KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

Domaine de la Cadette

In the village of Saint-Père, along a little creek to the southeast of Vézelay in Burgundy, a quiet, peaceful revolution is taking place. This part of Burgundy has been producing wines for centuries, but estate bottling still represents a relatively recent phenomenon here. In fact, when Jean and Catherine Montanet planted their first vineyards in 1987, the fruit was destined for vinification in their very own cave coopérative, which saw its first vintage bottled in 1990. As general manager of the business, Jean quickly found his feet as a capable vigneron, counseled by coworkers such as the brilliant Bernard Raveneau, who would later introduce Jean to Kermit.

By 1997, the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origines) had awarded Vézelay its own AOC—a timely decision that lends more credibility to the noble work of the Montanets. They began farming organically in 1999, a particularly bold decision given the physical and financial effort required to do so in an area where most wine is sold in bulk. Unable to fully express themselves as vignerons at the coop and determined to continue working organically, the Montanets finally split off and founded their own label, Domaine de la Cadette, taking their vineyards with them. Their son Valentin joined them in 2010 and now manages the domaine, espousing his parents' philosophy of organic farming and natural vinification to craft refreshing, mineral-driven whites and reds.

The vineyard land sits deep in the Morvan, the great mountain range that runs west by northwest of the famous Côte d’Or. The land here is quite exceptional: the creation of the granite massif of the Morvan has uplifted a marl and limestone strata, revealing fossilized marine deposits. Though Vézelay is a geographic appendage of Chablis, the soils are not exactly the same. Instead of the Kimmerdigian soils, the clays here range from blue and gray to red, sometimes with no clay at all but just shallow limestone. While the climate is slightly cooler than in Chablis, the vines enjoy great sun exposure, lending a balance between generous fruit and deep mineral structure. That the wines from Vézelay have gone largely unnoticed until recently may certainly be attributed to an underwhelming production of forgettable wines; however, Domaine de la Cadette stands proudly as a beacon of change, representing the most sincere expression of their terroirs with grace and integrity. Though they are best known for their Bourgogne Vézelay, a Chardonnay, their Bourgogne Rouge and their Melon de Bourgogne are also equally remarkable.

Davide Vignato

One of our most “off-the-beaten-track” discoveries of the past few years is the azienda of young Davide Vignato, hailing from the small village of Gambellara in the Veneto, east of Verona in the province of Vicenza. Gambellara has the distinction of being the lesser-known neighbor of nearby Soave. The grape, Garganega, is the same, known for producing one of Italy's greatest white wines. The terroir, while also volcanic, is different and very distinct. Compact horizontal bands of dark basalt are just below the surface, and contribute to impressions of high tension and stoniness. These are brighter and zingier wines than the more rounded and honeyed expression of Garganega in Soave.

The family history behind Davide’s wines began when his grandfather, Rinaldo, purchased a small plot of land in the hills of Gambellara and planted vines. Davide’s father, Gian Domenico, was the first in the family to make wine from those grapes, and as of 1997, Davide introduced organic and later biodynamic farming to the vineyards with the goal of producing deeply mineral wines that would legitimately reflect Gambellara’s unique soils.

The Vignato estate is tiny, only a few hectares, all hand-worked by the Vignato family, including a large percentage of labor-intensive, traditionally-trained pergola vines. The grapes are harvested by hand, fermentation is spontaneous, and the wines are aged on fine lees. These wines represent not only authentic and compelling terroir expression, but also great values.

Marcel Lapierre

Little would we know that when Marcel Lapierre took over the family domaine from his father in 1973, he was on the road to becoming a legend. In 1981, his path would be forever changed by Jules Chauvet, a man whom many now call his spiritual godfather. Chauvet was a winemaker, a researcher, a chemist, and a viticultural prophet. It was he who, upon the advent of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the 1950s, first spoke out for “natural wine,” harkening back to the traditional methods of the Beaujolais. Joined by local vignerons Guy Breton, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Jean Foillard, Marcel spearheaded a group that soon took up the torch of this movement. Kermit dubbed this clan the Gang of Four, and the name has stuck ever since. These rebels 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 disdaining chaptalization. Sadly, the end of the 2010 vintage was Marcel’s last. He passed away at the end of the harvest—a poetic farewell for a man that forever changed our perception of Beaujolais. His son Mathieu and daughter Camille confidently continue the great work that their father pioneered, now introducing biodynamic vineyard practices and ensuring that Marcel's legacy lives on.

The methods at Lapierre are just as revolutionary as they are traditional; the detail and precision with which they work is striking and entirely different from the mass-produced majority of Beaujolais on the market today. Decomposed granite comprises most of their eleven hectares, and the vines are an average of 45 years of age. Grapes are picked at the last possible moment to obtain the ripest fruit, which is a trademark of the estate style. The Lapierres age their wines on fine lees for at least nine months in oak foudres and fûts ranging from three to thirteen years old. These wines are the essence of Morgon: bright, fleshy fruit with a palatable joie de vivre that was undoubtedly inherited from their creator. In the words of KLWM salesperson Sam Imel, “They are meant to be devoured.”

Sommariva

For several generations the Sommariva family worked the vines on the high plains of the Veneto, growing a mix of French and local varietals and selling off most of their crop as was common practice at the time, but it was Caterino Sommariva who pinpointed the slopes as the best place for vines and began purchasing hillside vineyards together with his wife Urbana in the 1970s. The couple also had great faith in the Prosecco varietal (now known by its historical name, Glera) and decided to plant it exclusively on their new property, which gradually grew as they continued to snatch up adjacent parcels over the years. This great foresight put them in a very advantageous position when Prosecco and the hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene began to gain recognition in the late ‘80s for the light, clean sparkling wine we know so well today. Caterino and Urbana’s daughter Cinzia remembers watching her parents work and thinking as a child how hopelessly difficult the harvest seemed; so she chose another path in life and pursued studies in marketing. As she got older, though, she regularly returned to the estate and began to see her parents’ work through different eyes, slowly discovering her own passion for the hard work of winemaking. She eventually joined them and has since become a dynamic and enthusiastic partner in the estate.
The name Palazzo Rosso, meaning red building or palace, is a historic epithet for the zone that refers to the russet color of the earth here due to its high content of iron and other micronutrients. Despite Prosecco’s reputation for being light and easy, the Sommarivas take their work very seriously, adhering to eco-friendly practices in the vineyards, harvesting manually, and keeping a very close watch over the vinification process while many of their neighbors settle for easier methods and mediocre wine. These are perfectionists who only sit back once the work is done and it’s time to enjoy the delightfully fresh, elegant fruits of their labor.

Ludovic Engelvin

Situated halfway between the Pic Saint Loup and Tavel, the area known as the Languedoc Gardois has long been a viticultural hotspot: the Romans, who made the nearby city of Nîmes an important hub, established a thriving winemaking industry here centuries ago. Local wines enjoyed notable prestige throughout history, but a shift toward productivity over quality in the twentieth century all but stripped the region of its reputation. Thanks to forward-thinking young vignerons like Ludovic Engelvin, these historic terroirs are once again living up to their former glory.

After studies in viticulture and enology, Ludovic interned in cellars across southern France, Spain, and the Loire Valley, including a formative stint with the late Didier Dagueneau. Next, he took a sommelier position at a reputable establishment in Provence, where he honed his tasting skills and earned numerous awards, before leaving the restaurant world to open his own wine shop outside of Nîmes. Keen on making his own wine, he rented some vines, then sold the shop two years later to become a full-time vigneron. The 2013 vintage, vinified in his tiny cellar in the sleepy village of Vic-le-Fesq, marked his first commercial releases.

Ludovic’s wines, however, are anything but commercial. Inspired by his experiences in fine dining, during which he had the chance to taste top bottles from legendary domaines, he quickly learned that a conventional approach to viticulture and winemaking would never produce wines of distinctive character. The mentorship of Dagueneau and later Didier Barral, whom he befriended during his sommelier days and remains close to, cemented his belief in low-impact farming and natural winemaking. Essential oils and herbal tisanes replace synthetic treatments, and Ludovic opts not to till his parcels, instead allowing spontaneous vegetation to naturally aerate the soils while his small flock of sheep contributes fertilizer during the winter. In the cellar, he favors infusion rather than extraction, seeking delicacy over power and forgoing additives save for minute doses of sulfur.

Now the proprietor of nine hectares, split between terroirs of limestone and sandstone amid a rugged landscape dominated by stones and scrubby aromatic garrigue, Ludovic crafts elegant, perfumed wines of great purity. He is a proven master with the Grenache grape, coaxing seductive aromatics and silken texture from this noble Mediterranean variety. Focusing solely on traditional cépages well adapted to the local conditions, he manages incredible balance and finesse notwithstanding the natural concentration gleaned from low-yielding old vines in a hot, arid climate.

Still in the early days of his career, Ludovic already excels through a diligent, intuitive approach to his craft. Extensive experience in the industry and a passion for nuanced expressions of place have provided this young talent with all the necessary tools to stir things up and breathe fresh life into some of the Languedoc’s great unheralded terroirs.

Lambert de Seyssel

Seyssel may be unknown to many oenophiles today, but the vineyards of this small appellation are regularly mentioned in documents dating back to at least the 11th century, and with the development of sparkling wine production methods in the 19th century a new Seyssel mousseux was created that quickly gained great popularity. Even Queen Victoria is said to have enjoyed the region’s sparkling wines during spa stays in neighboring towns. The “Royal Seyssel” label (originally called “Royal Carte Bleue”), launched in 1901 by the Varichon and Clerc families, was considered for many years to be the best sparkling Seyssel on the market. But when the operation was purchased in the 1990s by a large Burgundian négociant, quality suffered badly, and in 2007 the owners finally closed the local winery, keeping only the rights to the name ‘Varichon et Clerc’ in order to shift the name recognition in the market to their other sparkling wines. Dismayed to see what their great local wine had come to, Seysselans Gérard and Catherine Lambert teamed up with Olivier Varichon, great-grandson of the founder, to buy back the Royal Seyssel label and recreate the light, floral wine that was once so renowned.

The sparkling wines of Seyssel indulge in the same méthode traditionnelle production techniques used for Champagne, and Lambert de Seyssel takes it one step further by aging the Royal Seyssel for at least three years before disgorging it, giving the wine more complex, distinguished aromas and a fine perlage than the competition, which ages only the legal minimum of nine months. The house style is also quite dry (low dosage) in order to preserve the character of the grape varieties.

Fattoria Moretto

Domenico Altariva grew up watching his parents work the land; so when he married and bought a house with his new wife, Albertina, it was natural that he also bought a little land that he would tend in his spare time. A salesman by trade, he was also an avid oenophile, so he chose to plant vineyards from which he made wine for personal consumption.
Domenico and Albertina slowly increased their wine production and turned their hobby into a full-time vocation, selling the wine in bulk to private clients. Right from the start they worked their vines with entirely natural products and made the most of their excellent vineyard sites. When their sons Fabio and Fausto joined the estate in 1991 the family took another step forward, building a new winery, acquiring another four hectares of vineyards, and finally bottling the wine themselves; and in 1997 their organic status became official.
The vineyards of Fattoria Moretto are located in the heart of the hills of Castelvetro, near the famous town of Modena, where clay, limestone, and silt soils give fresh, mineral wines. The Altarivas also choose to highlight the local grape Lambrusco Grasparossa by vinifying it alone, resulting in an intense, terroir-driven, bone-dry Lambrusco with a nose serious enough for even the most knowledgeable wine connoisseur.

Famille Brunier

Famille Brunier embodies the ensemble of the holdings by the Brunier family, notably Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Domaine La Roquète, Domaine Les Pallières (along with Kermit), and other vineyards for wines under the Brunier label. Frédéric and Daniel are the fourth generation of their family to farm the land of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The brothers have worked hard to solidify the legacy left by their father, Henri, and their great-grandfather, Hippolyte. They have brought their intricate knowledge of the various terroirs of the southern Rhône to new heights through the expansion of the holdings. Their properties represent a vast variation of soil types, climatic conditions, and grape varieties.
The Bruniers’ vineyards in the La Crau cru of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are the most pedigreed of the appellation, producing wines of exceptional quality and longevity. Since purchasing Domaine La Roquète in 1986, the family has complemented their portfolio with additional wines, offering more affordable cuvées that showcase the diversity of terroirs within their holdings. The “Pigeoulet” and “Mégaphone” are fresh, rich in fruit, pleasantly representative of their terroir, and easy to appreciate young. The red Châteauneuf “Piedlong”, sourced from the famed Piélong lieu-dit with some fruit from the Pignan vineyard as well, is a profoundly mineral wine that balances elegance and purity with the muscle that is commonly found in wines from this great appellation.

Domaine Jamet

Jean-Paul Jamet began his career in the vineyards of Côte Rôtie in 1976 at the age of 16, working with his father, Joseph, who bottled his first wine that year. Jean-Paul told us that he often found himself working alongside one of our former growers Marius Gentaz, whose vines in Côte Brune bordered his own. With the 2016 vintage, Jean-Paul celebrated his 40th year growing and vinifying Côte Rôtie. His experience with his enviable collection of sixteen (soon to be nineteen) lieux-dits spread across the best sites of the appellation has given him deep knowledge of how to unlock the greatest expression of Côte Rôtie from its wide spectrum of terroirs. This savoir-faire makes Jamet the modern day master of the appellation.

The Jamet path has been one that has stayed true to tradition as the appellation has modernized around him. Despite its popularity, Jamet always eschewed the use of excessive new oak but instead chose to maintain a cellar full of the traditional aging vessel of Côte Rôtie: the demi-muid. As the fashion to de-stem Syrah accelerated, Jamet remained firmly opposed, continuing to vinify his Syrah whole-cluster. Perhaps most importantly, Jamet remained committed to his extreme, impossibly steep and rocky, treacherously terraced parcels that could only be worked painstakingly by hand. Planting Côte Rôtie on the plateau or leveling his vineyards to be able to plant on flatter sites and work them more easily were not part of his repertoire. The Jamets have been avid planters over the past four decades, giving them an incredibly diverse collection of raw material that leaves them poised to continue making great wine uninterrupted for generations to come. Jamet also resisted the urge to produce a series of limited single vineyard cuvées, despite the ease and price at which he knew they could be sold, preferring instead to produce a representative blend of the entire appellation. The sole exception is that part of his Côte Brune vineyard is bottled apart, as he esteems this vineyard capable of providing, on its own, the synthesis of his entire cellar. His complex, balanced, age-worthy, classic Côte Rôtie bottling is the beneficiary of this philosophy.

As all of the various trends of modernization and experimentation have run their course in the appellation, Jamet’s wines are justly recognized as the pinnacle of traditional Côte Rôtie being produced today. His strategy to follow the path laid out by his ancestors before him kept him closest to what is most important: his land and its purest and most authentic expression. Jean-Paul Jamet is joined today at the domaine by both his wife, Corinne, and his son, Loïc. As he completes his 42nd harvest in 2018, we are proud to welcome him and his family into the KLWM family of vigneron artisans.

La Basia

La Basia was founded by the late Elena Parona, an agronomist who transformed the humble country estate into a vibrant farm producing olive oil, honey, corn for polenta, flour, and many other artisanal products in addition to wines made from indigenous grapes. Elena’s son Giacomo, who now runs the winemaking operation, is equally passionate about preserving local traditions and continues to bottle hand-crafted wines from the western shores of Lake Garda. This hilly area of Lombardia benefits from both the warming effect of the nearby lake as well as cooling winds from the mountains to the north.

The indigenous Groppello grape takes center stage in “La Botte Piena,” a light-bodied red that falls into the Valtènesi DOC. Another local red variety, Marzemino, makes up the “Le Morene” bottling—a fuller-bodied effort with bountiful berry and spice notes that retains the easy-drinking spirit common to all of La Basia’s wines. These straightforward, pleasure-filled wines are a testament to the potential of this unheralded region as well as to Giacomo’s passion for the family farm.