Two very close friends with a common dream of producing a fine wine founded Karl Lawrence Cellars in 1991. The name "Karl Lawrence" comes from combining the middle names of the two founding partners: Michael Karl Trujillo and Bryan Lawrence Henry. Our venture together will have the common goal of producing a unique and outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon wine from the wonderful Napa Valley.
Michael's background in the wine industry goes back to 1982. While involved in his college studies in Colorado, a spring break from school had him traveling to Napa Valley to visit his friend, Jim Allen. Jim and his Brother Steve were busy replanting vineyards and constructing their winery, Sequoia grove Winery. With Michael's farming and ranching background, working in the vineyards and in the construction of Jim's winery fit right in. A short visit soon turned into a few weeks, and a few weeks turned into months and before long Michael ventured into his new career of winemaking. Along with the academic studies from the University of Davis and Napa Valley college, Michael had the great opportunity to work closely with many great winemakers such as Andre Tchelistcheff. Today, Michael is the winemaker for Karl Lawrence Cellars as well as Associate winemaker for Sequoia Grove Winery.
Bryan was born in Napa and raised in Santa Rosa, which is just over the Mayacamus mountain range from Napa. At times he worked in the vineyards while majoring in biology at Napa's own Pacific Union College, where he graduated in 1973. He went on to study medicine and specialized in obstetrics and gynecology, joining partners in Glendale, where he had completed his residency training. Bryan returned to the Napa Valley, in 1986, to open his own practice in St. Helena. Being back home and having a successful practice soon had Bryan planting his own vineyards and talking of producing great wine.
Bryan's younger brother, Ric (he's actually bigger), joined the winery a few years after it started. He was also born in Napa and raised in Santa Rosa. And like Bryan, he graduated from Pacific Union College in 1973 with a degree in social work. He moved away for graduate and doctoral studies and took a position as the administrator of the social work department at Loma Linda University Medical Center. While there, his wife, Cheryl, graduated in medicine and specialized in obstetrics and gynecology at Glendale. Ric's and Cheryl's return home, to partnership with Bryan, coincided with the birth of their third child. So after thirteen years of work, it only seemed natural that Ric become a full-time househusband. This also gave him the opportunity to write screenplays, several of which have won awards at Film Festivals. Today, Ric continues to raise the kids, write, and ship Karl Lawrence wines to our customers
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Red Wine
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White Wine
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Sparkling Wine & Champagne
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Kosher
Wine which is produced and bottled under strict supervision and meets all standards to be certified Kosher.
Organic
Wine which is produced using organic practices and is free of all synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.
Biodynamic
Biodynamic designation is regulated by Demeter, an international certification organization. Biodynamic agriculture is based on the view of a farm as a self-contained organism. Certified organic vineyards must meet Demeter"s additional criteria for a period of one year before earning the designation "biodynamic."
Sustainably Grown
Sustainable practices incorporate organic standards and may exceed them and include ecologically and socially sound business practices such as fair pay for farm workers and energy conservation.
Screw Cap
Wines sealed with a screw cap as opposed to a cork, which experts report protects and preserves wine more effectively than does a cork, while also eliminating the possibility of cork taint.
No Sulfites
All wines naturally contain some sulfites, however wines that contain less than 10 parts per million sulfites are not required to include "Contains Sulfites" on their labels.
Futures
Wines that are still in the barrel and have yet to be bottled. Futures offer the opportunity to invest in a wine before it arrives in our store.
Pre-arrivals
Like futures, pre-arrivals are wines that have not yet arrived on our shelves, however they may or may not be a new release. Pre-arrivals may already be bottled and en route to our store.
Wine Advocate
The Wine Advocate is a bimonthly wine publication featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. Initially titled The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate the first issue was published in 1978. Accepting no advertising, the newsletter publishes in excess of 7,500 reviews per year, utilizing Parker's rating system that employs a 50-100 point quality scale.
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces. Each issue also includes from 400 to more than 1,000 wine reviews, which consist of wine ratings and tasting notes.
International Wine Cellar
Since 1997, the 100% subscriber-supported IWC has also been available in French and Japanese editions.
Wine Enthusiast
Wine Enthusiast Magazine is a lifestyle magazine covering wine, food, spirits, travel and entertaining topics. It was founded in 1988 by Adam and Sybil Strum and reaches 686,000 readers. Its wine ratings, conducted by reviewers in major wine-producing areas of the world, are considered an influential gauge for consumers and professionals in the wine industry.
Wine & Spirits
Wine and Spirits is America's practical guide to the straightforward, enlightened enjoyment of fine wine and and premium spirits. We have for 18 years served customers and marketers alike with a lively mix of wine reviews, features, profiles, food and wine pairings, new product introductions, travel pieces, history, opinion and wine business news.
Burghound
Burghound.com was the first of its kind to offer specialized, and more importantly, exhaustive coverage of a specific wine region. The first Issue was released in January of 2001 and there are now subscribers in more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states. Allen Meadows spends over four months a year in Burgundy and visits more than 300 domaines during that time.
James Halliday
James is one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian wine, matching intelligent, honest reviews with unparalleled knowledge of, and passion for, the wine industry.
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine
For thirty-five years, Connoisseurs’ Guide has been the authoritative voice of the California wine consumer. With readers in all fifty states and twenty foreign countries, the Guide is valued by wine lovers everywhere for its honesty and for it strong adherence to the principles of transparency, unbiased, hard-hitting opinions.
James Suckling
I rate wines using the 100-points scale. I have used this point system for close to 25 years. I still believe it is the simplest way to rate a wine, with its origins from grade school in the United States. A wine that I rate 90 points or more is outstanding (A), and worth buying. If I rate a wine 95 points or more (A+), it is a must buy.
View from the Cellar
View From the Cellar, an electronic wine newsletter published bi-monthly by John Gilman.
Wine Journal
Homepage for wine writer, Neal Martin's, "Diary of a Wine Writer".
Malt Advocate
Malt Advocate magazine is America's leading whisky magazine. It's the number one source for whisky information, education and entertainment for whisky enthusiasts.
The Rhone Report
Dedicated to the wines and grapes of the Rhone Valley
Wine Review Online
Wine Review Online was originally conceived by Publisher Robert Whitley as an all-encompassing platform for the many talented wine journalists he came across in his travels as wine columnist for the Creators Syndicate.
All sizes are 750mL unless otherwise noted.
Vintages and ratings subject to change at any time.
All pricing and availability subject to change.
