Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

The reason I fell in love with Bordeaux is because I had one of the greatest mentors one could have, Clyde Beffa Jr. - Owner of K&L Wine Merchants. I could never thank him enough or show enough gratitude for the kindness he has shown me. He has been going to Bordeaux multiple times a year for 40 plus years and shown me the greatness of well made Bordeaux’s enjoyed at the age of 25 years plus!

Many who open well made Bordeaux’s young will never know the absolute Heaven they bring to the palate and even more so with a great steak. You only rob yourself of perfection when you open them inside of 25 years. Sure you can check em at 10-15 years for longevity but, you need to have/save bottles for 25 years plus.

Also, an old Bordeaux at 95 is not nearly the same as a young 95. At this age, technical scores are simply not the same as young wine. The enjoyment is completely different.

The nose reveals; a slight touch of funk, dark, ripe, currants, blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, strawberries on the edge of the glass, anise, cedar, graphite, used leather, just a whiff of green pepper, vanilla, caramel, mocha, dark Asian spice, incense, dark & mid berry cola, dark, rich earth, underbrush, limestone, dry stone, hint of sweet tarriness, light, dry herbaceousness, black tea, with dry, withering, fresh, dark, red, blue candied flowers and violets and lavender for days.

The body is round, soft and full. The 90 is the definition of elegant and floral. The structure, tension, length and balance are perfect with another 5-10 years of pleasure to give. It’s gorgeous and sexy. Dark, ripe, currants, blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, some blueberries, strawberries on the long set, anise, cedar, graphite, soft, used leather, vanilla, caramel, mocha, dark chocolate, salted, milk chocolate, dark Asian spice with just a touch of palate heat, a hint of green pepper, savory meats, incense, dark & mid berry cola, dark, rich earth, underbrush, limestone, dry crushed minerals, dry stone, hint of sweet tarriness, light, dry herbaceousness, black tea, with dry, withering, fresh, dark, red, blue candied flowers and violets and lavender for days. The acidity is perfect like a warm gentle rain shower. The finish is a “forget about it.” It’s; gorgeous, sexy, lush, ripe, just the right amount of earthiness, elegant, well balanced and will persist until you go to sleep.

13% ABV. I sure miss the 12–13% ABV of the 80 & early 90 Bordeaux’s.

Photos of; the majestic Chateau Cos d’Estournel and Estate vines, their barrel room with translucent floor to walk above, their library cellar that most would love to raid and their sitting salon.
— 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

8.9

What do you do when in Queenstown on a four day religious holiday weekend and nearly all the cellar doors are closed today? You drive 50 minutes out of town to the Clyde Food & Wine festival. The Two Paddocks is lean bodied with lighter red fruits and understated minerality. — 9 years ago

James Gallagher

9.0

Nectarines on the nose makes way for a full palate and has generous length. — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

First, a person has to pause and realize how lucky they are to drink this wine from 3L. Thanks Clyde for opening. This is in a perfect stage. Such evolution, length, balance, structure. Love the lower 80's alcohol levels. It's rich, lush and near perfect. Dark cassis; ripe and resolved blackberries, dark cherries, black plum w/skin, mixed berry liqueur, tobacco leaf, leather so soft you would wish it as a pillow cover, dry pebbles, dark rich earth, perfect acidity and a rich, elegant, ripe dark fruit finish. In 3L, this wine still has 10-15 years. — 9 years ago

Neil Walsh

9.3

Cracking wines from this little Victorian producer. — 9 years ago

Freemark Wine Enjoyer

9.0

Excellent. Outside in Clyde Hill on a nice evening. — 10 years ago

Lloyd Heinrich

9.7

This was simply stunning. A little closed over lunch (1 glass) but by dinner time there was an opera of flavour and smell going on. These sell out quickly but well worth tracking down! — 10 years ago

with Euna

Carl Brinkerhoff

9.6

I like this better than Clyde Mays which is my second favorite — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Don’t walk, run to buy at least a case of the 16 Napa Lot 2 Kalinda Cabernet. At $22 a bottle, it’s delicious at pop & pour (not to try & sound like @Paul Treadway Huntington Beacher Bum) and I can’t wait to experience it’s rounded complexity in 5-7 to years.

I don’t know which Napa producers juice K&L Wine Merchants bottled or had make their 2016 but, it’s delicious. They’ve bottled a Kalinda Cabernet every year since 1984 and have not missed on any bottling that wasn’t worth two or three times + what I paid for it. The 16 is absolutely one of their best.

On the nose, ripe & slightly candied; kirsch cherries, blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, some plum and hues of blueberries. Incense, bright vanillin, cinnamon, clove, smoke, dark, moist soil, limestone minerals and bright dark, red & blue florals.

The body is rich and leaning towards full. Tannins are dusty big. The length, tension, structure and balance are beautiful now and will evolve over the next ten years. Kirsch cherries, dark cherries, blackberries, blueberries, plum, strawberries, big vanillin cream, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, incense, dark spice with heat, licorice/cola, limestone minerals, crushed rocks, dark, rich moist soils, soft leather, wood shavings, cigar, bright, dark & red bright florals, waterfall acidity and a very, rich, long, elegant, well polished & balanced finish that lasts minutes. A steal @ $22. Don’t miss it.

Photos of, the K&L tasting bar in San Francisco, racks of wine in their SF store, Owner of K&L-Clyde Beffa and the marquee Napa sign all tourist stop to take a photo. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

In every difficult vintage, anywhere, you will find producers that make exceptional wines. This 91 Palmer is such a wine. I have to thank Clyde Beffa owner of K&L Wine Merchants who has been traveling to Bordeaux for 35+ years for highly recommending two 91 Bordeaux's to me. The 91 Pichon Lalande; which he described as "heavenly." It's just the word I would have used to described it 5 or 6 years ago. Also, this 91 Palmer. He described as, "​I love it-soft and silky." I would strongly agree. You see, critics gave the 91 vintage a horrific review as a whole. Bordeaux had two frosts in April and a cold growing season. These elements didn't prevent either of these producers from making beautifully elegant 1991 wines. I have said it many times and will say it again, taste wines even in difficult vintages. You'll find value and some excellent wines. As for this 91, it's in perfect form. Excellent on it's own and even better with the ribeye. It's so elegant, smooth, beautiful, ripe and well balanced with earth & fruit. The fruits are slightly stewed & baked. Blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, touch of rhubarb, cherries, strawberries. Dried florals, used leather, tobacco with ash, slight vegetal quality, anise, not too sweet black cherry licorice/cola, figs, dark earth with crushed rocks, dry stones, underbrush, understated spice and perfect acidity that drips over the palate. The length, structure, balance and finish are in perfect harmony & the finish goes on and on and on. As many times as we've been to Bordeaux, we never get tired of the drive on the D-2 through Margaux and Pauillac. Chateau Margaux & Palmer stand side by side in beautiful prodigious history to say nothing of Baron Pichon & Pichon Lalande. Every year, for my B-day, I have a great steak and an old Bordeaux. It just doesn't get any better than that. And as many of those nights I've had, B-day or not, this might have been the best. Perhaps topping or equaling the Ribcap at Bourbon Steak and the 91 Pichon Lalande. To quote Gary Westby, "it steak and claret night." 12% alcohol is so much more enjoyable than 15% plus. ❤🍷🎉🎂 — 9 years ago

with Gary

Bertrand Glory

10

Tremendous vintage 1970.
Thanks Clyde for this wonderful surprise ! — 9 years ago

Freemark Wine Enjoyer

9.2

Tuti farewell dinner in Clyde Hill. Fantastic. — 10 years ago

Leslie LaRue Lamont

9.2

Bonnie and Clyde, Barack and Michelle. Fried chicken and Champagne. — 10 years ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.0

It held beautifully
Great balance
I Just think the wine didn’t have so much to say
Very enjoyable though 👌 — 7 years ago

with francesco, Alessio and 1 other

Bob McDonald

9.0

The somm said this producer was connected to Vincent Dauvissat somehow. Notes of florals and a hint of seashell but the warmer vintage giving a riper rendition of Chablis on the palate - Saline and Citrusy. Low acid and reasonable length. A glass of this was a great match with 6 Clyde River oysters from south coast of NSW. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

8.9

Nice evolution in this Hawkdun Rise. Good darker & lighter red fruits, black cherry cola, soft chalk and earth. Nice round ripe full finish with good acidity. @ The Clyde Food & Wine Festival...Central Otago — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

Best of the handful of Pinot's we tried at the Clyde Food & Wine Festival. Darker fruits with nice lighter reds, a touch of blueberries and soft light spice with good acidity. @ The Clyde Food & Wine Festival...Central Otago — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

This is one of my more interesting Bordeaux stories. I attended the 14 Bordeaux En Primeur largely through the kindness of Clyde Beffa the owner of K&L Wine Merchants. For those of you that aren't familiar with the En Primeur, it's a professional event where you basically barrel taste the new Bordeaux vintage. The 13 vintage we tasted was one of the most difficult vintages in recent times. Perhaps, even more difficult than the 97. Time will certainly tell...it always does! Over the 5 to 6 days I was there, we tasted somewhere between 1000-1500 wines. Not for the faint of heart. Nearly all the 2013 wines we tasted that week were brutally rough tannic wines. It was like coarse sandpaper on the sides of your cheeks, gums and palate. So much that when we went to the Negotiant Joanne and tasted 250 wines over 3 hours, I brushed my teeth at least three times without toothpaste as the tannin build up on the gums etc. was more than one can handle. However, when we went to Chateau Palmer and tasted their second wine (Alter Ego), it was elegant heaven on the palate. We asked ourselves, what had the other producers gotten so wrong that this second wine had gotten so right. It stood out above & beyond the first & second growths wines we tasted that week. Not that those wines in the long haul won't be better in the years to come over the Alter Ego. However, the Alter Ego was elegant relief after so many brutally tannic red wines. It was so soft, elegant and beautiful. Tonight is the first time I've had it since then. It's not as fresh tonight as it was in the Spring of 14 but delicious none the less. This is the only 13 I purchased in futures. Tonight it's showing everything I expected back in the Spring of 14 except the freshness. This is not a wine that will cellar 20 plus years but it will certainly cellar 10 years plus. This 13 would fool many as a new world wine as the fruits are so ripe. The fruits run ripe to dry and are; blackberries, black plum, dark cherries, pouched strawberries, spice, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, dry florals, lavender, dark soil with crushed dry rocks, volcanic minerals, leather, dry stems, The acidity is a little lean. However, the structure & tannins are fairly smooth and the length is beautiful for such a young wine. It still needs some cellaring time to bring forth the complete balance of fruit and earth into harmony. The finish is still a bit dry but at the same time rich and complex. Quite impressive with food and or on it's own. — 9 years ago

Daniel Howell

9.8

Refreshing, light & delicious! — 10 years ago

Gary Westby

Champagne & Sherry buyer K&L Wines

9.3

Victoire from Angelus and Clyde from K&L promoting Bordeaux! This even blend of Merlot and Cab Franc sees nothing but new oak and smells and tastes expensive. As dark as black leather, this powerful wine would be hard to pick out as a 2007. The blue fruit of the franc keeps it fresh and I could imagine it going very well with Clyde's cassoulet! — 11 years ago