KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

Auguste Clape

In the world of wine, there are many good winegrowers. However, there are only a very select few who are truly great, and Auguste Clape is among them. Critics and connoisseurs alike all agree that he is one of the greatest pioneers of the Northern Rhône, and his Syrahs from the cru of Cornas are among the most celebrated wines of France. The Clapes have been vignerons for many generations, but the infamous grower strikes of 1906 and 1907 forced his grandfather out of the Languedoc and into the Northern Rhône to start anew from practically nothing. The Clapes rebuilt their fortunes, terrace-by-terrace, along the steep, western slopes of the Rhône River. For many years, the majority of growers in Cornas sold their fruit to négociants. Auguste was the first to bottle his own wine, which eventually paved the way for such contemporary superstars as Thierry Allemand. Without pretense or fanfare, Auguste, the former mayor of Cornas, is a stately picture of grace and magnanimity—a no-nonsense wise man who is still interested in learning. Today, he works side-by-side with his son, Pierre-Marie, and grandson, Olivier.
Though the Clapes farm only eight hectares, the challenge presented by the rough, tightly stacked terrace vineyards of Cornas is largely enough to handle by anybody’s standards. The dicey precipices make using any machinery in the vineyards impossible. All work must be done by hand. There are no official rules to their viticultural methodology—they work the old-fashioned way, by instinct, feeling, and common sense. The vineyards sit on granite subsoil, behind the village, with optimal sun exposure. They own pieces of such prime parcels as Reynard and La Côte, as well as Les Mazards and Pied La Vigne. They also recently acquired the vineyard, Les Sabarottes, bought from the now retired Noël Verset. Their only secrets: starting with old vines, and optimizing the ripeness of the fruit as best they can. They accomplish this by holding out before they harvest—a risky game of ‘chicken’ where the trick is to keep the fruit on the vine as long as possible while still harvesting before the rains. Individual parcels are vinified separately in old, oval foudres. Long élévages of twelve to twenty-two months add depth to the natural complexity of the wines. The wines are capable of tremendous longevity in the cellar, although Kermit also encourages trying them while they are young and fresh, to better appreciate the evolution to come. For a taste of the old-style Syrah from the fabulous, sculptured slopes of the Northern Rhône, Auguste Clape’s Cornas is the only place to start.

Antoine Arena

Antoine Arena, like most Corsicans of his generation, grew up in a family that earned a modest living working the land on an island largely unknown to the outside world.  As soon as he could he joined the mass exodus of Corsicans to the French mainland, in search of jobs and what they thought to be a better life. Several years later in the mid 1970s, with a promising career on the mainland, the Corsican independence movement exploded with violent confrontations between nationalists and French government forces, leaving Antoine stunned.
In his shock and anger, he moved back to the family farm and decided to reverse the trend and remain on the land, as his own form of protest. Many others soon followed his lead, and for the first time in over a century, the emigration from the island ebbed and Corsicans came back home to reclaim their land.
To survive off the land, Antoine knew he would need to show the world outside of Corsica what Patrimonio was capable of. And so his mission began to make the best his land could make and to spread the word. He started identifying the best parcels and vinifiying them separately, and long before his time, worked the vines organically and vinified without any added sulfur. 
From the beginning of the endeavor, Antoine and his wife Marie worked tirelessly to put Patrimonio on the map to the greater French public, and with quite a success. They brought fame and respect to their appellation and are recognized nearly unanimously as being the best there is on the island. In Paris, for example, Arena is a living legend and his presence at a tasting in the city will always guarantee an over capacity crowd. He’s close friends with the likes of the Gang of Four, Montanet, Barral, Catherine & Pierre Breton, and is as much of a bon vivant as any of them.
Now Antoine is joined by his two sons, Antoine-Marie and Jean-Baptiste who share Antoine’s spirit and continue to work the land and make the wine naturally, as taught from their father. Good thing is, this time around, no one will be leaving the domaine in search of a better life elsewhere.

Giuseppe Quintarelli

The late, great Maestro del Veneto, Giuseppe Quintarelli, succeeded in establishing his mythical and legendary estate during an amazing sixty-year career. All of the tradition, love, heart, and soul of crafting one of the world’s finest wines continue at the Quintarelli home and winery in the hills north of Verona. Giuseppe’s wife Franca, his daughter Fiorenza, his son-in-law Giampaolo, and his grandsons Francesco and Lorenzo are all keeping a close watch over the family’s legacy.

It is impossible to speak about Quintarelli without superlatives. The name itself stands for so much: the family, the wines, a style, a tradition, a way of doing things. After all the time, effort, patience, and care that go into the making of a bottle of Quintarelli, it truly does mean so much more than wine. Giuseppe, fondly known as “Bepi” to those closest to him, was a perfectionist in every way. From the beautiful handwritten labels, to the best possible quality cork, to the exquisite wine in the bottles, the Quintarelli name is a stamp of authenticity and the ultimate indication of an artisanal, handmade, uncompromising wine of the highest quality.

Nothing is ever hurried at Quintarelli. The wines take their time and are given the time they need. In the still, quiet calm of the family cellars above the town of Negrar, along the winding via del Cerè, deep in the Valpolicella zone, the wine from the family’s hillside vineyards ages patiently and gracefully in large casks until it is ready. Every release is a masterpiece, a testament to time, tradition, skill, and passion, the creations of a master artisan. You can’t really compare these wines to any other in the region, or anywhere else in the world. They really are in a class and a category all their own.

Multiple passages through the vineyards produce a myriad of wines, many produced using the appassimento technique whereby the grapes are dried on rush mats before being pressed and made into wine. From the delicious and seductive Bianco Secco, to the benchmark Valpolicella that created a revolution in the thinking about what it was possible to produce in this region, to the Rosso del Bepi and Amarones produced according to the quality of the harvest, to the otherworldly Recioto and the exceedingly rare Bandito, the sheer artistry and depth of the range is truly exceptional. A bottle of Quintarelli never disappoints!

Kermit Lynch Blends - Northern Rhône

Nearly forty years of doing business in France and Italy have given Kermit Lynch a level of expertise that few in the wine industry can boast. Countless hours with growers in some of the most famous vineyards and cellars of Europe have offered more than just a casual look at what it takes to be a great grower, let alone a great winemaker. Kermit Lynch was the first to champion the benefits of unfined and unfiltered wines, long before they had become fashionable. This belief is really a matter of taste, and the proof has always been in the glass, offering a purer expression of fruit and an unadulterated reflection of the terroir. Kermit’s conviction has been so strong over the years that he has been able to persuade even the most hard-headed vignerons to test his theories.

Long-term relationships with vignerons in every major wine growing region offer a tremendous array of opportunities. Every year, Kermit enjoys a creative collaboration with some growers to find the best of their selections. Together, they work towards creating a final blend that showcases the region in all its glory at a price point that is difficult to match.

CÔTE RÔTIE CROZES-HERMITAGE HERMITAGE
Louis Barruol is an indefatigable force in the Rhône. He is the fourteenth generation in his family to be making wine in this sixteenth-century domaine in Gigondas. On what was once the site of a Roman villa, Louis’ cellars show spectacular remains of old, Roman vinification vats carved into the limestone. Here, Louis works with different grape varietals from the Rhône, vinifying each parcel separately. He has recently taken to acting as a micro-négociant, working closely with top growers in the northern part of the region who still work with Sérine, an ancient version of Syrah. Producing only a few precious barrels of each cuvée, Louis is helping to save the authenticity and the identity of many great old Côte Rôtie parcels, and now those of Hermitage and Crozes, by keeping them out of the hands of the large, corporate négociants in the area. Together, he and Kermit blend our Northern Rhône wines from a selection of Louis’ purchases. Louis selects the best parcels he can find, and then Kermit shows up and either has a cuvée bottled unfiltered, or he blends to find the assemblage that satisfies his esthetic criteria.

Domaine François Raveneau

The most sublime and the most celebrated estate of Chablis, the wines of Domaine Raveneau are a rare find—exceptional because the vineyard holdings are almost entirely made of grand cru and premier cru fruit, painfully finite as so few are produced, outstanding because of their tremendous quality and consistency, and unusual given the modesty of the vignerons who create these world-class wines. 
The domaine was created in 1948, when François Raveneau consolidated his holdings with his wife’s family’s vineyard parcels. Though his father had spent years selling off prime parcels, François was doing his best to bring new ones back into the hands of the domaine. The reputation of this elusive and somewhat stoic vigneron spread quickly, as his style was easily recognizable as far superior to the growing trend of innocuous, somewhat uniform Chardonnay. The domaine’s production has always been miniscule, and Kermit fought in vain throughout the seventies to add these wines to his portfolio. As an ardent practitioner of natural wines, François was extremely skeptical about shipping overseas, fearing that the wines might suffer during the ocean voyage. Assured by friends that Kermit was very familiar with natural wines and only shipped in refrigerated containers, François finally agreed (see Adventures on the Wine Route). The relationship started with the 1979 vintage and has continued solidly ever since. Today, François’ sons, Bernard and Jean-Marie, direct the domaine, yet stay true to their father’s philosophy in both the vineyards and the cellar.
The Brothers Raveneau are a dream team. They carry the family torch with pride, yet with a reserve, pragmatism, and humility that is more likely found among true farmers than the artists they are. There is no set division of labor between the brothers, just “all hands on deck,” as each one brings his own expertise to the mix. Jean-Marie attended the Lycée Viticole in Beaune, and has been with the domaine since 1978. In 1995 when François retired, Bernard finally joined his brother at the domaine after years of working for a négociant. Together, they farm nearly eight hectares of land, including three grand cru vineyards (Blanchot, Les Clos, and Valmur) and six premier crus (Montée de Tonnerre, Les Vaillons, Butteaux, Chapelot, Mont-Mains, and Forêt).  In a cool climate like Chablis, vines find their strength in the rich clay and chalky limestone of the Kimmeridgian chain.
From vine to glass, the Raveneaus continue to do things the old-fashioned way. Although François passed away in 2000, Bernard’s daughter, Isabelle, joins them today, assuring fans that Domaine Raveneau will continue into the next generation.

Benevelli Piero

It was in 1978 that Piero Benevelli started out with five hectares of vines in Monforte d’Alba and focused on the traditional grapes of Piedmont: Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, and Barbera. His son, Massimo, started his training in the vineyard at age 14 and quickly learned the core principle that still guides him today—to make great wine, you must first have great grapes.

The young Massimo Benevelli has developed into an extremely talented Piemontese grower. He exhibits a total command of the production process, from vine to bottle. When tasting his production during various stages of aging—in barrel, tank, and bottle—there is a consistency, a touch, an intangible quality that is the mark of something great. His wines show character, soul, and originality.

The Benevelli holdings are mostly concentrated in the southeastern-facing hillside cru of “Ravera” in the deep southeast of the Barolo zone. The wines from Ravera have the distinction of combining the structural strength of neighboring Serralunga d’Alba with the concentration and richness of Bussia and the other crus further north. Massimo’s Baroli are approachable young but like any great Barolo, reveal their true potential after at least five years or more in bottle. His Dolcetto and Langhe Nebbiolo are true Piemontese delights as well—classic and full of pleasure.

Domaine Ostertag

To call André Ostertag a revolutionary winemaker is to tell just half the story. He is a pioneer, certainly, but also an ardent environmentalist (as demonstrated in both his wine and his sculpture, another passion). After training in Burgundy, André returned to the family domaine in Alsace with renewed zeal: he lowered yields considerably and introduced viticultural and vinification techniques from other regions to his own home ground. The 1996 vintage marked his first collaboration with KLWM, and the following year he brought biodynamic viticulture to his fourteen hectares of vineyards, including his flagship parcel in the Muenchberg Grand Cru.

There is poetry to Ostertag’s practices. He looks for the nuance of terroir rather than the typicity of a grape varietal. In an act of rejection against the official classifications dictated by the A.O.C., he made up his own categories: Vins de Fruit that express fruit character rather than that of a specific vineyard site, Vins de Pierre reflecting the terroir from which they originate, and Vin de Temps that rely on time and weather to encourage the development of botrytis. He ferments the majority of his wines completely dry, so their versatility at the table surpasses that of many other wines from the region. In Ostertag’s experience, a careful use of oak subtly enhances the traditional Alsatian varietals from the Pinot family, giving them greater depth on the palate. He uses oak sourced exclusively from the Vosges Mountains and, for his Pinots, prefers barriques to the traditional foudres. He rejects formulaic, scientifically engineered wines, and since going biodynamic in 1997, has been an active member of the natural farming community. As he so beautifully explains in Kermit Lynch’s Inspiring Thirst,

…true quality is that which succeeds in surprising and moving us. It is not locked inside a formula. Its essence is subtle (subjective) and never rational. It resides in the unique, the singular, but it is ultimately connected to something more universal. A great wine is one in which quality is contained. Such a wine will necessarily be uncommon and decidedly unique because it cannot be like any other, and because of this fact it will be atypical, or only typical of itself. (p 279)

That is a quote we wish more wine critics would take to heart.

Blog posts on Domaine Ostertag:
New Website from Ostertag
White Wine For Aging? It Is Time To Look To Alsace

Régis Minet

One could easily consider Régis Minet the Loire Valley’s answer to an action hero. He may play it cool on the outside, but at closer look, one sees a man of brooding intensity on an insatiable quest for adventure. It may just be in the blood. His grandfather, Robert Minet, was an artisan tonnelier, or barrel-maker. At the beginning of the last century, Robert kept a mere three hectares of vines in the eastern Loire town of Pouilly-sur-Loire—just enough to make the family’s wine. He, too, was very independent, living autonomously off his own livestock and fresh vegetables from his farm. When he passed away in 1976, Régis left his studies to continue the work of the domaine without giving it a second thought. Since then, he has made this tiny farm a full-time domaine, and has succeeded in adding an additional eight hectares of vineyards to the holdings. It is certain that his love of his native terroir translates into his wines, although one sees it in many other aspects of his character as well. Watching him fervently serve a plate of crottins de chevre to guests, seeing his latest fossilized finds after a day of diving into the bottom of the Loire River, or watching him tinker with his motorcycle after an epic ride is proof enough that Régis shares both his grandfather’s rogue-ishness and love of the land.
Pouilly-sur-Loire produces one of the greatest Sauvignon Blancs in the world. Régis’ vineyards sit at 750 feet, surrounded by hills on the far east of the Loire River, and centered proudly on the prized limestone and clay of the Kimmeridgian chain. The scattered flint in these vineyards imbues the wines with a character quite distinctive from the neighboring village of Sancerre. In the eloquent words of KLWM Store Manager, Steve Waters, “You couldn’t ask for a cleaner, fresher, flintier, or truer expression of Sauvignon Blanc. Its mouth-watering acidity, depth of flavor, and fleshy texture will have you racing back for more.”

La Grange de Quatre Sous

Hildegard Horat-Diop’s rebellious streak, verve, and innate talent have made her a star of the Languedoc. Though she began making wine at a time when female winemakers in France were rare, she also broke many other social conventions along the way. She had started her career in her native Switzerland, where she was actively working as a restorer to old monuments. It all changed in 1975 when she and her first husband, Ernst Wirz, visited the Languedoc and fell in love with the domaine, La Grange de Quatre Sous. At the time, the property was in complete disrepair. It is a unique piece of land that borders an ancient Roman road, and the buildings are said to have belonged to the medieval order of the Knights of Malta, also known as the Hospitaliers. She and Ernst undertook extensive renovations, including an overhaul and replanting of the vineyards in 1983. Over the years, they slowly gravitated towards organic farming. By the time she received official certification in 1999, she had already been farming sustainably for several years. It was around that same time that she and Ernst split, and she started managing the property entirely on her own. Today, she is now part of a group called Vinifilles, an association of eighteen female winegrowers in Languedoc-Rousillion who assemble to share their research and expertise with each other. She is well-respected by her peers, so much so that Kermit refers to her wine as “grand cru quality.”
Hildegard has since remarried and continues to direct this eight-hectare farm outside of the very small village of Assignac (145 inhabitants) in the appellation of Saint-Chinian. Though her vineyards sit comfortably within the boundaries of the A.O.C. Saint-Chinian, she prefers to take the lesser designation of Vin de Pays d’Oc, so she can plant the varietals that she wants, and make her wine without the same imposed rules and restrictions. Over the years, she has introduced unlikely grape varietals into her plantings, namely Malbec, and at times has experimented with some eclectic Swiss varietals. Not surprisingly, Hildegard’s wines are intense and powerful. Enjoy them with some bottle age or decanting.

Domaine Gramenon

The seemingly reserved façade of Michèle Aubèry-Laurent melts away quickly when she speaks about her wines. As a former nurse (who often favored natural remedies), she has come to treat her vines with the same care, conviction, and passion as she had for her former patients. She and her husband, Philippe, bottled their first vintage of Domaine Gramenon in 1990, in the far northern-eastern stretches of the southern Rhône, in the town of Montbrison-sur-Lez. Philippe was a talented vigneron—both creative and edgy—and he loved to push the envelope of the regulations imposed by the I.N.A.O. In 1999, in an unexpected twist of fate, he was killed in a tragic accident. Michèle was suddenly left on her own with their three children, vineyards, and a winery to deal with. Crushed but undaunted, Michèle stepped to the forefront, boldly picking up where Philippe left off. Over the years, Michèle has discovered her own creative voice in her new vocation; in so doing she has catapulted Domaine Gramenon into cult wine status.  Today, she works twenty-six hectares with her talented son, Maxime François (a rising star in his own right), farming both young and very old vines alike. They employ organic and biodynamic practices in the vineyards, with a strong non-interventionist stance in the cellars. Maxime François has begun flexing his own creative muscle, bottling two cuvées at the domaine under his own name.
Domaine Gramenon is the authentic embodiment of the philosophies that the Laurents espouse. They do not merely champion organic farming, but they incorporate the concept of sustainability into their daily lives by growing their own food and raising their own animals. The domaine bottles an AOC Vinsobres and a myriad of parcels of Côtes-du-Rhône located around the domaine. Though Michèle and Maxime continue to test the confines of the appellation, the cellars are unsurprisingly old-fashioned. The Laurents use gravity-fed cuves and age their wines in oak demi-muids and foudres. That they take such gutsy risks as bottling old-vine fruit with so little sulfur, without fining or filtration, only demonstrates the lengths they will go to in order to highlight the freshness, purity, and intoxicating aromas of their small, rare production.