New Wonders from the Central Coast: Saarloos & Sons

 Left to right: K&L Domestic Buyer Bryan Brick, staff members Jeff Garneau, Jim Boyce and Sarah Covey, with Rarig Ross and Keith Saarloos.Featured in the June 03 2013 Edition of the K&L Electronic Newletter! Click to read

New Wonders from the Central Coast: Saarloos & Sons 

By: Jeff Garneau, K&L Staff Member

When I walked into the Saarloos & Sons tasting room in Los Olivos a couple of months ago, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. Which, in hindsight, is just as well, since Keith and Brad Saarloos are pretty good at defying expectations, challenging preconceptions, and gleefully poking with a stick anything that smacks of convention and pretense.

We tasted a lot of great wines, most of which I don’t remember well because Keith insisted I stop taking notes. At some point he also insisted I stop spitting, so tasting became drinking.

So we drank and we talked. About wine, about grapes, about music, art, and life.

It is worth noting at this point that Saarloos & Sons are farmers first and foremost. They grow grapes of exceptional quality, most of which they sell to other winemakers. A small amount they hold back every year to make their own wine. They sell exclusively direct to consumer, not through retail wine shops. But at the end of that evening they paid us the ultimate compliment. They offered us a couple of wines to make available to our K&L customers: the 2009 Saarloos & Sons "His" Santa Ynez Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($39.99) and the 2010 Saarloos & Sons "Hers" Santa Ynez Valley Grenache Blanc ($26.99). I absolutely recommend a visit to their tasting room in Los Olivos to taste their full selection, but until your next trip we are honored to share these two wines with you.

Saarloos & Sons is a very special find for us here at K&L. Family owned & operated since its inception, the focus stays on family & quality grape growing. Keith Saarloos says, "We pay homage to those that have gone before and honor those that are to come". Each wine created honors a family member, and are named accordingly. Try the 2009 Saarloos & Sons "His" Santa Ynez Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($39.99) with a juicy grilled steak - in stock now at K&L! I enjoyed the  2009 Saarloos & Sons "His" Santa Ynez Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($39.99) at dinner the other night with my nephew. We grilled a 2 lb “Fred Steak” from Schaub’s in Palo Alto, serving it with roasted baby Yukon potatoes and fresh local asparagus. The Cab was a perfect companion to the spicy, smoky meaty deliciousness that is Fred steak. A hint of violets and new wood on the nose. On the palate the wine has a rich, silky texture with notes of blackberry jam and cassis. Imagine the blackberry jam your grandmother used to make, heading out before dawn to her secret spot to pick fresh wild blackberries, then spending the rest of the day canning blackberry preserves. There is a sweetness of fruit, a ripeness perfectly offset by a liveliness and a freshness that keeps the wine in perfect balance. The finish is framed by fine tannins that lie lightly on the tongue, caressing the palate like a finely woven cotton blanket on a cool summer night. If there is a perfect California Cabernet Sauvignon, this is it. Expertly crafted, and a pure joy to drink. 

Saarloos & Sons are farmers first and foremost. They grow grapes of exceptional quality, most of which they sell to other winemakers. A small amount they hold back every year to make their own wine. They sell exclusively direct to consumer, not through retail wine shops, but they have offered us two special wines to make available to our K&L customers!

This STUNNING Grenache Blanc, "Hers" is made in honor of Keith Saarloos's grandmother.

2010 Saarloos & Sons “Hers” Santa Ynez Valley Grenache Blanc ($26.99) K&L Notes: "Each wine created honors a family member, and are named accordingly. This is 100% Grenache Blanc from the Saarloos estate. It is deep and rich, perfectly pitched in its offering of ripe pear and lemony citrus aromas and flavors. Breadth on the palate is balanced by fresh acidity that drives toward a textured, mineral-laced finish. Rhone-like in elegance, with California approachability, this makes a statement about the potential for Grenache Blanc in California."

Saarloos & Sons has some great videos about their wines and winemaking on their website, too. To check them out and learn more about this great family producer, click here.

Cheers,

-Jeff

Champagne Friday: Krug House with Olivier Krug

By: Gary Westby | K&L Champagne Buyer

Krug House with Olivier Krug

Krug "Grande Cuvée" Brut Champagne - click for more reviews and to browse our Krug offering on KLWines.com.

I won’t forget the day that Cinnamon and I spent with Olivier Krug this Wednesday. Of all the tastings and wine lunches that I have been to in my 13 years doing the Champagne buying at K&L, this was the best experience I have had outside of traveling to Champagne. The folks from Krug rented a spectacular house in Portola Valley that opened up to the outside completely, decorated with seven pallets of art, memorabilia and photographs of and from the domain.

Olivier Krug personally guided us through a tasting of his current releases, starting with the 2000 Krug "Clos du Mesnil" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne ($799) which showed not only the buttery, vinous richness of the house but also the laser like precision of the terroir of Mesnil. In the video below, Olivier explains the vision of his great, great, great grandfather, Joseph Krug as well as the story of this most-famous of all Champagne vineyards:

Krug Brut Rosé Champagne: the most consistently great rose Champagne in the world.We then moved on to the Krug "Grande Cuvée" Brut Champagne ($149), which shows the true potential of wine blended not just across vine varieties and villages but also time. This is great wine, and a value even at this high price. We also tasted the Krug Brut Rosé Champagne ($279) which showed at its ethereal best, and reminded me of the first encounter with it at the Maison in 2001. The 2000 Krug Brut Champagne ($219) was just turning the corner and showed not only nougat richness but also chalky drive- this is a wine one could drink now or for decades to come. We were then treated to both the fat, golden, spicy 1989 Krug "Collection" Brut Champagne ($499) and the extremely rare (we are only getting 8 bottles) 1985 Krug "Collection" Brut Champagne ($799- special order, due in fall) which is as close to perfect as I have had. This wine is concentrated, not just with vinous power and truffle like allure, but also with mineral drive. What a stunner!

Krug Vintage lineup from Krug House.

At the lunch, which was prepared by Meadowood star chef Christopher Kostow we were treated to unavailable wines brought by the guests of Olivier- the driven and young 1996, the layered, balanced and infinitely long 1988, and the plump, rich, clean 1990.  With the perfect California weather, the gorgeous surroundings and the once-in-a-lifetime wines, it was very, very difficult to leave- especially to go back to work.

Olivier Krug and Cinnamon Westby.

Krug House menu.

If you have been thinking of treating yourself… Krug would be a great splurge- it always delivers.

A toast to you!

–Gary Westby

Taste the Central Coast: Ancient Peaks Tasting Tomorrow!

Ancient Peaks produces true terroir wines from their estate Margarita Vineyard in Southern Paso Robles that overdeliver in quality for value. Their wines are some of the Central Coast’s best kept secrets.

We hope you are enjoying the current edition of the K&L Electronic Newsletter -  New Wonders, Old Favorites, and Staff Highlights from California's Central Coast - in which we share with you our top picks from the region. Click to read if you haven't already!

In this newsletter we profiled Ancient Peaks, one of our favorite producers for value wines that continue to fly under the radar. Tomorrow (Friday, 6/7) we are excited to welcome Amanda from the Ancient Peaks family to our tasting bar to pour current releases in stock. These were highlighted in the newsletter and now we're opening them for you to try! We hope you can join us and get to know these wines and the folks behind them.  

Ancient Peaks Tasting in Redwood City: Friday June 7, 5pm-6:30pm | $5  details  share 

Cost to taste: $5. Walk in only. Final lineup and pricing subject to change.

The ancient sea bed soils of Ancient Peaks' Margarita Vineyard.

Under the Radar: Ancient Peaks  (from K&L Wine News, June 03 2013)

By: Jim Boyce | K&L Staff Member

The Margarita Vineyard, part of the Ancient Peaks estate that was originally planted by Franciscan missionaries in 1780, is truly a site to behold. Located in the southernmost corner of Paso Robles with the Santa Lucia mountain range to the east and the Pacific Ocean fourteen miles to the west, this is one of the coolest vineyards in the region.

There are five distinct soil types here: shale, sedimentary, ancient sea bead, volcanic and granitic throughout the vineyard. The ancient sea bed soils are the most impressive—massive white oyster fossils everywhere on top of the soil! The diverse soil types, combined with Ancient Peaks’ sustainable practices of cover crops, natural composting, and deficit irrigation (among others) lend depth and character to the wines that can only come from this unique site.

These are true terroir wines, and remain some of the Central Coast’s best kept secrets for value:

2011 Ancient Peaks Paso Robles Sauvignon Blanc ($11.99) Round and refreshing, with nice ripe pear and gooseberry notes and great acidity.

2010 Ancient Peaks Paso Robles Merlot ($13.99) Refined red raspberry and black currant with a bit of barrel spice, this elegant Merlot is a steal.

2010 Ancient Peaks Paso Robles Zinfandel ($13.99) Fresh and jammy with lots of red fruits and bright acid—perfect for BBQs! Top Value!

2010 Ancient Peaks Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon ($13.99) Easily one of our best domestic Cab deals in the store. With plenty of black currant, blackberry, and vanilla flavors, nice acid and tannin, this has depth and structure that is hard to find at this price. Top Value!

Ancient Peaks Margarita Vineyard.

Soil types at Ancient Peaks.

We love the wines of Ancient Peaks because they offer a lot of characer, substance, and flavor for very modest prices compared to the vast majority of California wines. They are made in a balanced, food-friendly style and complement a variety of dishes. Enjoy!