek bottle of pure California Heritage, "Papa's Knoll" ups the ante of Buehler's classic take on Napa Cabernet, adding in focused layers of bright, ripe vine fruit, with ample structure and spice to compliment the richer toned fruit. A dashing nose of spiced fig jam, sweet cigar wrap, and elegantly "dusty" purple fruit align fantastically to the tingly tannin & focused punch of the palate. Camphor, chalk dust, dry tilled earth, burlap fabric - a true feast of aromatics, pushing beyond the bounds of stereotypical Napa Cab - "Papa's Knoll" is a welcome break in the road of over-extracted and overly-masculine Napa wine, all at an absolutely stellar price.
Maison Laudacius "Laudacius" Brut Nature Montlouis Methode Traditionnnelle
Review Date: 08-04-2024
Laser focused chenin blanc, like lemon crema under a microscope - brightly driven citrus with a mineral core of spring-washed river stones. Pure mineral tones of quartz and limestone add tension to the bubbles, but the year of lee contact softens the intensity *just* enough to feel forgiving and inviting, fleshing ripe pears and creamy citrus. When you need a little kick with your little bubbles, Maison Laudacius has you covered top to bottom!
2021 Trefethen "Dragon's Tooth - Estate" Oak Knoll District Proprietary Red
Review Date: 08-04-2024
Don't let the dominant inclusion of Malbec in this blend give you the wrong idea - instead of the soft and plush Malbec so lauded from Argentina, Dragon's Tooth is a bold, spice driven powerhouse of amplified richness. A nose of bubbling plum compote sitting on a warm stove plate, a coffee scent like mocha-crème latte fresh from the café, and *bright* spices in the breeze of an herb shop. Well structured and glistening tannin wrap the fruit of this blend, charting way to richly robed purple/black fruits of plums and black cherries. With judicious shavings of bakers chocolate, mocha dust and nutmeg powder through the finish, this is a blend you'd be hard pressed to find from anyone other than Trefethen - an intriguingly inventive style that is showing absolutely lovely sip after sip - let the spice drive!
2021 Buehler "Estate" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 08-02-2024
Rich & dark, filled with layers of blackberry tartlet, floral tinged compote and a stony mineral structure to blanket the abundant black fruit - Buhler's 2021 Cabernet is a classically made and styled Napa wine with a bright, punchy lift that just begs for a big dinner. If you're in the mood for Big & Bold, Buhler balances opulent depth with substantial spice and tannin, fashioning one absolutely classic bottle of Big Napa.
2019 Skylark "Rodgers Creek Vineyard" Sonoma Coast Syrah
Review Date: 07-22-2024
An aromatic gear slipped into overdrive, Skylark's "Rodgers Creek" Syrah reminds me of a cologne you would wear to a Midnight Michelin Meetup - Suede dusted with sandalwood incense, forest air as the sun sets in the north woods, crushed marigold and sunflower musk - dark, masculine, an air of mystery. A palate lined with savory-sweet pink peppercorns & blackening spice, with foraged forest fruit tucked into the center of the savor. This decidedly handsome bottling of Coastal Syrah will find its place at dinner nestled among the smoke of a wood fire, on the heat of the grill, and on the char of the roasting pan - absolutely delicious.
2018 Puygueraud, Côtes de Bordeaux
Review Date: 07-15-2024
Short crust and pie filling on the nose, sweet/supple black fruits of cassis and blackberry warmly linger through the finish - little potential notes of earth and graphite dance around the fruit, showing promise into the next decade. One of the easiest choices in Bordeaux for steak night!
2021 Beau Vigne "Cult" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 07-07-2024
Deep, filling blackberries lead the charge on this Napa Cab, while splashes of Bay Laurel in the air & camphor wrap the fruit up nicely as to never feel overly-rich, or one-dimensionally fruited. Tingly, boisterous tannin beg for a Big Dinner, and the rich dark fruit drives far into the finish, revealing ending notes of tempered bakers chocolate and spice-drawer aromatics. Modern Napa, but without the massive pricing of many other Cults in town!
Petiau Brut Grande Réserve Champagne
Review Date: 06-25-2024
An 'entry level' champagne that feels like anything but 'beginner', and makes you doubt your need to move beyond the entrance - Petiau Grande Reserve. For starters, this wine experiences five years on the lees before bottling, an astoundingly long (and costly!) process for a wine that doesn't even cost $40, but one that shows to me the level of care that Petiau shows when making even their 'entry level' champagne. Clean and bright orchard pear, a hint of savory oceanic fossil-minerality, and tagged with a mile long finish of creamy short crust - Petiau has been my Grower Of The Year so far, and continues to impress with each bottle!
Top Value!
Price:
$34.99
Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Brut Nature Champagne (formerly Esprit)
Review Date: 06-02-2024
Old fan of the K&L Favorite "Baron Fuente Esprit" line? Welcome back! A new name, Quinconce (a name that references champagne bottles stacked head to toe like sardines in a tin), but the same classic Brut Nature Champagne. So evocative and pretty on the nose, with a bright limestone core holding up crunchy, freshly picked green apples on the palate, and a tingly, acid driven finish lead you back for a second glass. My old friend Esprit is the exact same as I fondly remember it to be, just with a fresh new name. Hello Quinconce!
Price:
$34.99
Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne (formerly Esprit)
Review Date: 06-02-2024
Old fan of the K&L Favorite "Baron Fuente Esprit" line? Welcome back! A new name, Quinconce (a name that references champagne bottles stacked head to toe like sardines in a tin), but the exact same classic Blanc De Blanc Champagne! The scent of almond croissants baked four houses down dances on the wind and out of the glass, with a leesy palate of baked apples and pie crust that almost wont finish - an absolute marathon of an elegant champagne. My old friend Esprit is the exact same as I fondly remember it to be, just with a fresh new name. Hello Quinconce!
Price:
$39.99
Michel Arnould "La Grande Cuvée" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-02-2024
Imagine you're zesting limes to garnish a freshly charred creme brulee - You just woke up on a boat in the middle of Atlantic ocean and the ship captain offers you a loaf of fresh baked sourdough - you fell asleep in a field beneath the Mountains of The Marne and are awoken to the sound of a farmer crunching into apple he just picked from the tree above you. Michel Arnould's "La Grande Cuvee" is a champagne that makes me imagine, and scratches my desire for inspiration. I love this champagne.
Price:
$39.99
2018 Michel Arnould "Memoire de Vignes" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-02-2024
"The tank that ferments this champagne is smaller than our break-room fridge" - Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer. With such a small amount of vinified wine, a *tiny* allocation of this champagne was shipped to us this year, and what an absolute delight. Made of 100% Pinot Noir from the three oldest blocks in Arnould's vineyard, this champagne is French Dessert Course in a fully dry bottle. Like Tarte Tatin wrapped in glass for protection, little honey drizzled croissants and candied cashews sing praises of savor and depth in this wine's resounding finish. A truly special wine, from a truly tiny production. Old vine beauty, through and through.
Price:
$69.99
2011 Michel Arnould "Cuvée B 50" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-02-2024
All Grand Cru Fruit, all Barrel Fermented, all decadence! 50:50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - '11 was a cold and wet year, and the Chardonnay approached perfect phenolic ripeness! Slow baked cinnamon apples (like 125 degrees for 36 hours kind of slow bake), bold toasty richness, and highly surprising finish of *fresh* garden & grove fruit. This is a *SERIOUS* bottle of Grower Champagne, one that even the Grand Marques would be proud of!
Price:
$99.99
Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Brut Champagne (formerly Esprit)
Review Date: 06-02-2024
Old fan of the K&L Favorite "Baron Fuente Esprit" line? Welcome back! A new name, Quinconce (a name that references champagne bottles stacked head to toe like sardines in a tin), but the exact same classic Brut champagne. Structured, textural, glidingly elegant acid drives this champagne forward, with crisp orchard field fruits and bright pop of candied ginger on the far finish (more of a sensation than a taste). My old friend Esprit is the exact same as I fondly remember it to be, just with a fresh new name. Hello Quinconce!
Price:
$34.99
Petiau "Cuvée Prestige" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 06-02-2024
Six years on the lees for $49.99 is *not* a common sight here in the U.S., but one that Petiau views as absolutely key to their identity and their champagne. Deeply layered lime crema with fresh & leesy dough on the nose, Petiau has yet again shown the wonders that greatly extended lee contact will have on their wines. Rich and filling, yet dexterous and full of motion, extremely fresh fruit still surrounds the warmth of the bakery hidden within this bottle. Cheers to Petiau, and cheers to the beautiful chardonnay of Reim's White Pearl!
Price:
$49.99
2022 Domaine de Petit Roubie "L'O Sur Lie Patience" Picpoul de Pinet
Review Date: 05-12-2024
With seven months of Lee aging, "Patience" truly does show the rewards you can receive in winemaking when you work patiently and let time do its job.
Lifting above the 'normal' tones of Picpouls' classic laser-sharp acid, Domaine de Petit Roubie surely has crafted a bright wine, but now with gently sloping corners and softer edges. Notes of Meyer lemon yogurt and Rangpur crema are brought to mind from the lee aging, presenting further layers of short crust and filo dough on the palate. Make no mistake, this bottle has the acid you've come to expect from this picoul, yet is leagues friendlier than other "Lip Stingers" you'll find this summer!
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof "Bonus Barrel" K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #6837835 117.3 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon (750ml)
Review Date: 04-19-2024
More Single Barrel Craig? An absolute bonus! Opening nose of thick orange peels, slow set caramels, and Heath Bar toffee crumbles - this bottle of Craig truly is a bonus, just dollops and dollops more flavor and spice climbing out of the glass. Notes of dry wicker & cigar box spice, and a little "pop" that reminds me of roasted coffee beans. The single barrel's we've received this last year have been some of my absolute favorite Craig's, and this Bonus Barrel takes my #1 spot immediately. More spice, more sweet heat, more toffee, more Elijah, more Craig - BONUS!
Price:
$79.99
2021 César Márquez "Sufreiral" Bierzo
Review Date: 03-04-2024
Spice and graphite on the nose leads way to quick flashes of dry tobacco leaf and nutmeg dust, very energetic and inviting. A structure imparting cranberry-zest fruit leads the palate, leaning from zesty to savory over the course of the finish, with a little twinge of Atlantic sea salt that greatly compliments the tart fruit timbres.
2020 Richard Bruno "Giacone Vineyard" Estrella District Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 03-03-2024
Opening on the nose, Richard Bruno's "Giacone Vineyard" Cabernet offers the staple Paso Pencil minerality, which wraps around a dense & thriving core of fresh blackberries and bramble fruit, with a gentle knock of oak hanging on the finish - though relatively young from 2020, this wine is drinking fresh and full today, with no "extra work" or thought needed, absolutely ready for dinner with friends or as a slow, savory, solo sip as the day winds down.
Price:
$8.95
2022 Union Sacre Monterey Muscat Ottonel
Review Date: 02-06-2024
Union Sacre might just be my favorite domestic winery that truly elevates the words "everyday" & "affordable wine", who vintage after vintage and bottle after bottle, never let me down.. This release of Muscat is pure Monterey Bay - juicy, bright, filled with little pears & flowers, all lined with mouth watering sea air. On the palate you can also taste a little bit of green stem contact, which along side the savory Monterey Salt reminded me of fresh nopales - a phenomenal and unexpected compliment to the juicy fruits and savory fog within this bottle. At this everyday pricing, every day is a good day with Union Sacre.
Price:
Hidden
Bardstown Bourbon Company 6 Year Old "Origin Series #1" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)
Review Date: 06-05-2023
For me, good whisky opens on the nose with nostalgia - Sure Bardstown's first self-made 6yr statement has greatly direct notes of snappy sweetcorn powder and apricot marmalade, but for me, this whisky has the scent of a Summer camp in the dry heat of a Northwoods afternoon, like the dust of a gravel road settling at sunset, a backyard barbeque in the dog days of September, or even the feeling you get after mowing the lawn on the most humid day of the year - this whisky smells and tastes like places I've been and things I've experienced growing up in the Midwest, in a way that's rather hard to explain other than through sense-memory. I could list more direct flavor notes because boy this whisky has them, but Bardstown has truly set an entirely unique sense of place and time in their first "true" statement, and it's one that I hope shines through all of their following Origin releases. Try a bottle and see where Bardstown Originated, maybe you also share the same memories they're so good at bottling.
Price:
$39.99
2017 Green & Red "Tip Top Vineyard" Napa Valley Zinfandel
Review Date: 05-16-2023
Overlooking the Chiles and Pope Valleys at an awe-inspiring 1,500ft above the floor of Napa Valley, Green & Red are creating a truly special wine with an absolutely distinct sense of place and character. Surrounded by dusty loam soils filled with rusty-red chert stones, these zinfandel vines translate their difficult terroir into the bottle seamlessly. Framed by truly classic zinfandel spices, dusty mountain air lifts notes of cranberry reduction and gentle herbal touches of mint and dry forest air. At the ceiling of the Napa Valley, Green & Red is truly at the Tip-Top, and make their wines to express this as truly and purely as possible - amazing zinfandel from a vineyard above the clouds.
Wiston Estate Brut West Sussex England
Review Date: 11-01-2022
Sparkling wine....from England...? Don't worry, I had the same question when I was sat with this glass of Winston Estate's Brut, and was happily surprised at the result! With an attractive nose of bright cereal grain, and a *sharp* slice of acid on the palate, my eyes were opened to the possibilities tucked away within the UK. An exciting and accessible way step out from the "comfort zone" of French Champagne, Winston Estate offers a glimpse into the shrouded world of English wine. Take a chance, cross The Channel, and Winston will welcome you with open arms.
Wiston Estate Brut Blanc de Blancs West Sussex England
Review Date: 11-01-2022
Flint, slate, chalk - these notes of minerality confidently lead this English sparkling out of the glass, paving the way for tart shamrock apples and a driven acidity. Made from 100% chardonnay in the classic Blanc de Blanc fashion, this statement stands tall across the English Channel, gazing into the distance at its French cousins - a distinctive take on sparkling, Winston brightly shines a light into the oft-forgotten world of English wine, inviting you to shift the way you think of sparkling, and broaden your horizons into new territories.
Lagavulin 8 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)
Review Date: 10-17-2022
Joyous, irresponsible, youthful, naïve - this 8 year statement from Lagavulin eschews their normal concentrations on balance and complexity, and instead opts for objective heat and energy. With the hue of sun-scorched straw, this whisky makes no attempt to hide behind convolution - up front and very assertive on the nose, like lemon peels being dredged through kerosene (in the most praise worthy way possible), an engaging tone of oiled leathers being lost to a house fire, all along side a massive wash of Hebridean salt air. With no exaggeration, this to me is my favorite scotch of all time; it is deeply honest with zero intention to fool you or hide behind any secondary notes, saying what many scotch's never want to hear "I am young, and I am damn proud of it".