Happy Birthday to the King of the Medoc!

Cheers to K&L Co-Founder Clyde Beffa Jr. at 81!

Last year on this date my friend and employer of 45 years Clyde Beffa Jr. threw a party for over a hundred of his closest friends as only the King of the Medoc can do with great food and special wines at every table. This year he is having a shoulder procedure, but I’m betting it won’t be long before he has a glass of Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in his hand!

Most of you reading this may indeed know Clyde or heard of him, he is a very popular guy as well as the Kay in K&L, and the Wine in K&L Wine Merchants. His incredible passion for hard work and love of wine and Bordeaux in particular is legendary in the wine trade. I’ve been fortunate to be along for the ride with him for many decades. My K&L friends and I have always called him the King of the Medoc as he has been a mentor to a stable of longtime K&L staff and customers.

I wish I had a bottle of one of the Pichon’s for every person that when they realized I was with K&L said hello Clyde to me, or asked me if I was Clyde, or where is Clyde? 99% of the time I would say no I’m not Clyde, I’m Ralph and Clyde is buzzing around here somewhere. It seems like Clyde is to wine what the Clydesdale Horses are to Budweiser, everyone wants to see and hang out with him! It all makes perfect sense as all his loyal high school and college friends can attest, he is a generous man, a quiet philanthropist and the life of every party!

I been blessed to have had so many great wines, lunches, dinner’s and laughs with Clyde that it seems like a dream at times. Starting on that June morning in 1980 when Clyde stood in the doorway at 9am told me to grab two wine glasses, we tasted the 1978 Pichon Lalande and he changed the business and the name to Wine Merchants. To this day this story is recounted virtually on the website of Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.

In April of 1990 Clyde brought me to Bordeaux for my first of 62 visits and for dinner the first night we enjoyed a Magnum of 1970 Ch. Lynch Bages that Clyde had carried in his luggage. It was so nice of him and the wine blew me away, Clyde said to me I wanted you to start with one of Bordeaux's great wines. I was hooked and I get goosebumps to this day.

Because of Clyde's strong relationships, everywhere we traveled we have shared memorable moments and great wines at many of the greatest estates including our birth years of 1945 and 1955 at Ch. Latour and again at Ch. Canon. 1928 Ch. Haut Bailly, 1949 Ch. Cantemerle and recently 1955 Phelan Segur. We have also been known to seriously deplete the inventories of Billecart-Salmon Rose in our hotels which is always music to my palate! It is nice riding with the King!

A toast to Clyde Beffa Jr. I recommend the 1981 Ch. Pichon Comtesse de lalande as it is a classic Pauillac, a touch old school with it’s hints of cedar and leather, still lively and fresh like the King himself!

Keep on Truckin Clyde! Cheers! Ralph Friends and Customers