W. L. Weller
Château Citran
Haut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend 1996
Screaming Eagle
Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 1994
1994 Screaming Eagle. Dinner w J&L B and D&M H while staying with D&M in Santa Ynez. Opened and waited about an hour. Decanted right before serving. Tons of jammy dark fruit. Opened more in the glass. JB mentioned full palate and balance. Great finish. Preferred this to ‘91 Dominus once this opened up. — 5 years ago
Château Chasse-Spleen
Moulis en Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend 1986
A perfect bottle, direct import from a Negotiate via K&L. It has seen only Chateau & Negotiate storage.
Love, love, love the style of 80’s Bordeaux. Especially, the very good 80’s vintages. The style at this age is just so good as is the 12.5 ABV.
The fruit is still very solid & fresh. Ruby; blackberries, plums, poached strawberries, black raspberries, raspberries & blueberries hues. Lead pencil for days, some light v/a-bandaid, used tobacco w/ ash, very used leather, dark spice, understated mushroom, baking spices- light nutmeg/clove, cinnamon, vanillin, dry, river stone, limestone, dark rich soil with dry leaves, mix of dry and fresh herbs, touch of mint, moist clay, withering & dry dark, red, flowers, rainfall acidity and a well balanced, nicely structured, softly tensioned, beautiful finish that lasts 90 seconds.
Paired with/ Allen Brothers Cover Ribs. — 8 months ago
Hartford Court
MacLean's Block Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2016
Shelf 14
Had w/ D&L, low country boil. Delicious. Lots of fruit, blackberry, good tannins. — 4 years ago
Lakespring
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990
30 year old Mag for $100, its classic Napa, notes from K&L These library wines from Lakespring w\Winery have immaculate provenance and were purchased directly from the original owner of the property. They have spent the past few decades in commercial wine storage and were hand-delivered to K&L and inspected bottle by bottle. As with all old wines the corks can be fragile and we recommend using a Durand opener or other ah-so style opener for best results. The wines may also contain natural sediment — 5 years ago
Dr. Loosen
Dr. L Mosel Riesling 2021
Nice classic Mosel Riesling, Yum! Paired w/ grilled chicken salad!!!! — 9 months ago
W. & J. Graham's
Aged 20 Years Tawny Port Blend
Liquid dessert! For me, the 20 year Tawnies are the sweet spot and always a special treat. I like the 20 years because you get the intense caramel, toffee, and hazelnut, but can still taste the fruit. Grahams always makes consistent Tawnies - the style leans towards full-bodied and opulent. This batch bottled in March 2018 with 111 g/L RS. Love! NV on March 16, 2020 — 5 years ago
David T
Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator
So, I am reposting this with realtime notes because I couldn’t a few weeks ago. I had it again tonight only with a Wagyu NY steak. While it went well with the steak, I think it shows even better on its own it’s that soft & elegant. I slightly over peppered my steak tonight and that could have contributed to that thought. I bought six more bottles last week for a ridiculous $39.99. For under $40, you’d be hard pressed to find a a better quality, drinkable Bordeaux at that pricepoint. I know if anyone researched the reviews on the bottling there would no scores 90 or above. Most or all I believe would be slightly below 90.
The thing that time & experience has taught me is trust in Clyde Beffa the owner of K&L Wine Merchants. He brings in older Bordeaux’s directly from Chateaux’s or Negotiants well after the fact as he has here and done very successfully for over 40 years. I have bought these kinds of older Bordeaux bottling’s to avoid drinking my wines that need cellaring too soon. Again, he has brought in a lesser Bordeaux regions and or Bordeaux producers that through long bottle evolution yielded magic after young critical reviews.
The nose reveals; older, musty funk on well aged, beautiful, ripe fruits of; soft blackberries, black raspberries, dark sweet cherry kirsch, stewy black plums, baked strawberries, dry rhubarb & cranberries. Baking soda, red fruit cola, steeped tea leaves, aged, dryish tobacco, well used leather, soft cedar to sandalwood, sandstone powder, mix of dry & fresh herbs, moist volcanic clay, limestone marl, dry river stone, well evolved and smoothed out lead pencil shavings, caramel hues, melted, warm, dark chocolate cake w/ frosting, classic older Bordeaux funk, withering to withering to dryish flowers that are dark & red.
The color isn’t even very brickish. Some barnyard, funk on well aged, beautiful, ripe fruits that are; soft blackberries, black raspberries, dark sweet cherry kirsch, stewy black plums, baked strawberries, dry rhubarb & cranberries. Baking soda, red fruit cola, steeped tea leaves, aged, dryish tobacco, well used leather, soft cedar to sandalwood, sandstone powder, mix of dry & fresh herbs, moist volcanic clay, limestone marl, dry river stone, well evolved classic, older, softened lead pencil shavings, caramel hues, melted, warm, dark chocolate cake w/ frosting, classic older Bordeaux funk, fresh to withering dryish flowers that are dark & red. Spring rainfall acidity with a well evolved, elegant, balanced, still nicely structured/tensioned, soft elegant finish that lasts two-minutes and falls on dry, well resolved tannins and perfect earthiness. Soft & complex as all get out! A steal at this price!
Photos of; the Chateau, stainless steel tanks, barrel room and Estate vineyards. — 4 months ago