Inspiring Thirst An inside look at wines of Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant.

Chris Santini, our American/Corsican office manager in France, is our guest blogger today. He offers insight into traditional Corsican cuisine and a recipe for the classic Corsican soup, Minestra.

With the growing interest in Corsican wines we’re seeing these days, there’s also been an interest in Corsican food, which I can proudly attest is every bit as unique as the wines. If you can get to Corsica, research ahead of time or ask around and seek out the names of the good charcutiers. These guys make traditional smoked hams with names like Panzetta, Lonzu, and Figatellu, from a native race of pigs (Nustrale) raised in semi-liberty in the mountains and eat a steady diet of chestnuts from the forests. The meat is then smoked over chestnut wood and the result is simply outstanding charcuterie with strong flavors and a texture that melts like butter. Beware though, of the numerous shops on the island which sell imported, bland, saucisson to tourists under a Corsican label. It’s a serious problem and you’ll need to buy from a reputable source. The locals know who to go to for the real deal, and if you’re lucky, you might be able to glean this info from them.

The other essential element to Corsican food is the cheese, in particular the Brocciu, made from ewes or goats milk, and best served fresh, in the 48 hours after it is made. It can be eaten on its own, or used in breads and pasta based dishes (such as ravioli and cannelloni style dishes), or even in the most traditional of Corsican deserts, the Fiadone. Again, if you seek this out in Corsica, beware of the poor quality imitations for the tourists, and note that true Brocciu is made only from November to June.

Besides the charcuterie and the cheese, which I imagine are difficult to score in the US, the quintessential, true Corsican meal is what they call in Corsican “A Minestra,” or in French Soupe Corse or Soupe Paysanne. There are as many different variations as there are villages. It is never fancy, so it is rarely served in restaurants, but it is what you’ll eat when you’re invited to a Corsican’s home to share a simple meal. Most Corsicans in the villages eat Minestra nearly daily for dinner. What goes into it is seasonal and varies depending on what grows locally and the maker has on hand, but it is always hearty, rich, and full and a meal on its own. When prepared as a lunch rather than a dinner, it’s made the night before and served cold the next day.

Below is a recipe for Minestra from the excellent Corsican cookbook “Recipes from Corsica”, by Rolli Lucarotti, which is the only English language Corsican cookbook that I know of. It’s a great recipe that can be done far from Corsica (although of course, if you can ever get your hands on some real Corsican panzetta, or herbs straight from the Corsican maquis for the soup it will make a world of difference). If you try this recipe of Minestra, think rustic, and use flavorful heirloom varieties for your vegetables, ham with a strong, quality smoke to it, and a flavorful olive oil.

For those who wish to delve a bit deeper into Corsican cooking, two particularly popular and authentic recipes to seek out are Migisca and Ghialadicciu.  The Migisca is goat macerated overnight in red wine vinegar and grilled on embers of vine cuttings or chestnut wood. The Ghialadicciu, for those brave enough to try it, is pigs stomach stuffed with the heart, the tongue and the liver, along with a healthy dose of garlic and red wine, served with a spicy sauce.

Fish recipes exist too, but the majority of Corsicans have never really been big on fish. Historically the sea brought invasions and danger, and for centuries it was the hills and mountains that gave refuge to the population, and where Corsican cuisine took shape.

So, with that said, all that’s left to do is to pull a cork on a white Vermentinu, a red Niellucciu, or perhaps a rosé Sciacarellu instead… and enjoy! Bon’appetitu!

From Recipes from Corsica – Rolli Lucarotti
Corsican Country Soup – Minestra

 There is a Corsican saying, “Eat your soup—or jump out the window,” which sounds better in Corsican, “O mangia a minestra, o salta a fenestra,” as it has the advantage of rhyming. What it actually means is “Put up with it or shut up.”

It also illustrates the importance of soup in the daily diet of Corsicans up until the middle of last century. Each region and each season had its own soup made of pulses or fresh vegetables, meat or fish, often thickened with bread, rice or pasta. Served before cheese and fruit, it often constituted the evening meal.

Minestra – Serves 6 to 8

The most popular of Corsican soups is a hearty vegetable soup. The choice of vegetables depends on the seasons but almost always includes dried beans, onions and carrots. A ham bone or the trimmings of a smoked ham add to the flavour. Ask your butcher or at the delicatessen counter for end pieces of ham or bacon. Herbs are important too. Choose among marjoram, sage, sorrel and parsley (not all of them). If you are in a hurry you can replace the dried beans with a couple of 400 g tins of red or white beans, drained and rinsed.

200 g dried beans (borlotti or white beans)
1 ham bone or 100 g diced panzetta or streaky bacon
500 g potatoes
250 g carrots
250 g carrots
1 large onion
1 stick celery
1 large leek
2 cloves garlic
3 courgettes
2 or 3 shredded leaves of Swiss chard or cabbage
2 tomatoes peeled and chopped or 1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp olive oil
200 g pasta (macaroni or thick noodles)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
herbs of your choice (fresh if possible)

Soak the dried beans in cold water overnight or for at least six hours. If using a ham bone, cover it with cold water, bring to the boil, drain and discard liquid. Reserve. Peel and dice the potatoes, carrots and onions. String and slice the celery. Split and wash the leek and cut into rounds. Crush the garlic and dice the courgettes. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in large saucepan and gently cook the onions, leeks and bacon or panzetta until the vegetables start to wilt.

Add the other vegetables and tomato purée and stir for a few minutes. Drain the beans and add to the soup together with the bam bone if using. Cover with water (about 2 litres) and bring to a boil. Skim the top carefully and add herbs. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 2 hours until the beans are meltingly soft. Add the past about 20 minutes before the end of cooking time. Correct the seasoning (the ham bone is salty), scatter with chopped herbs and serve very hot with crusty bread.

Offer extra olive oil with the soup.

The February newsletter is now available.
Click here to download the pdf.

Highlights from this month’s newsletter…

2010 ENTE

by Dixon Brooke

Arnaud Ente’s name may not be able to stay below the radar much longer. He has followed his brilliant range of 2009s with these mesmerizing, must-have 2010s. Production quantities in Burgundy were miniscule in 2010, and this will be a reference vintage for many, many years to come—if you can find the wines to put in your cellar! It is our pleasure and honor to offer the following three bottlings from Ente this year to all of our clients. The first Meursault is a blend of fruit from the lieux dits Les Casses-Têtes and En l’Ormeau. Both of these whites drink at the premier cru level. I’ve said it before: these are among the finest Burgundies being produced today in the Côte de Beaune. Tasting is believing! I can’t recommend highly enough putting some of these away for a special occasion.

Due to the small size of Ente’s domaine and the exceedingly
small harvest in 2010, we are unable to offer the full range of his wines
in this brochure. Please inquire about other bottlings from Ente.

Pre-arrival terms: Half-payment due with order;
balance due upon arrival.

LANGUEDOC ROUSSILLON

by Dixon Brooke

2009 MONTPEYROUX • DOMAINE D’AUPILHAC

What a procession on this page of some of the greatest red wines being produced in the Languedoc today. Sylvain Fadat’s Montpeyroux joins the select handful at the top of the heap, and when you consider the twenty years of drinking pleasure that this wine affords, it is hard to believe the price. From one of the Languedoc’s greatest terroirs—the arid, stony plateau of Montpeyroux—these grapes have consumed an intoxicating elixir of herbs and stones before being transformed into the wild, dark glory you see in your glass. Don’t miss one of southern France’s legendary bottlings!

$23.00 per bottle $248.40 per case

2009 SAINT-CHINIAN
“CAUSSE DU BOUSQUET” • MAS CHAMPART

Here we go again. . . . Mas Champart’s small cellar can be found up in the highlands above the town of Saint-Chinian. The soil here is reddish, streaked with iron and other minerals. Limestone and wild aromatic herbs are abundant. The character of the Champarts’ wine always gives something a little different from the neighboring villages, thank goodness! Causse du Bousquet is a special site, a high-altitude limestone plateau, and the wine delivers knockout aromas of rose and peony every year that belie the rich, deep, textured wine that awaits your taste buds. I encourage you to consider this wine, along with the red above, a very worthy cellar candidate at a very reasonable price.

$22.50 per bottle $243.00 per case

2007 PIC SAINT LOUP ROUGE
“les NOBLES PIERRES” • CHÂTEAU DE LASCAUX

The “noble stones” of Lascaux produce one of the Languedoc’s most intriguing wines. We prefer to buy it and the Cupa Numismae from Château La Roque once they’ve had the opportunity to age in bottle for several years in the cellars of the two domaines. By the time the wine arrives, the aromas are jumping out of the glass and the tannins are rounding out. For those of you just getting started with French wines, you’ll enjoy a truly delicious introduction to the wine from this region of bargains. The grape varieties are Grenache and Syrah.

$29.00 per bottle $313.20 per case

2008 VIN DE PAYS D’OC “LES SERROTTES”
LA GRANGE DE QUATRE SOUS

Here we delve into something a bit more unusual with a blend of Malbec and Syrah from our Swiss partner in wine, Hildegard Horat. Hildegard is tall, thin, and fit, but she likes big wines! Her Serrottes is loaded with wild berries and has a delicious juiciness to it. It is approachable now but always performs well when decanted ahead of time. Cahors marries Cornas! You can’t lose.

$26.00 per bottle $280.80 per case

BANYULS RESERVA
DOMAINE LA TOUR VIEILLE

The techniques and styles of these ancient wines from Catalan are likely to soon be memories preserved only by bottles from the few artisans such as Tour Vieille that continue to ply their trade. For the uninitiated, Banyuls is the Catalan equivalent of Port. This is a wine to enjoy after dinner, by itself, or with something delicious like a chocolate walnut tart.

$30.00 per bottle $324.00 per case

In 2006, Kermit sat down with photographer Dean Berdusis and sommelier Justin Leone to chat about Burgundy. Dean recently posted the interview and passed it on to us. We hope you enjoy the video.

After a fantastic tasting at Domaine Chignard in Fleurie with some of the best charcuterie I’ve ever had in France, we stepped outside and were greeted with a breath-taking view of Mount Blanc on a clear morning.  Not a bad way to start off the day.  Hopping into our vans we sped off and headed toward our next destination: Villié-Morgon.

Walking across the courtyard toward Domaine Marcel Lapierre, I overheard Bruce Neyers say to Chris Santini, manager of the KLWM Beaune office, “I think this is going to be hard for me, so I might need your help.”  “Of course, of course,” was Chris’ response.

Ghislaine and Damien Dupeuble

The group stepped into a large tasting room with long tables pushed together from end to end.  As we entered, we were greeted by a “super group” of some of our best producers from the Beaujolais and Mâconnais:  Marie and Mathieu Lapierre, Ghislaine and Damien Dupueble, Cédric Vincent, Guy Breton, Jean Foillard, Charly and Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Jean-Jacques and Nicolas Denogent from nearby Pouilly-Fuissé.  This was going to be an epic tasting.

Guy Breton, Mathieu Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, Marie Lapierre, Charly Thévenet, Cédric Vincent

As we sat down I glanced at Bruce and sensed something was wrong.  Was it someone on the trip who was being disagreeable? When you’re traveling in a van for two weeks straight you figure out pretty quick whether you like someone or not. Was I not driving fast enough to keep up with the lead van? I mean, I almost rear-ended Chris Santini twice just on the short drive from Fleurie to Villié-Morgon! And then Bruce clanked the side of his tasting glass and it suddenly all made sense. With tears in his eyes and a breaking voice, Bruce reminded us all that the one person missing in the room was none other than Marcel Lapierre, the owner of the domaine who died the previous October after a long battle with melanoma.

“In my twenty years of doing these tasting trips, this is the first time I’ve visited a producer who is now no longer with us. Marcel Lapierre was a great winemaker, individual, and a friend who I’ll miss very much. At this moment, I’d like to ask you all for a moment of silence in his memory.”

The room fell silent as our heads bowed in appreciation of Marcel Lapierre and the legacy of natural winemaking he helped to reinvigorate in the Beaujolais. Other than being an extremely moving experience, it also revealed the intense bonds that Bruce has built with our producers over twenty years of visiting, tasting, and selling their wines.  Marcel’s death was a severe blow to many people and it was a class act on Bruce’s part to acknowledge it in a roomful of Marcel’s family members and winemaking peers. I’ll never forget it.

Charming, dynamic, approachable—one might use these words to describe Marine Roussel, proprietor and vigneron of Domaine du Joncier, and they came to mind as I drank a bottle of her 2007 Lirac a few weeks ago. I’ve enjoyed every vintage of Marine’s Grenache blend since I started working for Kermit in 2007. Around that time, I brought a bottle of the 2004 Lirac to a friend’s house. They were drinking something awful, so I took out the Lirac and said, “We’re drinking this.” As people sipped, eyes widened at the remarkable contrast between the two wines—oh, so this is what wine tastes like.

A visit to Joncier was at the top of my list when I travelled to the southern Rhône in August of 2010. Visiting the nearby great growths of Châteauneuf, Gigondas, and Vacqueyras was important, but seeing Lirac was worth the hour drive from my chambre d’hôte. It was clear that Marine is always excited to receive visitors. The tour of her facility was quick—she only has two rooms and they are so tightly packed with foudres and cement cuves that you can’t really walk around—you just peer in from the doorway. The real excitement happened when we hopped into her two-door car and drove off for a vineyard tour.

Her Grenache vines look older than they are. Like a mountaineer who’s spent his adult life in the Himalaya, the vines are weathered, thick, and gnarly, but are at most only forty years old. These vines work hard from the day they are planted. The soil is stony, or rather, the soil is really just stones. Wind whips through the plateau of Lirac year round, keeping the vines clean and dry but also robbing the roots of any extra water. The roots dive deep to find any water or nutrient source they can. “How can you work in these vines with all these stones every where?” She laughed and replied, “Very slowly.” It seems to be more labor than love in the vineyards. The love happens in winery when she puts together her blend.

Marine changes her blend each year and spends months experimenting with different combinations of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, and Carignan. Her patience shows when the wine arrives in Berkeley. Her 2009 is similar to the 2007. I’ve got a few bottles for now and a few bottles to drink in five years. It’s hearty, luscious, and full, but not over the top as it is tempered by Marine’s charming touch.

The January newsletter is now available.
Click here to download the pdf.

Highlights from this month’s newsletter…

WHITE BURGUNDY

by Lori Varsames

2010 PETIT CHABLIS • ROLAND LAVANTUREUX

For over thirty years the Lavantureux family has shipped us their mouthwatering, nervy Chardonnays from Burgundy’s northernmost climate. Lime blossoms and Granny Smith apples pop out of the glass of their Petit Chablis. It is clean, racy, and chock full of briny minerals. What a bargain—true Chablis for only twenty-one bucks.

$21.00 per bottle $226.80 per case

2010 MÂCON-VILLAGES • HENRI PERRUSSET

In southern Burgundy, Henri Perrusset’s vineyards boast a limestone terroir that is more marly than stony, which he says contributes to the grainy minerality in his wines. He then ages the Mâcon-Villages on the lees for eight months. The result? Soft tones of Anjou pears and honeysuckle and a long, zesty finish. Lovely! This may be a white Burgundy you can afford to make your house white!

$17.95 per bottle $193.86 per case

2009 MÂCON-SOLUTRÉ “CLOS DES
BERTILLONNES” • ROBERT-DENOGENT

Jean-Jacques Robert farms the entirety of this enclosed vineyard, setting him apart in Burgundy where single vineyards are divided into smaller and smaller pieces with each passing generation. His Clos des Bertillonnes is so gorgeous and refined that it could easily be mistaken for a young Meursault—at a fraction of the price, no less. This is Kermit’s current luncheon favorite.

$30.00 per bottle $324.00 per case

2009 POUILLY-FUISSÉ “LES CARRONS”
VIEILLES VIGNES • ROBERT-DENOGENT

Pouilly-Fuissé has long been regarded as the greatest cru of the Mâconnais, and none can match the taste and pedigree of those from Robert-Denogent. Jean-Jacques trumps all with this cuvée made from ninety-three-year-old vines.

$59.00 per bottle $637.20 per case

ITALY

by Dixon Brooke

2010 ROSSESE • FÈIPU DEI MASSARETTI

This year’s Rossese is a bit more soil-driven than in previous years, as if the roots of the vines drank more heartily from the earth and changed the composition of the fruit. That beautiful red raspberry is still there, but I welcome the pleasant rusticity this year. Locally made charcuterie in the USA is improving rapidly, a perfect pairing. So is pesce all’acqua pazza––see Marcella Hazan’s Marcella Cucina for a recipe. The 2010 seems even better after a vigorous decanting.

$22.50 per bottle $243.00 per case

2010 RIBOLLA GIALLA • LA VIARTE

This is a truly uplifting interpretation of this native Friulian varietal. Bright, fresh, and clean, it is not a victim of the extended maceration school. Straw yellow in color and far from oxidized, it isn’t a wine to meditate over, but one to enjoy with all varieties of Italian antipasti without having to think too hard about it.

$18.00 per bottle $194.40 per case

2010 SAUVIGNON BLANC • SESTI

Sesti’s interpretation of this widely grown varietal is, as expected, in a world all its own. Grown in Montalcino, of course, it takes on the flavor of their dry, marly soils while maintaining its principal duty to exist: refreshment.

$24.00 per bottle $259.20 per case

2010 PIGATO “CA DA RENA” • PUNTA CRENA

Two new shipments in a row of Ligurian wines from Varigotti’s hometown hero Punta Crena merit a whole page, and here are three winners. I’ve been in Burgundy for the past week tasting the 2010 vintage, and the subject of the “ultimate compliment for a wine” has come up several times. The response is always the same: a bottle that empties so quickly you’re surprised to see the bottom. The first time Kermit tasted Punta Crena, we were dining in a small town along the Cinque Terre. Our first bottle of their Pigato was gone before our fish course arrived. Rather than taking a risk by ordering something else, we ordered a second bottle—the ultimate compliment.

$24.00 per bottle $259.20 per case

2010 LUMASSINA • PUNTA CRENA

This version of the indigenous Lumassina sparkles gently, making it the perfect warm-up to many things that could follow. It is so much more than a replacement for Champagne—I think it creates a new wine category along with their irresistible Pettirosso (sparkling rosé). You could call them spirit brighteners. Truly unique, low in alcohol, and high in freshness and easy charm, they are quite handy to have around during all seasons.

$18.00 per bottle $194.40 per case

2010 CRUVIN • PUNTA CRENA

This is the freshest vintage of this unusual wine that we’ve offered to date. The Crovino grape, probably related to Corvina in the Veneto, isn’t exactly your staple on grocery store shelves. A Google search out of curiosity didn’t yield a single hit beyond this wine. How often does that happen these days? This red emphasizes purity of fruit rather than the chocolate and leather flavors you often find in Valpolicella. As I expect from a good unadulterated Italian red, the options are practically limitless for this beauty at table.

$28.00 per bottle $302.40 per case

While I’ve never been one to go cuckoo for spiked coffee or hot toddies, there is something so satisfying about vin chaud during the winter months. Vin chaud, or mulled wine, gets very little notice in the United States, and what a shame! With all of the mixers used to turn wine into a cocktail (orange juice, peach nectar, and crème de cassis to name a few), one would think more attention would be paid to this age-old beverage. Vin chaud has many different incarnations depending on the country you are in. In Germany it is known as Glühwein, in Sweden Glögg. The recipes may vary, but it is always served warm, and the recipes generally include spices, fruit slices or zest, honey or sugar, and occasionally a little brandy, too.

During my years in Paris, I grew quite fond of vin chaud. Winters there may not be very snowy, but Paris is humid, and once the humidity sinks into your bones at low temperatures, the chill is like no other. That’s when mulled wine comes in handy. At the end of the day, as the light was waning, I’d often stop by my favorite café on the way home to enjoy a hot glass of wine to warm up. The presentation felt fancier to me than a mere wine glass; it was served in a short glass with a metal handle encapsulating it from the bottom, garnished with a slice of orange, a cinnamon stick, and two cubes of sugar. The tasting experience is different, too, as the steamy aromas lift out of the glass in abundance. Divine! There is a kind of curative satisfaction in sipping mulled wine.  It definitely tastes good, but more importantly, it feels good. For those of you who poo-poo making a warm cocktail out of wine: don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. This drink has been consumed steadily since the Middle Ages.

These are the most common ingredients that I found in most versions of the recipe:
- Wine
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Oranges

There are countless variations. Honey can be replaced with sugar; mace or allspice can be added to or used in place of cinnamon and nutmeg; cognac can be added for extra kick; lemons can be used instead of oranges; and water or cider can be added to reduce the strength of the wine. There are tons of recipes for mulled wine online, but I was pleased to see one site entirely dedicated to the subject: www.mulledwinerecipe.com. Large batches can be made in a slow-cooker over one to two hours. There are some exciting recipes for white vin chaud as well!

The holidays are upon us, but crazy hours and long days in the store have been threatening my ability to keep the fa-la-la going. So last night, I decided to invite the seasonal cheer back in by making myself a little vin chaud. On my way out of the store, I grabbed a bottle of the Dupeuble Beaujolais to serve as the base for my recipe. Many cuvées would do the trick, namely the Domaine de Fontsainte Corbières, Château Saint Martin de la Garrigue Coteaux du Languedoc Rouge “Tradition, ” and Domaine de la Chanteleuserie Bourgueil “Les Alouettes.” I settled on the Beaujolais since it tends to be more fruit-forward and lighter on the palate. Wine gains intensity and coarseness when heated, so the goal is really to avoid tannic and/or oak-aged wines altogether.

A large batch was not needed this time, so I filled a mug with wine and then poured it into a pot to heat. As many online recipes suggested, I allowed the wine to warm up slowly so that I would not boil off any of the alcohol—there’s no need to reduce the pleasure component, after all! I added a pinch of cinnamon, ground clove, nutmeg, ground ginger (as I was concerned that fresh ginger would really dominate the taste); a teaspoon of honey, two tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice, and then a slice of orange. The smells coming out of the pot were delicious, and it took me just about as much time as it takes to make a cup of tea. Ridiculously easy.

The danger with mulled wine, much like that of sangria, is that it is so tasty and easy-to-drink that over-imbibing can be treacherous. One mug did me right, relaxed me instantly, and warmed me up. Had I enjoyed a second one, I might have been inspired to leap up and go Christmas caroling…but I settled for loafing out on the couch to watch A Christmas Carol instead. When I woke up this morning feeling refreshed, I realized that it is a celebrated beverage for a reason.  Whether you make a large batch for a party to serve with gingerbread or make a cup to dissolve your inner humbug, it’s an age-old drink whose magical properties have kept it relevant for centuries.

Here’s the next installment of Retail Manager, Steve Waters’, trip to France this past January. The trip continues into the Côte d’Or…

Given the chill, this may sound crazy, but if I could winter in France, it would be in Burgundy.

The Bruce Neyers Trip rolled into the Côte d’Or for three days of extensive tastings and four nights of gastronomic feats. Beaune (our home base) and every other village we visited were lit up with white lights celebrating the holiday season just passed.  Passing through the village of Chagny, on the way to dinner at Aubert and Pamela de Villaine’s home in Bouzeron, was particularly beautiful. The simplicity of Christmas in Burgundy versus the potential over-the-top manifestations here in the States made for a sensory experience much more aesthetically pleasing. No big, blow-up Santas to be found anywhere.

Aloxe-Corton looking to the hill of Corton

Our mission in Burgundy was simple: the white wine producers of the Côte de Beaune on days one and two, then tackle the red domaines of the Côte de Nuits next, with tastings interspersed back at the hotel with producers and samples from regions too far out of reach for this trip. The break-neck pace of a Bruce Trip is what it’s all about –we were presented approximately thirty different producers and tasted hundreds of wines.  And that doesn’t include wines with dinner! We acted like tourists as well as we drove along the Route des Grand Crus and stopped to snap photos of some of the most expensive real estate on the planet: Le Montrachet, Chevalier Montrachet, Clos de Vougeot, and Chambertin. The tasting at our new producer, Domaine Follin-Arbelet, KLWM’s first estate from the village of Aloxe-Corton, was particularly memorable because they are a new acquisition with a bunch of Grand Crus to choose from: Corton-Charlemagne, Le Corton, Corton-Bressands, and Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Absolutely stunning wines!

Franck and Christine Follin

A Bruce Trip would not be possible if it wasn’t for the amazing staff of the KLWM office in Beaune. Chris Santini (his father is Corsican and his mother is American), the manager of the office who escorted us on the trip, interpreted for the non French-speaking among us and was a tireless communicator between the Beaune office and our producers along the way. A hard-working man, for sure. It was a great pleasure to dine with Chris at the end of the day and see him kick back and relax a little bit. His comrades in the Beaune office, Delia Dent, Julia Issleib, and Jane Berg, some of the most intelligent, committed, wine-loving, and beautiful women in all of France, were incredibly important orchestrating our tastings in the hotel.

Early the final morning in Beaune, we turned our vans south and headed toward the Beaujolais and northern Rhône…

Another epic tasting

The December newsletter is now available.
Click here to download the pdf.

Highlights from this month’s newsletter…

ARTISANAL SAUTERNES

by Dixon Brooke

We now have two tiny, boutique Sauternes domaines to offer you. Daniel and Valérie Alibrand in Fargues take small production to a new level with their relatively young Domaine de L’Alliance, restricting yields to a level observed only at Château d’Yquem. Their exquisite Sauternes is produced only after the majority of their grapes have been either tossed or reserved for lesser cuvées. Their 2008 is a strong contender for wine of the vintage: we promise your doors will be blown off.

Hervé Dubourdieu’s incredibly reliable Roûmieu-Lacoste bottling has seen a run on the bank as of late. We asked Hervé to dig deep into all the corners of his cellar to ship us the last remaining bottles from the 2006 and 2007 vintages to offer along with his new and stunning 2009s. The new vintage is for the cellar; the older ones can be enjoyed now or put aside. Don’t miss an opportunity to buy some Sauternes, the world’s heavyweight champ of dessert wines, at very reasonable prices. These are truly masterpieces.

CHARDONNAY

by Chris Santini

2010 CHABLIS • OLIVIER SAVARY

A 1973 Chablis from the Fèvre family was the first wine that Kermit purchased in France, beginning a long and unbroken affair with Chablis. In 1992 we started with Olivier Savary, who has since been providing us with what many seek most in everyday Chablis: a bouquet of wet stones with hints of lemon and the irresistible chalky minerality of Kimmeridgian soil. This is Chablis in its freshest, most unadulterated form.

$24.00 per bottle $259.20 per case

2010 MÂCON FARGES “VIEILLES VIGNES”
HENRI PERRUSSET

In the far southern reaches of Burgundy is the little-known terroir of Farges-lès-Mâcon, only three kilometers from the village of Chardonnay, where the grape was first drawn from the woods, domesticated, and cultivated by local monks. Farges only has two growers left, as a sizeable chunk of the land has been converted to a limestone quarry (which gives you an idea of the makeup of the terroir here). Perrusset’s Farges combines richness, precision, and complexity.

$19.95 per bottle $215.46 per case

2009 SAINT-VÉRAN “LES POMMARDS”
DOMAINE ROBERT-DENOGENT

In France, Saint-Véran has often been called Pouilly-Fuissé’s little brother, though in the hands of Robert-Denogent it outshines nearly any Pouilly-Fuissé and can even stand up to bigger names from the Côte-d’Or (this wine has been compared to Coche-Dury in previous vintages). Full and deep, with an incredibly inviting floral bouquet, this white Burgundy is ready to drink immediately.

$37.00 per bottle $399.60 per case

JEAN-PIERRE MONIER

by Dixon Brooke

Monsieur Monier is the quintessential French farmer. Living in a tiny hamlet built from local granite stones, working a small collection of neighborhood vineyards entirely by hand, and vinifying in a miniscule cellar no larger than most people’s garage, Monier makes the kind of Vin de Pays that you would almost never find by the glass at a local restaurant. These are destined for export, to the cellars and tables of those who appreciate the finest that the northern Rhône has to offer. Each is a textbook example of its indigenous varietal, and the Saint-Josephs are likewise the pinnacle of achievement for this humble appellation. Only a few cases of each of these micro-production wines make it to the United States. Transport yourself to a hilltop in the northern Rhône, where the granite and limestone hillsides give you Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, and Syrah like you’d never want to experience any other way. Pure and honest, Monier’s wines are farmed biodynamically and raised with the bare minimum of intervention. There are many Saint-Josephs out there today: put Monier on your short list.

The 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau is now released! Here are our selections this year:

Chef Chris Lee just checked in and provided us with the menu for Saturday’s event. He’ll be grilling up handmade Boudin Blanc with apples, cabbage, creamer potatoes, and an Acme sweet rustic baguette.

I can guarantee that the Nouveau will be available by the glass and the bottle and a myriad of other wonderful wines as well.

Note the date:
Saturday, November 19
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant
1605 San Pablo Ave at Cedar Street, Berkeley