KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

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.

Maxime Magnon

That Maxime Magnon is part of one of the most revolutionary wine movements in France should give him a justifiable swagger to his step, yet he is nonetheless a reluctant hero. Originally from Burgundy, he was not born with hereditary rights to a domaine, but makes his own wine in the Corbières A.O.C. instead. He was fortunate to have purchased some prime parcels of old vines from abandoned plots and rents his cellar—a garagiste if ever there was one. He farms nine parcels over eleven hectares, with steep vineyards that reach high altitudes, and manages it all on his own. Maxime is part of the new wave of passionate viticulteurs who cultivate their vines with the utmost respect for nature and the soil. He’s certified organic, but also incorporates biodynamic practices into his vineyard management. Like his good friend and mentor, Didier Barral (in Faugères), and Jean Foillard (under whom he studied in Morgon), he is a naturalist at heart, and seeks to create a harmonious ecosystem in his vineyards.
Most of Maxime’s vineyard land is comprised of schist and limestone subsoils in the sub-appellation Hautes Corbières, bordering Fitou to the South. This is incredibly tough terrain to farm in, as there is virtually no topsoil, just pure rock and garrigue. The Corbières “Rozeta” is a blend of these two district terroirs. This blend is particularly unique, from Carignan vineyards that are dispersed with numerous varietals of older vines, namely Grenache Gris, Macabou, and Terret, which are all picked and fermented together—a true field blend of the old school. “La Démarrante” is a blend of only Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah. It is terrific young and deliciously quaffable. Maxime’s tête de cuvé, “Campagnès,” is a single vineyard of the hundred-year-old Carignan, and is the most age-worthy in his line-up. All wines are aged in second-hand, Burgundian barrels sourced from a producer in Chassagne. “La Démarrante” ages both in cuve and in foudre.  His wines offer great expression of fruit with immediate approachability.

Jean-François Ganevat

The green, rolling landscape of the Jura is a sight to behold, and the perfect picture of how a mountainous region nestled in between Burgundy and Switzerland should appear in the mind’s eye. In this cooler climate, vineyards are planted on slopes at varying altitudes and gradients. This region is home to forty different grape varieties with styles so different that they tend to shock the uninitiated. And at the heart of it all, in the charming hamlet of La Combe de Rotalier (just south of Lons-le-Saunier), Jean-François Ganevat is making wine with the inspired magic of an alchemist. Jean-François Ganevat—known as Fanfan—is making wine with the inspired magic of an alchemist. His wines occupy the better part of the hamlet, filling picturesque country cottages with barrels and barrels of his diverse, yet traditional creations. He comes from a long line of winegrowers, dating as far back as 1650, although the family supplemented their grape-growing with a dairy that produced milk destined for the local cheese, Comté, until 1976. After working both for his father and for the prestigious Domaine Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet, Jean-François returned to the Jura in 1998 to take over the family domaine. Today, he is joined by his sister, Anne. With only eight and a half hectares under vine, the family has seventeen different local varieties planted of both red and white grapes—an incredible amount of variation to consider for holdings of such small size. For such a fervent perfectionist and insatiable lover of details as Jean-François, the decision to have the domaine certified as biodynamic was a natural choice.
Jean-François creates a stunning number of cuvées, ranging between thirty-five and forty every year!  His methodology goes far beyond the details of the average vigneron. For some, his process would be maddening, as each cuvée calls for a highly individualized élévage. Jean-François is committed to minute doses of sulfur, so low in fact, that many fear it hurting the wines during transport. He curbs this issue entirely by aging many of his whites on the lees for extended periods of time, anywhere from two to eleven years! In all of his years making wine, he has never had a problem.  In the Jura, many of the wines go through a traditional, intentional oxidation; however Jean-François aims to lend a greater lightness and elegance to wines of this style than are typical. He gravitates toward the Burgundian style, using ouillage to top off barrels. Jean-François Ganevat is a master of his craft, one of the true magicians of the eclectic. To say that his grapes are spun into gold would not be far from the truth; his wines are entirely otherworldly.

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe

One cannot think of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the most celebrated cru of the southern Rhône, without thinking of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. The Brunier family is legendary in its own right, having been rooted to the enigmatic plateau known as La Crau for over one hundred years. The wines of Vieux Télégraphe evoke the concept of terroir in its purest form: they reflect their dramatic climate, the rough terrain that defines the soil, their full sun exposure at a higher altitude, the typicity of the varietals with an emphasis on Grenache, and of course, the influence of their caretakers, the Brunier family. For many, La Crau is Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s grandest cru.

The Bruniers’ story begins in 1898 with Hippolyte Brunier. A modest farmer who lived off the land, Hippolyte kept less than a hectare of vines to make his own wines. His small vineyard was at one of the highest points in between Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Bédarrides, a stony plateau called La Crau. The elevation of this terrain had prompted the construction of a communication tower in the late 18th century to transmit telegraph messages between Marseille and Paris. Otherwise, the allure of this barren landscape is not immediately discernable—there is nothing but galets roulés, or rounded stones, as far as the eye can see. Up so high, the vineyards are exposed to all kinds of elements—rain, hail, scorching sunshine, and especially the unruly Mistral. This was unwelcome terrain where only the toughest vigneron dare plant, although the notorious Mistral works wonderfully to prevent rot.

However difficult to farm, Hippolyte saw how the wine from his parcel pleased others, and he began bottling more, gradually increasing his vineyard holdings to sixteen hectares. His sons helped work the farm, although most of the grapes were being sold off as premium fruit to négociants. The Bruniers weathered many storms—not the least of which was the ravaging of their vineyards by phylloxera. Hippolyte’s grandson, Henri, eventually joined the family business, and with him came great changes: replanting the vineyards, the construction of a new winery, bringing temperature control into the winery to protect the wines during fermentation, and most importantly, launching the Domaine’s first bottlings under the Vieux Télégraphe label.

After years of closer study, La Crau proved to be a privileged vineyard site. At the extreme southeast of the appellation, a large three-meter trench in the vineyard reveals its stratifications, millions of years in the making. The layers show early alluvial deposits, limestone, silica, and a robust red clay (known as molasse) that has come to characterize this terrain. Sitting on the surface of the soil, the galets hold important functions: they insulate the vines from both the cold and the heat, and they provide ideal drainage for the roots.

Kermit first met Henri and his wife, Maguey, in the mid-seventies. As Henri began to filter the wine around 1980, Kermit asked that his blend remain unfiltered. When the Bruniers had tasted the results of several vintages, they returned to an unfiltered bottling for their entire production. Henri retired in 1988 and left the Domaine in the hands of his two sons, Daniel and Frédéric. The Brunier brothers have significantly expanded the family’s holdings on La Crau to seventy hectares, and have boldly expanded their winemaking ventures into new territory. They created the second label for Vieux Télégraphe known as “Télégramme,” purchased Domaine La Roquète in Châteauneuf, and joined forces with Kermit Lynch to buy the historic Domaine Les Pallières in Gigondas.

The wines of V.T. are classic, displaying strength, rusticity, earthiness, and tremendous longevity. The final assemblage consists solely of old-vine fruit from La Crau, imparting incredible depth, concentration, and a filtered-through-stones minerality that provides excellent freshness. The greatness of the domaine is just as much a tribute to the Bruniers as it is to La Crau—they have the ability to make great wine even in difficult vintages. Their goal is to find a harmony between aromatic complexity, tannic structure, and richness, which they achieve year after year. The maligned 1984 vintage is still a marvelous wine.

The grapes from the younger vines—still over twenty years old—make up V.T.’s second label, “Télégramme.” The concept was born after the ill-fated 2002 vintage, when flooding around harvest led the Bruniers to downgrade “La Crau” due to the torrid conditions. The resulting wine, dubbed “Télégramme,” saw significant success, prompting Daniel and Frédéric to produce the cuvée yearly from fruit they deem not worthy of the “La Crau” label. They have since supplemented it with fruit from vineyards they acquired upon purchasing Domaine La Roquète, always striving for a more accessible contrast to the earthy, deeply structured style of Vieux Télégraphe. The elegance and velvety texture make “Télégramme” easy to appreciate in its youth, with rich, generous, red fruit, uncharacteristic freshness, and beautifully integrated tannins. Its finesse and drinkability make it the Châteauneuf-du-Pape for restaurant lists and for wine lovers who do not have a cellar for aging.

The range of the Bruniers’ other projects has served to express the variety of terroirs in the region, representing a diversity that defies any stylistic pigeonholing. For more information on the Bruniers’ projects, please see the following:

Famille Brunier (Le Pigeoulet, Mégaphone, Piedlong)
Domaine La Roquète
Domaine Les Pallières

Punta Crena

The tiny village of Varigotti sits on the Mediterranean, just a few rows of houses and restaurants on a pristine beach, with its back against steep hills. Climb up into the hills and you will discover neatly terraced vineyards on the slopes and in hidden clearings further up on the peaks. The Ruffino family has been tending these vineyards for over 500 years, hardly changing a thing as they pass their knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next. Today the estate is run by four siblings: Tommaso, the eldest, is the winemaker; Paolo is the salesman; Anna handles logistics; and Nicola helps out in the vineyards and winery. Their mother, Libera, was a strong businesswoman who revolutionized sales by dealing directly with clients rather than working with the merchants who controlled the market at the time; but today she stays in the background, happily cooking for the constant flow of guests and tending the home-grown vegetable stand in the courtyard as her numerous grandchildren scamper around her. These unpretentious people are firmly rooted in Varigotti, and the wines they craft are infused with local tradition and character.
Ask Paolo if the family follows organic methods in the vineyards and he’ll laugh. We’re not “organic,” he says as if you had asked about some crazy new technology. We just do everything the same way our ancestors have for hundreds of years. They even build their stone terraces by hand, using the method established here three thousand years ago. The vineyards of Punta Crena (which is named for a large promontory jutting into the sea at the edge of the village) are all within 1200 meters of the water and enjoy sea breezes that help keep the grapes healthy and happy. The Ruffinos are proud to work almost exclusively with local varietals, but they don’t have much company. Mataòssu, which once reigned supreme in this zone, was gradually ripped out because it has such a difficult vegetative balance; Crovino gives such low yields that no one else will grow it. As a result, several of Punta Crena’s wines are one of a kind: the Mataòssu and Cruvin are entirely unique (two other producers make wines labeled Mataòssu, but in fact their vines are the related Lumassina), and the Barbarossa is the only one produced in Italy (a local grape of Emilia-Romagna has the same name but is unrelated). They believe that their only job after the harvest is simply to avoid ruining their lovely fruit as it turns to wine. These are light, fun wines with no pretension. Every bottling from this estate marries beautifully with the local cuisine of fresh vegetables, fritto misto, and anchovies prepared every way imaginable, and we at KLWM are constantly finding more pairings where they taste just as good.

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.

Domaine Follin-Arbelet

Still waters run deep with Franck Follin-Arbelet. He may seem quiet and unassuming, but the intensity of his wines speaks louder than words.  Having grown up in Burgundy’s famous Côte d’Or, he was always attracted to viticulture, but his family’s vines were all rented out to métayeurs (share croppers), and they did not make their own wine. Instead, he gravitated towards Geology, a field that gave him an expertise in soil. His wife, Christine, comes from the famous Latour family, and her father, André Masson (once the régisseur at the Hospices de Beaune), had his own vines. In 1990, when the opportunity came to join André’s domaine in Aloxe-Corton, Franck jumped at the chance, giving up one noble career in terroir to take on another. In 1993, André retired and Franck took over the direction of the domaine.
Franck and Christine are fortunate to produce one village wine, four premier crus, and four grand crus in Aloxe-Corton (their hometown), Pernand-Vergelesses, and Vosne-Romanée. Pedigreed land such as this demands much of its stewards, and these vines are farmed sustainably without synthetic fertilizers or weed killers, working the soils regularly to aerate them and keep them healthy. Their winery and cellars are as picturesque as they are practical—said to be the deepest in their village. In traditional Burgundian homes of this time (1764), the family lives on the second and third floors, above a first floor winery and deep cellars below. This kind of depth makes the cellars colder and more humid than most, two key components in crafting age-worthy wines. Vinifications are in the old-school style, fermenting slowly in open-top wooden vats, using only indigenous yeasts, and the wines are bottled in all of their unadultered glory, unfined and unfiltered. Both pure and intense, they are deep with stony freshness, explosive with bright fruit, and framed with balanced structure.
When asked what inspires him the most, Franck responded, “wine that represents its terroir and a job well done.”  Simply put; not so simply executed—but tasting the wines of Domaine Follin-Arbelet is not only inspirational—it is a revelation.

Domaine Larue

In 1946, Guy Larue founded his family’s estate in the small hamlet of Gamay, in Saint-Aubin, located just behind the famed Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet slope. Much like its neighbor Chassagne-Montrachet to the south, Saint-Aubin was historically known for red wine, though the Larues have specialized in the great white crus of Saint-Aubin. In 1976, Guy’s son Denis assumed the reins of Domaine Larue and was joined by his brother, Didier, in 1982. In 2006, Denis’s son Bruno joined the Domaine, thus continuing the family’s winemaking lineage.

The Larue holdings are spread between the two villages of Saint-Aubin and Puligny-Montrachet, with a large concentration at the southern portion of the Saint-Aubin appellation. These holdings include seven premier cru climats, on south, southeast, and southwestern facing slopes, grown on variations of clay soils with a high concentration of limestone. Combined with the varying grades of slope and elevations ranging from 800 to 1200 feet, the Larues have a truly magical diversity within Saint-Aubin, one of the under-rated gems of Burgundy. The domaine's premier cru vineyard in Puligny-Montrachet, La Garenne, sits at a high altitude in the Hameau de Blagny, bordering Meursault. Their largest parcel, Saint-Aubin premier cru “Murgers des Dents de Chien,” shares its name with the Dents de Chien lieu-dit of Le Montrachet that is right around the corner and is the domaine's prized vineyard, capable of producing wine that can age and improve in the bottle for decades.

Wines from Larue possess purity, energy, and an invariable minerality derived from the predominant limestone soils of Saint-Aubin. The Larues are meticulous and precise in all aspects of winegrowing and winemaking and their wines reflect these qualities. Tasting the full range is a veritable tour of the appellation, with each terroir’s individual and striking signature clearly evident. These wonderful white Burgundies have the additional benefit of being approachable young, although they are tightly wound and can always benefit from a few extra years of bottle age.

Henri Perrusset

A few decades ago, in a small, local vigneron hangout in the Beaujolais, Kermit and Henri Perrusset met rather serendipitously. There weren’t enough tables in the restaurant and the hostess seated Kermit with Henri, who was just finishing up his meal. Their conversation blossomed, and Henri invited Kermit to visit and taste his first vintage.  We have been buying these delicious, distinctive Chardonnays ever since.  For decades, the Mâconnais has been dominated by the banal bottlings of cooperative cellars; not the sort of quality that leads novices to explore the wines of the region. But at the same time, Henri Perrusset has been working his vineyards by hand, reducing his yields to improve grape quality, all while offering us very reasonable prices. 
Henri Perrusset’s vineyards and home are located in the small town of Farges-les-Mâcon, on the northernmost spur of the limestone subsoil that characterizes the appellation of Mâcon. Farges is not far away from the village named (believe it or not) Chardonnay. The limestone in Farges is more marly than the compact limestone farther south in Pouilly-Fuissé. It is hard and intensely white, but breaks apart into small pieces and it is loaded with quartz and marine fossils as well. This type of soil is easier to work despite all the stones, provides great drainage for the vines, and gives the wines their grainy minerality. Our Mâcon-Farges bottling comes uniquely from a parcel of old vines, while the Mâcon-Villages is a custom blend of all his other holdings around Farges. These are Chardonnays with the ripeness and intensity level of a Pouilly-Fuissé or even a Saint-Aubin, with the particular goût de terroir of Henri’s corner of Mâcon.

Domaine Les Mille Vignes

Not until Jacques Guérin retired from his post as an oenology professor in Orange did he found Domaine Les Mille Vignes. In the late 1970s, he moved to the tiny Languedoc-Roussillon village of La Palme, just a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean. Soon after, he began producing wine from nearby Fitou and Rivesaltes. The wines produced in the area at the time were certainly not driven by quality, but Jacques saw potential in the terroir and had a vision to revitalize his vineyards, focusing on low yields and organic principles, convinced that he would soon be able to produce great wine. Today, Jacques’ daughter, Valérie Guérin has carried on his ethic in the vineyard and cellar.

Fitou produces exclusively red wine and in 1948, became the first Languedoc AOC. The terroir is an amalgam of strong natural elements: clay, limestone, and schist soils; wild scrubland scented with thyme and lavender, and perhaps the most potent force of all, Tramontagne—a fierce wind that sometimes seems it will never stop blowing. Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes are both Vin Doux Naturels (a designation for naturally sweet wines from southern France) and are produced within the borders of the Fitou appellation. Rivesaltes can be a variation of colors and styles, though always sweet and fortified like its Muscat counterpart.

Valérie’s wines have gained an ardent following in Paris and it was from the sommelier at the Parisian restaurant “Frenchie” that Kermit first heard of Les Mille Vignes. During the summer of 2013 Kermit visited the domaine and returned saying that “everything I tasted was beyond marvelous.” These are the wines that he raved about in his 2013 NY Times Magazine interview. The addition of Les Mille Vignes to our portfolio not only geographically fills in the space between Banyuls and Corbières but adds true depth and variety to our wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon.