KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

Kante

The Carso district of southeastern Friuli, just outside of Trieste, is a unique micro-climate sandwiched between the Adriatic Sea to the south, the Alps to the north, the low hills of Collio to the west, and the Balkan peninsula to the east. The temperatures are cool at night and the grey limestone is everywhere and in abundance. In this near-perfect combination of climate and terreno, Edi Kante produces wines that are poised, solid, fresh, and brimming with the character of both the chosen grape and the stark limestone soil of Carso. The Kante style is born not only of his incredibly energetic, passionate, mad-scientist like personality, but also of the inherent characteristics of Carso and his deliberate decision to allow these characteristics to shine through rather than be dominated by wine-making technique.

Kante was born a contadino in this rugged area of northeastern Italy, at the crossroads of Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian culture today and historically at the crossroads of the Venetian and Austro-Hungarian cultures. Taking over from his father, Edi began to bottle the family estate's wines separately by varietal in the late 1980s. After experimenting with various styles, including being a pioneer of the orange wine movement, he settled on the direction he has followed for almost two decades: making pure, consistent wines that reflect their region, stand the test of time, and above all, provide a lot of pleasure at table. Kante ages his white wines for a year in older barrels, then six months or more in stainless steel on the lees, then bottles them unfiltered. All takes place in an incredible three-story cellar carved out of solid stone beneath his house. The ability of his wines to age and improve consistently is uncommon for Italian white wine, and he always has plenty of older magnums on hand to prove this point. Kante’s limited red wine production is mostly focused on Terrano, a local Friulian grape related to Refosco that he ages in large older casks, and Pinot Nero only in select years when conditions are truly favorable. Kante is also dedicated to sparkling wine production in the Champagne Method or Metodo Classico, and has been refining this skill for several decades. He produces a spumante bianco based on Chardonnay and Malvasia, and a rosato from Pinot Nero, both with zero dosage. The most exciting part of Kante’s production are his selezione wines. Released in small quantities from select vintages, these are small lots that Kante has selected in the cellar and aged extensively in bottle before release. They typically have between 8 and 10 years of age upon release and can be drunk upon release or aged further.

Guy Breton

Guy Breton is known by his friends as P’tit Max—though he is anything but petit, by the way. He took over the family domaine from his grandfather in 1986. Until that point, the family was selling their fruit to the large cooperative wineries which dominated the region and were gravitating towards a uniform style. The rise of imported yeast cultures to impart flavor and aroma, the use of high-tech carbonic maceration, and the widespread commercialization of Beaujolais Nouveau debased the region’s reputation, and Beaujolais came to be seen as one-dimensional, lacking any expression of the native terroir. Following the example of traditionalist Jules Chauvet, Guy and three other local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Jean Foillard, soon hoisted the flag of this back-to-nature movement. Kermit dubbed this clan the Gang of Four, and the name has stuck ever since. The Gang called for a return to the old practices of viticulture and vinification: starting with old vines, never using synthetic herbicides or pesticides, harvesting late, rigorously sorting to remove all but the healthiest grapes, adding minimal doses of sulfur dioxide or none at all, and refusing both chaptalization and filtration. The end result allows Morgon to express itself naturally, without make-up or plastic surgery: rustic, spicy, loaded with schist minerals and at the same time, refreshing and deep-down delicious.

Breton’s domaine is comprised of just over four hectares (10.6 acres), most of which lies in the appellation of Morgon, above the village of Villié-Morgon. He supplements his own harvest with purchased fruit from surrounding appellations, enabling him to vinify a diverse portfolio of Beaujolais crus. His own vineyards, which exceed a century of age in some parcels, are located in the Morgon climat “Les Charmes”, primarily in the high-altitude lieu-dit “Saint-Joseph,” where slow ripening allows for low alcohol and great freshness in the wines. Max is among the first in the region to start picking each year, cooling down his harvest and pressing before the end of fermentation to craft wines he likes to drink: bright, aromatic, low in tannin, and dangerously easy to quaff down to the last drop.

Château Moulin Pey-Labrie

Bénédicte and Grégoire Hubau do not come from winemaking families, nor did they pursue studies in enology or viticulture. Both natives of northern France, Bénédicte was a computer specialist and Grégoire a chemist. Without much ado, they decided one day to leave it all behind and start a new life as vignerons. After visiting an endless line of available properties in various regions of France, they finally came across Château Moulin Pey-Labrie, an estate in Fronsac that met their requirement for a terroir de caractère. Unconcerned by their ignorance in the field of winegrowing but reassured by their experience as avid consumers, they purchased the property and dove head-first into their new adventure, counting on their employees to teach them as they worked. The young couple’s eagerness to learn earned them free advice from all their neighbors, and they drank in every word. It quickly became clear which approaches matched their own easygoing, natural philosophy, and before long they were deftly handling the vineyard and winery work on their own. The problem with many winegrowers, as they see it, is that they decide what a vine should have rather than giving it what it wants. Just as each of us has a unique style and prefers certain clothes or hairstyles, they learned that each vine needs individualized care in order to thrive. In 1990, having mastered their new craft, they purchased a second property, Château Haut-Lariveau. Château Moulin, though not a physical château, bottles wine from both Canon-Fronsac and Fronsac. The fruit for these “easy-drinking” wines is sourced from the lower-slope clay vineyards of either Château Moulin Pey-Labrie or Château Haut-Lariveau.

Though their growing experience has only shown that their instincts were right from the start, the Hubaus have tweaked their methods over the years in order to bring the reality of their work more perfectly in line with their vision. Refusing to slacken their strict quality standards, they frequently design their own equipment, including one machine that works the earth from below. In the cellar they consider themselves observers, letting the character of the land express itself freely and encouraging the greatest possible elegance and finesse in all of their wines.

Domaine de Villaine

Aubert de Villaine deserves the accolades he receives. He is a reluctant hero, an unlikely trait in a man of such accomplishment, intellect, and inherent sense of noblesse. Heir to one of the most enviable wine legacies of all time, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the young Aubert was more interested in literature and law than wine. After spending time in New York working for an importer of Burgundian wines, he finally returned home in the mid-nineteen sixties to assume his role as co-director of DRC.
In the 1970s, Aubert and his American wife, Pamela, sought less pedigreed pastures to call home. They finally settled in the village of Bouzeron, well-situated between Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay, Rully, and Mercurey, in the Côte Chalonnaise. However high profile his day job, Aubert still considers himself a vigneron like any other, and Bouzeron’s off-the-beaten-path location left him alone to make his own wines without the demands of upholding an international reputation. The domaine was horribly rundown when the de Villaines took over, but years of studying this unique terroir have made them pioneers in one of the last forgotten enclaves of Burgundy. The monks of the great abbey of Cluny first planted vines here in the twelfth century, leaving a legacy that has endured for centuries. Consequently, the grape varietal that reigns supreme today is the dry, white Aligoté—an unusual celebrity given its work-horse reputation in the middle of Chardonnay country. Bouzeron boasts the best Aligoté in Burgundy, the Aligoté Doré, (instead of the lesser clone, Aligoté Vert) which gives smaller yields to produce wines with more expressive aromatics. Although the grape was overlooked until 1979 when it first earned the appellation Bourgogne Aligoté de Bouzeron, the I.N.A.O. finally upgraded the appellation to A.O.C. Bouzeron in 1997, largely due to Aubert’s advocacy over the years. Aubert’s single vineyard Bourgognes, both in blanc and rouge, are equally outstanding representations of the unlikely pedigree found in this corner of the region.
The de Villaines farm three appellations within the Côte Chalonaise, namely Bouzeron (Aligoté), Rully (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and Mercurey (Pinot Noir). Their single-vineyard parcels are stunning examples of what this complex and amazing terroir can yield. Though their wines are quite enjoyable young, their ability to age well is what one might expect from a master such as de Villaine. Much of this is due to both the diversity of his vinestock and his organic and biodynamic methodology in the vineyards, both of which Aubert stands by with great conviction. He also ferments his Mercureys and Rully rouge in wood tanks, a style adopted from DRC.
Pierre de Benoist, Aubert’s nephew, currently directs the domaine, upholding the sense of tradition, excellence, and standards for which it has become so well-known. In 2010, Aubert was awarded Decanter Magazine’s prestigious “Man of the Year” Award, a distinction that, unsurprisingly, the modest Aubert seemed reluctant to accept.

Domaine du Gros ’Noré

Alain Pascal could be a character pulled right out of a Marcel Pagnol novel—a kind of Provençal Hercules. Like his father, Honoré, for whom the domaine is named, Alain is a strong, husky man with hands the size of bear claws. That he is a former boxer and an avid hunter should be no surprise, yet his physique matches both his spirit and his wine—this gentle giant and his cuvées are all heart. Of the many stories recorded in Kermit’s Inspiring Thirst, those of Alain are among the most entertaining. For years he sold his prized fruit from Bandol to Domaine Ott and Château de Pibarnon. Though he and his father would bottle their own wine for family consumption, they never labeled it under their own domaine name. Kermit has called those early family wines, “Magnificent Bandols made in the simplest manner, très franc de goût, with a whole lotta soul.” In 1997 after his father’s death, Alain officially started Domaine du Gros ‘Noré, a real shift that has brought him more than just casual notice. Alain is already a leading contender in Bandol, the appellation regarded as the grand cru of Provence.
He farms sixteen hectares of vineyards with the help of his brother, Guy, on the rolling hillsides around La Cadière d’Azur. The vineyards are composed of both clay and limestone, imparting a pronounced structure of earthy, splintered rock. This microclimate near the Mediterranean brings warm weather and full sun, tempered by the persistent Mistral. Alain leaves his grapes to mature fully on the vine, lending great intensity to the fruit. Where appellation law demands that each blend includes at least 50 percent Mourvèdre, Alain uses 80 percent—a choice that gives more power and concentration to the final assemblage.   Do not be fooled by the strength and boldness of the Gros ‘Noré Bandol, though; underneath a big exterior is a wine of character, depth, complexity, soul, and finesse.

Domaine François Lumpp

In the late 1970s, François Lumpp and his brother inherited their family property, located in the Côte Chalonnaise. In 1991 he founded his own label with his wife, Isabelle. Using cuttings of older, selected bud wood (sélection massale), François developed his domaine around Givry's best premier cru sites, which, as in most of the Côte d’Or, are situated on the mid to upper level slopes of the rolling hillsides.
Givry, along with Mercurey, is one of the two predominantly red wine producing appellations of the Côte Chalonnaise, while the neighboring appellations of Bouzeron, Rully, and Montagny produce primarily white wine. Givry is known for its refined and approachable reds, whereas Mercurey can often be harder and more austere when young. The best examples of Givry can have substantial structure, depth, and complexity, however, and can be expected to age as successfully as the premier crus of the Côte de Beaune, which is certainly the case at this address. François was one of the first to believe in the potential of Givry’s terroir for white Burgundy, and is reputed for his white today. His Chardonnays are a study in grace and balance.
The Lumpp domaine is an especially good fit here at KLWM because it embodies exactly what we have always looked for in Burgundy: a true vigneron in a specific village. Every wine François makes is from Givry, from vineyards that he planted and nurtured himself–something that is exceedingly rare in Burgundy today, and will become more and more so over time. An acknowledged leader of the appellation, his greatest achievement is harnessing the finesse we look for in Burgundian Pinot Noir—le Pinot fin.

Domaine Arnaud Ente

That Arnaud Ente is not a household name in Burgundy is more a reflection of his tireless dedication to his métier than of the quality of his wines. For the Entes, it’s not about pursuing the spotlight, although he is unquestionably a rising star in the region. Arnaud and his wife, Marie-Odile, work primarily on their own to craft an exquisite range of micro-production white Burgundies from Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet. Precision, purity, elegance, and finesse are the best descriptors of the Ente style. Each vine is nurtured through every step of the yearly cycle, and each cru and village wine receives the exact same impeccable treatment; even the “entry-level” Aligoté and Bourgogne Blanc show the layered richness and complexity of a much more sophisticated appellation.
Their neighbors joke that they aren’t sure how the Entes put food on the table when they observe such minuscule yields. Their most extensive holdings are in the En L’Ormeau clos, located just below the town center of Meursault, which possesses a deep, rich clay soil. They separate their vines here into three cuvées, Meursault A.O.C., “Clos des Ambres,” and “Sève du Clos,” based on the age of the vines and their relative position within the clos. Their holdings also include parcels in the premier crus Meursault La Goutte d’Or and Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts, as well as a small parcel in the enviably-positioned lieu-dit Les Petits Charrons on the slope behind the village. Once the grapes are in the cellar, there is only a restrained use of oak to add subtle structure and texture. Though somewhat under the radar, this modest maestro makes wines that can already compete with the best and just keep getting better with each new vintage. And in our opinion here at KLWM, the Ente’s meticulousness and passion have earned them a place in our “Never Stops Improving” category.

Domaine Leon Barral

Didier Barral represents the thirteenth generation to grow grapes in the tiny hamlet of Lenthéric, within the confines of the Faugères appellation deep in the heart of the Languedoc. While his forebears made a living off of cultivating the vine, Didier took the family business to the next level when he began estate-bottling and commercializing his wines on a larger scale in 1993. Named for Didier's grandfather, Domaine Leon Barral is a beacon of revolutionary winegrowing: shortly after founding the domaine, Didier decided that biodynamic practices were the best choice for farming his thirty hectares of vineyards. He has pioneered numerous innovative agronomic techniques with the goal of establishing his vineyards as a self-sustaining ecosystem. This Renaissance man, naturalist, and biodynamic maven commands tremendous respect among his peers for his visionary approach to topics like soil management, pest control, and drought mitigation in his vineyards.

Incorporating biodynamic practices necessitates enormous investment and an uncompromising work ethic. With so much land to farm, it is fortunate that Didier has so much help. His workers of choice? A team of twenty cows, horses, and pigs that roam the vineyards during winter, grazing the cover crops while adding natural fertilizer to the soil. Without compacting the earth the way a tractor would, the animals effectively cultivate healthy microbial activity, bringing mushrooms, ants, ladybugs, earthworms, and other essential life forms, which add important nutrients while aerating the soil. This is the concept of sustainability at its finest, where the ecosystem thrives from the symbiotic relationships Didier has fostered amid the vines.

This approach ultimately translates to tremendously powerful, complex, and age-worthy wines inflected with an earthy mineral note from the schist soils of Faugères. Most of Didier’s vines get full southern sun exposure; in this Mediterranean climate where summer heat waves and drought are constant during the growing season, pruning in the gobelet style shelters the grapes from the blistering sun. Most of his vines are very old—some up to ninety years of age—keeping yields naturally low. Once in the cellar, Didier’s harvest is cared for with the same zeal, although he would consider the wine all but finished once it leaves the vineyard. This level of artisanship was once nearly extinct, had it not been for Didier and the profound influence he is having over other viticulteurs who now see how his work ethic and ideology translates to results.

Jean Foillard

Jean and Agnès Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980, and soon thereafter began to make Kermit Lynch customers very happy. Most of their vineyards are planted on the Côte du Py, the famed slope outside the town of Villié-Morgon and the pride of Morgon. These granite and schist soils sit on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town and impart great complexity. However, great real estate is not the only key to Foillard’s success. Early on, Jean began to follow the teachings of Jules Chauvet, a traditionalist who defied everything that the more commercial brands were touting in the region. Jean and three other local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton, soon joined in on the movement. This Gang of Four, as Kermit christened them, called for a return to the old practices of viticulture and vinification: starting with old vines, never using synthetic herbicides or pesticides, harvesting late, rigorously sorting to remove all but the healthiest grapes, adding minimal doses of sulfur dioxide or none at all, and refusing both chaptalization and filtration. The end result allows Morgon to express itself naturally, as it should be without the bubblegum and banana aromas of so many other Beaujolais available today. Its rustic structure, spicy notes, and mineral-laden backbone are what real Morgon is all about.
This estate comprises nearly fourteen hectares. Foillard’s Morgons are deep, structured, and complex, with a velvety lushness that makes them irresistible when young despite their aging potential. Jean raises his wines in older barrels sourced from top estates in Burgundy, a logical decision for someone crafting Gamay in a Burgundian style. It is the passion and dedication of vignerons like this that have brought pride back to the crus of the Beaujolais.

Domaine Vinci

It took Olivier Varichon and Emmanuelle Vinci years of dabbling in various careers before finally settling down and establishing their domaine in Estagel, in the heart of the Roussillon. Olivier had previously studied enology and owned a wine shop while Emmanuelle worked as a biologist, but ultimately their dream of making their own wine prevailed and they began searching throughout France for desirable vineyards to purchase. They fell in love with the wild, rugged landscape of the Agly Valley, and in 2001 Domaine Vinci was born. Olivier and Emmanuelle now organically farm six hectares of vineyards, with parcels so isolated that they need not worry about chemical products from neighbors’ vineyards contaminating the rocky soils their vines call home. These stunning sites, nestled at high altitudes amid scraggly garrigue and perilous outcrops, are planted with very old vines that give absurdly low yields, often below 15 hl/ha. Due to many of the parcels’ remote locations and steep grades, everything is worked by hand, including Domaine Vinci’s very own sélection massale nursery that allows them to replant vines one at a time when necessary. As a result, each vineyard represents a stable, balanced ecosystem in which the native Maccabeu and Carignan Blanc, along with Grenache Blanc, Carignan, Mourvèdre, and Grenache Noir, are able to thrive and express the rustic wonder of this unique terroir.

After harvesting by hand—only when the grapes have reached peak phenolic maturity—the fruit is brought to the small Vinci cellar, where natural yeasts carry out fermentation in neutral vessels before the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered, with little to no added sulfur. All of Vinci’s bottlings, from the Maccabeu-based “Coyade” to the 100-year-old Carignan “Rafalot,” express profound concentration and minerality from the clay, limestone, granite, and schist of this corner of the Roussillon. While each of their three cuvées is capable of inspiring sincere awe, this is no surprise given Olivier and Emmanuelle’s painstaking determination and endless hard work. The wines are a testament to the potential of the rugged terroir as well as the Vinci philosophy, and it is truly an honor to represent wines of such purity and vitality.