KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

Domaine de Durban

To walk through the high-altitude vineyards at Domaine de Durban is to walk through an astounding span of history. On the site of a former Roman healing springs destination, a mere handful of soil reveals well-preserved, ancient Roman roof tiles and medieval pot shards. The domaine and its vineyards sit atop a picturesque plateau in the Vaucluse, sheltered by the Dentelles de Montmirail, just above the village of Beaumes-de-Venise. The scenic views put one at pause considering the timelessness—wine has been a part of the culture here for millennia, and ancient philosopher Pliny the Elder was the first known to praise the Muscat from this place. During the Middle Ages, it was a fortified farm, where it has run regularly since 1159. Jacques Leydier bought the property in the 1960s when the farm had fallen into disrepair. Today, his grandsons, Henri and Philippe, are running the domaine. This magical spot has assumed a higher purpose today, producing some of the most memorable wines of the Southern Rhône. The Leydiers farm fifty-five hectares of vineyards to make a powerful and aromatic Gigondas, a velvety Beaumes-de-Venise Rouge, and undeniably the most celebrated Muscat in the entire appellation.
A constellation of fortune seems to converge at this particular spot. Pine trees protect the area from the intensity of the persistent mistral. The soils are rich and deep, with clay, limestone, and the soft, ochre Trias, lending finesse and freshness to the wines. The high altitude in the vineyards means a slightly cooler microclimate with strong sun exposure, a blessing that the Leydiers credit for the amazing consistency their wines enjoy year after year. (Even The Oxford Companion to Wine takes space to note the terrific concentration that Durban’s vineyards achieve.) The Leydiers are particularly proud of their Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, a vin doux naturel, as they are among the last to craft it in the traditional style. Leydier’s old-fashioned vinification keeps the spirits as low as possible, so that they may hold on to the bright freshness in the grapes. One can find more powerful Muscats, but none as tasty and fine.

Patrick Bottex

The Bugey is one of the best-kept secrets of France. A geographical crossroads between Savoie, the Jura, Burgundy, and the Rhône, this small region encompasses the mountainous eastern half of the Ain département. Situated between Lyon and Geneva, it is not considered a part of Savoie or the Jura, administratively or as a wine region. It is really its own little enclave, home to steep calcareous mountainsides butting up against the western edge of the Alps, and subject to Alpine, continental, and Mediterranean influences to climate.

The slopes of the Bugey were likely first cultivated by the Romans, and later valorized by medieval monks. Still, the region had to wait until 2009 before receiving its own AOC. With less than five hundred hectares planted, production is marginal, but its remarkably steep, stony terroirs show immense potential in the hands of ambitious vignerons. Today, Cerdon is considered one of three crus within the appellation of Bugey, and the only one whose entire production consists of sparkling wine.

In La Cueille, one of seven high-altitude hamlets surrounding the historic medieval town of Poncin, Patrick and Catherine Bottex—recently joined by their son, Carl—farm the rocky limestone slopes above the Ain River. They have been working five hectares of land since 1991 and produce only a small quantity of their beautiful, intriguing sparkling wine. While a number of grape varieties are permitted in the Bugey, including Altesse, Chardonnay, and Mondeuse, the wines of Cerdon are dominated by Gamay. Chez Bottex, ten percent Poulsard, imported from the Jura just to the north, fills out the blend as a secondary cépage. They craft this irresistible low-alcohol rosé using the méthode ancestrale, a rare technique that predates the méthode champenoise. In the cellar, the grapes are pressed directly after harvest, and the must begins a natural fermentation in cuve. When roughly 60 grams of sugar remain, the tanks are cooled down to halt fermentation, and the wine is bottled under crown cap. A secondary fermentation begins spontaneously as the bottles are laid to rest for the winter, until the rising pressure causes fermentation to stop once again, having consumed roughly 20 additional grams of sugar. The bottles are then disgorged and filtered to avoid unwanted refermentations, and bottled under cork. The resulting wine is delightfully refreshing with bright fruit, crisp acidity, a beautiful deep pink hue, and a tantalizing touch of sweetness.

Kermit had never heard of Bugey until Marcel Lapierre uncorked a beauty at one of his after-tasting parties. His best memory of drinking it, however, was from an ice chest at a hamburger barbecue on a beach in Hawaii. From the Bugey to Waimanalo!

Veuve Fourny & Fils

Champagne Veuve Fourny & Fils is relatively new to the KLWM portfolio, although it has been an active family domaine since 1856. The estate is located in the prestigious Côte des Blancs, in the premier cru village of Vertus, an appellation that gives them the rare opportunity to grow Pinot Noir as well as Chardonnay. Brothers Charles-Henry and Emmanuel Fourny sustainably farm nearly nine hectares of vineyards and have been carrying on the family winegrowing tradition since 1993. Their “Clos Faubourg Notre Dame” is a rare jewel in Champagne, primarily due to the fact that there are few existing clos parcels left in the region. In this walled plot of land, their older vines benefit from a unique microclimate with deep, chalky subsoil and clay and limestone deposits. Southeastern sun exposure optimizes grape maturity in an area of France where ripe grapes are a precious commodity. Their other vineyards share the soil composition of the clos and get east, southeast and southern sun exposure.
Veuve Fourny produces classic grower Champagne, raising pedigreed fruit, adhering to high standards, and hand-crafting wines that showcase the chalky terroir of Vertus. All of the Fournys’ vineyards are farmed according to the same meticulous practices and principles, and each parcel is vinified individually. The Brut ages in their cellars for two and a half years before release, the vintage Champagne for five years, and the Clos for nine years. The house style at Veuve Fourny is best characterized as classic Côte des Blancs: a fine bead, rich, deep aromatics, and a complex minerality emphasizing freshness and purity. The Fournys believe in minimal dosage for all of their Champagnes, preferring to let the individual terroirs express themselves more clearly. This technique, in addition to their dedication to partial malolactic fermentations in their overall blends, impeccable vineyard management, and their decision to age most base wine partially in barrel, all contribute to their unique style.

Château de Bellevue

The good-natured proprietor of the Château de Bellevue, André Chatenoud, seems more at home in his cellars than anywhere else.  Though he and his family have owned the property since 1971, the history of the château dates back to at least the 18th Century.  One needs only to explore the incredible limestone caves and see the rich range of old graffiti engravings to be impressed: from harvest workers of the 1700s to American G.I.’s of the 1940s, so many of its visitors have been eager to mark their place in time through the walls of this small yet refined estate.  Like other châteaux of the region, the winery is adorned with the elegant architecture of the era - the “chartreuse bordelaise.” This typical 18th century edifice is built in a U-shape, using quarried stone from under the vineyard.  It is very practical: you make a living from the upper layers of soil and build your house from the deeper limestone.
Lussac St-Émilion is found on the Right Bank of the Bordelais, and is often regarded as a “satellite” appellation of St-Émilion.  The terroir here is characterized by exceptional quality – only surprising because the great, low prices here at Bellevue stand to shift the perceptions of what good Bordeaux should cost.  All twelve hectares of the clay and limestone vineyards are farmed organically and were certified through the French agency, Ecocert in 2002.  All grapes are de-stemmed and only native yeasts are used. Wines are aged in the subterranean cellars for two years before bottling.  There is a beautiful mineral components and freshness to all three wines:  The Sauvignon Gris (a local, white, heirloom varietal), the Lussac St-Émilion “Les Griottes” (a fresh, easy-drinking cuvée of 100% Merlot), and finally their classic Lussac St-Émilion (comprised of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc). Recent tastings of Bellevue’s 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2005 vintages prove that one need not pay a high premium for age-worthy, elegant Bordeaux.  With such lushness and mineral backbone, this small estate’s offerings only stand to impress.

Deperu Holler

In the north of Sardegna, Carlo Deperu and his wife Tatiana Holler are crafting some of the most serious whites of the Mediterranean basin. The couple met in Milan, where Carlo earned his degree in viticulture and enology while Tatiana had come to study advertising from her native Brazil. In 2005, they settled back to Carlo’s hometown of Perfugas, where his family had long made some wine for their own consumption. Carlo and Tatiana replanted the family vineyards and added new parcels, ultimately bringing the surface under vine to six hectares.

At the intersection of the hilly Anglona region and the more mountainous Gallura (home to Sardegna’s only DOCG, Vermentino di Gallura), soils alternate between limestone and granite with varying proportions of clay, chalk, and fossil-rich stones. Situated less than ten miles away, the sea brings constant fresh breezes, while nearby Lake Coghinas also has a similar moderating effect. The cleansing maestrale wind blows frequently, playing a crucial role in facilitating organic viticulture. In fact, Carlo and Tatiana eschew herbicides and synthetic fertilizers in the vineyard, opting instead for natural solutions like planting cover crops to maintain balance in the soils.

Vermentino thrives here, giving aromatic, mineral-driven wines that rank among the Mediterranean’s most complex and food-friendly whites. “Fria” is a mouth-watering, almost salty, delightfully thirst-quenching expression of the grape, while “Prama Dorada” pays tribute to the Sardinian peasant wines of the past: a blend of Vermentino co-planted with Nasco, Malvasia, Moscato, Arvesionadu, and other heirloom varieties, this deep, fleshy white is richly saturated with local wildflower and herbal nuances. Both wines see a cold soak (up to seven days for Prama Dorada) to extract texture and aroma, but not color or tannins. Fermentations are natural and both wines complete their malolactic fermentation in tank before an unfined, unfiltered bottling. Carlo and Tatiana also produce a perfumed, chewy red from Cannonau and Muristellu. These wines are loaded with local character and brilliantly complement Mediterranean cuisine.

Domaine Dupeuble

In the hamlet of Le Breuil, deep in the southern Beaujolais and perched above a narrow creek, the Domaine Dupeuble has been running almost continuously since 1512. The name of the domaine has changed just three times in its history, most recently when the last heir, Anna Asmaquer, married Jules Dupeuble in 1919. Anna’s son Paul, and her grand children Ghislaine and Stéphane Dupeuble, manage the domaine. Kermit first met Ghislaine and Stéphane’s father, Damien, for lunch in Paris in the late 1980s, and thus began the annual tradition of blending the KLWM Beaujolais Nouveau.
Tradition runs deep in the family, but each generation has also managed to add something new, including increasing the property. Today it is comprised of one hundred hectares, about forty percent of which is consecrated to vineyards. Strong advocates of the lutte raisonnée approach to vineyard work, they tend their vines without the use of any chemicals or synthetic fertilizers. The vineyards, planted primarily to Gamay, face Southeast, South, and Southwest, and about two thirds of the property is on granite-based soil. The grapes are harvested manually and vinified completely without SO2. The wines are not chaptalized, filtered, or degassed and only natural yeasts are used for the fermentation. The wines of Dupeuble represent some of the best values in the Beaujolais today and are widely regarded for their very high quality and eminently reasonable price.

Masseria del Pino

Recent investment in Mount Etna has seen the arrival of ambitious producers from all around the globe armed with significant financial resources and modern winemaking techniques. While much has changed in this part of Sicily over the last two decades, pockets remain where time seems to stand still. Driving down the dusty road to Masseria del Pino, Cesare Fulvio and Federica Turillo’s little farm upslope from Randazzo, on the volcano's northern face, it is hard to tell which century we are living in. This is Etna in all its pastoral serenity, with only the sights, scents, and sounds of the mountain to stimulate the senses.

This simple, peaceful lifestyle is precisely what the couple envisioned when they settled here in 2005. Catania natives, they left their jobs—Cesare as a commercial air pilot, Federica as an archery instructor—to cultivate the two hectares of terraced vineyards at Contrada Pino, elevation 800 meters. They renovated the property’s ancient palmento, a traditional farmhouse featuring an old press and large fermentation vats made of lava stone, and began to work the 120-year-old pre-phylloxera vines, plus some olive trees and vegetable gardens, according to organic and biodynamic principles.

Upon bringing in the grapes—for the red, Nerello Mascalese with a bit of Nerello Cappuccio—Cesare and Federica stomp them by foot in these vats. An open-air fermentation begins, then the must is ultimately pressed off into old 500-liter tonneaux, where the wine stays for over a year until bottling. These primitive techniques have changed little since vines first appeared in Contrada Pino in the ninth century, and one can imagine this is what the wine might have tasted like back then. It is a profound Etna Rosso, richly flavored with black cherry, balsamic spices, and a smokiness that recalls the fresh-laid-tar suggestions often found in young Barolo. Its intensely gripping, yet silty-fine tannin is a trademark of wines from Contrada Pino. Cesare proudly remembers when an elderly local peasant identified his red in a blind tasting: “This wine hails from Contrada Pino!” the man exclaimed. For Cesare and Federica, there could be no better compliment.

Domaine Achard-Vincent

The countryside known as the Diois is located in the Drôme Valley around Die (pronounced “Dee”), east of the Rhône in between Valence and Montélimar. It is also the home of the appellation Clairette de Die, derived from its former name, Dea Augusta, during the Roman Empire. The great historian Pliny the Elder was the first to record the greatness of the Clairette and Muscat here, celebrating a pétillance and freshness widely believed to predate those of Champagne. Among the most well-known of Clairette de Die’s producers today is the tiny Domaine Achard-Vincent.  Jean-Pierre Achard, and his son, Thomas, descend from five generations of growers. The domaine has farmed organically since Thomas’s grandparents were directing it, although it is now officially certified as both organic (since 1982) and biodynamic (since 2007). Though French certification agencies have stricter criteria than those of the United States, incompatible legislation between the two countries, believe it or not, has forced all mentions of their methodology off labels imported into the U.S.
Though the name Clairette de Die suggests the emphasis of the Clairette grape which goes into the blends, it is actually the Muscat à petits grains for which the appellation is best known. The Clairette de Die “Tradition” uses the méthode dioise, an ancestral method that allows a secondary fermentation in the bottle without dosage, because the wine is bottled with residual sugar remaining, typically at 6% alcohol. The bottles are then decanted off of their lees and rebottled under pressure following the secondary fermentation. The Clairette de Die “Brut” is made using the méthode champenoise, or méthode traditionnelle. The “Tradition” is slightly sweet and benefits from low alcohol levels around 7%. The “Brut” is comprised of 100% Clairette and is fermented dry at only 11% alcohol. The delicate liveliness of the wines from Domaine Achard-Vincent makes them refreshing, delicious, and perfect as an aperitif, dessert, or brunch wine. The Brut has become a staff favorite, and Kermit selected it to begin a big Thanksgiving feast this year.

Manni Nössing

Alto Adige—or Südtirol, as it is also known—does not seem Italian. The street names are primarily German, you are more likely to come across sausage and sauerkraut on a menu than tomatoes and basil, and your phone calls are more likely to be answered by an assertive “Hallo?” than a melodic “Pronto!” It is here in Bressanone (a.k.a. Brixen), less than twenty miles south of the Austrian border, that Manni Nössing runs his small winery amid the towering peaks of the Dolomites. Manni’s vineyards benefit from the mountain climate and steep slopes of glacial deposit that make up the Valle Isarco, the narrow valley to the northeast of Bolzano that is known for its fresh, aromatic whites.

Descended from a family of farmers, Manni has no formal training in viticulture or enology but seeks to learn from each vintage in order to produce wines that are capable of giving pleasure while also reflecting the terroir from which they originate. In 2000, he made the decision to start bottling his own wine instead of selling to a nearby co-op. Since then, he has increased his holdings to 5 hectares, all hillside vineyards at altitudes of 650 to 800 meters, planted to Kerner, Grüner Veltliner, Müller Thurgau, Riesling, Sylvaner, and Gewürztraminer. Kerner, a cross between Riesling and Schiava (a local red grape), represents half of his production and perfectly exemplifies the house style of precision, freshness, class, and minerality. While the climate in Alto Adige is certainly a colder one with snowy winters, Manni finds that due to his vines’ southern exposure and the region’s hot summers, the sun is enemy number one. “I want my wines to be drinkable,” he explains. With the belief that good acidity is the key to refreshing, balanced wines, he has recently stopped green harvesting and de-leafing his vines. “My grapes are happy in the shade,” he elaborated. “They are unhappy sitting in the sun all day”.

Manni’s desire to respect the land and emphasize terroir also applies to his choices in the cellar. All wines are vinified in stainless steel tanks to preserve the grapes’ delicate aromas, though 50% of the Veltliner sees a passage in neutral acacia barrels. After eight months on the lees during which the wines pick up additional richness and texture, they are ready to be bottled. The result is a range of wines that are a joy to drink while also exhibiting exceptional finesse and complexity, perfectly showcasing Manni’s passion for his land and the region’s pristine Alpine beauty. We are proud to welcome him on board as our first ever import from Italy’s northernmost province.

Maison Arretxea

The Basque country lies along the southwestern border of France and Spain, deep in the dramatic Pyrénées mountains. The eleventh century monks of Roncevaux made wine to cater to a population of tourists—religious pilgrims traveling through the mountain pass from France on their way to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. However, throughout the centuries, wine production dissipated drastically. Although Irouléguy was awarded its own A.O.C. in 1970, by the late twentieth century, most of the remaining vignerons were selling to the local cooperative. And then along came Michel and Thérèse Riouspeyrous…
Just after losing his father at the age of thirteen, Michel was raised by his grandfather, with whom he worked in the family farm and vineyards. He eventually gravitated towards studies in Agronomy before the mandatory service militaire sent him to Africa for duty. While in Africa, Michel met Thérèse, an Alsatian who was on vacation. They married and returned to Michel’s home in the Southwest in the early eighties. In 1989, they decided to start their own domaine by renting two hectares of vineyards. The decision to farm organically came rather instantaneously to Michel. Once certified as organic, he and Thérèse pushed on towards the next logical progression: biodynamics. Juxtaposed against a backdrop of co-op wine that has come to categorize the appellation in recent decades, the Riouspeyrous seem even more radical—not only for bottling their own wine, but also for farming it as they do. For Michel and Thérèse, it just translates into a more authentic expression of the grape. A mere glimpse of their steep, terraced land, amid beautifully lush wildflowers, set against the white peaks of the Pyrénées, with sheep grazing on the soft, aerated soils in between vineyard rows, makes it easy to see what inspired such a decision.
The majority of their eight hectares are planted to the native grape varietals, Tannat (red), Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng (whites). The sandstone soils of Irouléguy are ideal for these grapes because they are streaked with iron oxide, mica, silica, limestone, clay, and dolomite. The mineral diversity lends an intensity to the wines, making them wild, earthy, tannic, and rich in spicy aromas. Full southern exposure allows the Riouspeyrous to achieve ripeness in these cooler climate vineyards. They vinify each terroir individually through traditional vinification methods to bottle four delicious cuvées. Their rosé is what Dixon Brooke calls, “a winter rosé”—deep in color, generous in fruit, with unusually pronounced tannins, it is the perfect accompaniment to grilled sausages.