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Importer of fine wine from France and Italy. Established 1972 | Berkeley, CA
Featured Producer
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.
Domaine Chignard
Even after many successful years practicing his craft, fourth-generation vigneron Michel Chignard claims to be a novice. He is a modest man, kind and courteous, but in every aspect of his winemaking one clearly sees a passionate perfectionist. In 2007 Michel turned the management of the family domaine over to his son Cédric, who is carrying on this philosophy with great pride and has already managed to prove himself in his first few vintages. The Chignard family is also blessed with vineyards in one of the best sites of the Fleurie appellation, Les Moriers, an arrowhead-shaped parcel that juts right down into Moulin-à-Vent vines. Their eight hectares of vineyards average over seventy years old, keeping yields naturally low. These old-vine root systems also run very deep, accessing minerals from the granite subsoil and giving Chignard’s Fleurie a trademark goût de terroir and great freshness.While many critics attribute Michel’s success to the soil, Kermit would argue that his traditionalist stance on vineyard management and winemaking is essential to craft such great wines. As ardent defenders of traditional Beaujolais methods, the Chignards take a minimalist approach in both the vineyards and the cellar. The finished wines couldn’t be more reflective of Les Moriers’ splendid location: light and playful, with deep, ripe fruit and finesse. The Chignards have recently started making wine from another Beaujolais cru, Juliénas, which produces a beautiful, high-toned wine in keeping with the style of the domaine. La Revue du Vin de France claims that the aromas from their wines evoke memories of the great Chambolle-Musignys from Burgundy, to the North…but who’s to say, maybe they got it reversed.
Kermit Lynch Blends - Southern Rhône
Over forty years of doing business in France and Italy have given Kermit Lynch a level of expertise that few in the wine industry can boast. Countless hours with growers in some of the most famous vineyards and cellars of Europe have offered more than just a casual look at what it takes to be a great grower, let alone a great winemaker. Kermit Lynch was the first to champion the benefits of unfined and unfiltered wines, long before they had become fashionable. This belief is really a matter of taste, and the proof has always been in the glass, offering a purer expression of fruit and an unadulterated reflection of the terroir. Kermit’s conviction has been so strong over the years that he has been able to persuade even the most hard-headed vignerons to test his theories.Long-term relationships with vignerons in every major wine growing region offer a tremendous array of opportunities. Every year, Kermit enjoys a creative collaboration with some growers to find the best of their selections. Together, they work towards creating a final blend that showcases the region in all its glory at a price point that is difficult to match.
VIN DE PAYS DE VAUCLUSE
Sourced from the terroirs around Domaine de Durban (click here for more information), the grapes for this red Rhône are sourced from parcels next to the village of Beaumes-de-Venise. These vineyards were traditionally used for the family’s personal consumption, and many of the unused grapes were sold off in bulk. As none of this was for commercial bottling, the Leydier family made no effort to have these parcels included in the A.O.C. Côtes du Rhône when the boundaries were first established in 1937. Upon hearing that the family had been selling these grapes to the local cave cooperative in Vacqueyras, Kermit presented the Leydiers the idea of creating a value-driven second label. The plan soon evolved into a collaboration between the family and Kermit. Together, they bottle both a Vin de Pays de Vaucluse Rouge and Blanc.
CÔTES DU RHÔNE
The "KL Côtes du Rhône" is a collaboration with Demazet Vignobles, a cave co-op in Morières-lès-Avignon, just south of Avignon. Since 1929, this winery has been bringing local vignerons together from the outlying areas of Avignon to produce delicious wines that epitomize the region’s complex terroirs. The fruit for our cuvée is sourced from a handful of growers in the nearby town of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, which boasts an excellent terroir of galets roulés, not unlike a much more famous Châteauneuf just a few miles away! Kermit works closely with winemaker Jean-François Pasturel to develop the blend each year. Pasturel is thrilled to have the chance to produce a Côtes du Rhône he does not have to filter to death. It is his tête de cuvée, his pride and joy.
CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES
Launched with the 2022 vintage, the Côtes du Rhône Villages is a collaboration with Les Vignerons d'Estézargues, a co-op located on the right bank of the Rhône just south of Tavel. Founded in 1965, Estézargues has championed sustainable and organic viticulture and natural winemaking for much of its history, making it a rare exception for a co-op of its size. They work very closely with their growers, emphasizing organic farming, and manage their cellar with a judicious use of low-intervention techniques: nothing is inoculated, sulfur is kept to a bare minimum, and wines are bottled without filtration. Our cuvée is sourced from gobelet-trained vines on the nearby plateau of Signargues, midway between Tavel and the Pont du Gard, the famous Roman aqueduct. Promoted to Côtes du Rhône Villages in 2005, Signargues sits on an alluvial riverbed terrace from the Villafranchian era, the same soil as in Châteauneuf-du-Pape just across the Rhône. The endless expanse of galets roulés (polished riverbed stones) is the ideal terroir for producing wines of great character and typicity in this iconic sun-baked region. The bottle features no capsule, and the label was designed by celebrated French artist Michel Tolmer.
Tenuta La Pergola
There is a romantic, yet misguided myth among Americans that one can sit down in any roadside trattoria in Italy and be served a delicious glass of wine. However, this idealistic notion is sadly at odds with the hard reality: it is rare enough for the vino della casa to be drinkable, let alone anything truly noteworthy.And yet, this most infrequent occurrence—the wine importer's dream—is exactly what fate would have in store for Kermit and Dixon one day as they trekked the back roads of Piemonte several years ago. The wine in the pitcher—an Arneis from a local producer—was not only drinkable, but it was really quite good: refreshing, balanced, typical of the grape and of the region, and an ideal companion to the antipasti of the day. Oh, and it was cheap.
That pitcher of Arneis led them to the cellars of Tenuta La Pergola, in the town of Cisterna d'Asti. Alessandra Bodda now runs the estate her great-grandfather founded in 1903, farming thirty hectares of indigenous Piemontese varieties with the help of her son Emanuele, and daughter, Martina. The sandy and clay soils of the Roero and Monferrato, where their vineyards are situated, give softer wines than the marl-dominated terroirs of the neighboring Langhe, creating aromatic wines that bestow immediate pleasure.
Tasting this superb raw material sparked an idea, and with the 2009 vintage the first “Monferrato Rosso – Selected by Kermit Lynch” was born using a blend of the region's red varieties. Loaded with brambly berries, bright acidity, and soft, earthy tannins, the wine is a faithful representation of Piemontese reds at bargain cost: just what you would want in your carafe at a roadside trattoria, and the perfect weeknight red to gulp down at home. While the aromatic Brachetto grape is typically used for Birbèt, a local red sparkling dessert wine, Alessandra and Emanuele also vinify it dry, creating the closest thing you'll taste to liquid rose petals and wild strawberries. Seductive, supple, and marvelously perfumed, “Il Goccetto” showcases the unadulterated pleasure achievable in Piemonte. La Pergola's wines may be the best values the region has to offer, providing crowd-pleasing delight and versatility at table. Kermit says they remind him of the Piemontese wines of old: simple, affordable, and totally satisfying!
Domaine Clape
In the world of wine, there are many good winegrowers. However, there are only a very select few who are truly great, and Auguste Clape will go down in history as one of the greats. A proud and uncompromising pioneer of fine winemaking in the Northern Rhône, his Syrahs from the cru of Cornas have earned their place among the most celebrated wines of France. The Clapes have been vignerons for many generations, but the infamous grower strikes of 1906 and 1907 forced Auguste's grandfather out of the Languedoc and into the Northern Rhône to start anew from practically nothing. The Clapes rebuilt their fortunes, terrace by terrace, along the steep, western slopes of the Rhône River. For many years, the majority of growers in Cornas sold their fruit to négociants. Auguste was the first to bottle his own wine, which eventually paved the way for such contemporary superstars as Thierry Allemand. Without pretense or fanfare, Auguste, the former mayor of Cornas, was a stately picture of grace and magnanimity—a no-nonsense wise man who never rested on his laurels and sought to better himself and his wines each year until his passing in 2018 at the age of 93. Today, his son, Pierre-Marie, and grandson, Olivier, carry on his legacy with honor and integrity.Though the Clapes farm only eight hectares, the challenge presented by the rough, tightly stacked terrace vineyards of Cornas is largely enough to handle by anybody’s standards. The dicey precipices make using any machinery in the vineyards impossible. All work must be done by hand. There are no official rules to their viticultural methodology—they work the old-fashioned way, by instinct, feeling, and common sense. The vineyards sit on granite subsoil, behind the village, with optimal sun exposure. They farm a number of prime parcels, including Reynards, La Côte, Geynale, Tézier, Petite Côte, Les Mazards, Patou, Pied La Vigne, Chaillot, and Sabarotte, the latter purchased from Cornas legend Noël Verset. Their only secrets: starting with old vines, and optimizing the ripeness of the fruit as best they can. They accomplish this by holding out before they harvest—a risky game of ‘chicken’ where the trick is to keep the fruit on the vine as long as possible while still harvesting before the rains. Individual parcels are vinified separately via whole-cluster fermentation. Long élevages of twelve to twenty-two months in old, oval foudres add depth to the natural complexity of the wines. These Cornas are capable of tremendous longevity in the cellar, although Kermit also encourages trying them while they are young and fresh, to better appreciate the evolution to come. For a taste of the old-style Syrah from the fabulous, sculptured slopes of the Northern Rhône, Clape’s Cornas is the only place to start.
Terre del Vescovo
Deep in Campania’s mountainous interior, amid hazelnut groves and dense, lush woodland, small vineyard plots dot the rolling landscape. Here in rural southern Italy, an ancient history of viticulture lives on through the hands of small-scale farmers, proud custodians of this land upholding centuries of a tradition shared with the Greeks, Romans, and countless others. Home to what has been dubbed “the Barolo of the South,” the green haven known as Irpinia, an hour’s drive east of Napoli, features the noble Aglianico grape at its grandest. Indeed, the Taurasi appellation—one of just four DOCGs in Campania—is the south’s answer to the great reds of Piedmont or Tuscany, where grape and outstanding terroir come together to give immense potential through the labor of dedicated local artisans.Terre del Vescovo is a 4-hectare property in Montemarano, a top cru of the Taurasi zone where the appellation’s highest-elevation sites yield chiseled, mineral, age-worthy reds. At up to 600 meters above sea level on soils of clay and limestone, the vines benefit from significant diurnal temperature shifts crucial to developing complex, well-defined flavors and preserving freshness at this southerly latitude. Thanks to this slow maturation, the late-ripening Aglianico is harvested in November, sometimes under a blanket of snow.
Giuseppa Molettieri cultivates these vineyards (many of them 60+ years old) with her husband Luigi, intent on preserving the tradition established by her father, Giovanni. He was the first of several generations of farmers in the family to bottle his wine and gain recognition for his Taurasi, and still watches over the vines and cellar to this day. “My enologist works with just one azienda,” declares Giuseppa, “because he is my father!” Her reliance on traditional methods passed down from previous generations lies in stark contrast with the trend of consulting enologists who arguably standardize a number of the region’s wines.
Giuseppa and Luigi bottle small amounts of perfumed, textural Coda di Volpe for everyday refreshment, but their main focus is Aglianico. All three reds in the lineup are aged in enormous old Garbellotto botti—the Taurasi for up to four years, then several more in bottle before release. A beautiful marriage of deep, nuanced aromatics, high-toned acidity, and dense, silky, fine-grained tannins, Terre del Vescovo’s wines embody the finest of Irpinia’s tradizione contadina.
Cantina Favaro
Benito Favaro and his sons, Camillo and Nicola, are masters of Erbaluce, one of the most traditional white wines native to Piemonte. In fact, the DOC for Erbaluce di Caluso was the first white wine to receive that status in the region in 1967. The name “Erbaluce” is derived from the local legend of the fairy “Albaluce” who is said to have blessed the region with this prolific white grape. Today we know that Erbaluce’s genetic heritage likely stems from the Provençal Clairette, although more research is ongoing. There is no doubt that these beautiful golden grapes, which tend towards a rosy blush when ripe, light up the vineyards under their pergolas like little lanterns.Erbaluce di Caluso is tucked into the hills near Ivrea, a specific microclimate in which Erbaluce (and Nebbiolo) thrive. The acidic soils are a mixture of granite, clay, and sand, to which these local grapes are perfectly adapted. These hills are the product of ancient glacial activity, and the resulting glacial lakes that punctuate the terroir moderate some of the Alpine influences this far into the mountains.
Camillo Favaro is a true Renaissance man whose passion for wine reaches far beyond the boundaries of his own vineyards, and even his own country. He and his partner, Antonella Frate, developed a cottage design firm geared towards helping other small wineries. They design labels, launch websites, direct photography, and produce trade events to promote other regions and indigenous grapes. Their firm also provides an avenue for French coopers to connect with small Italian wineries. Additionally, Camillo has co-authored three editions of “Vini e Terre di Borgogna” (Wines and Vineyards of Burgundy)—the first book about Burgundy ever written in Italian, for Italians.
The Favaro family are true garagistes, crafting their wines under their home in a subterranean cellar just next to their vineyards. They work organically in the vines, and all their efforts support coaxing the maximum expression of their land out of the wine. Green harvesting, carefully working the soils, and an ancient pergola system maximize the quality they obtain. Their expression of Erbaluce is a benchmark for the appellation, and these white wines are capable of aging beautifully. The tiny bit of Nebbiolo and Freisa produced here are also extremely special wines, as elegant and aromatic as anything made elsewhere in Piemonte.
Château Gombaude-Guillot
In the heart of the Pomerol plateau, on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, the vineyards of Château Gombaude-Guillot have been a family property for so long that the current generation doesn’t even know when they were first acquired. The Bélevier family was already well established as vignerons in Pomerol and Néac when this property was passed down to Marie Bélevier as a dowry in 1868. The “château” itself, which was originally a café where the locals would gather for a drink after church services, was added to the property in 1922. Today, Claire Laval, Marie’s great-granddaughter, runs the estate. Claire started her career as an agronomist, specializing in soils best suited for cattle, and had no formal training in viticulture. It is through viticulture, though, that she has refined her expertise in soil management, learning from her own work in the vineyards. Though the estate is already certified organic, she is now pursuing the more stringent requirements of biodynamics. Her dedication to the environment even extends to using local oak for the wines’ élevage. Claire’s reputation among her peers also speaks volumes of her capabilities and work ethic: in 1991, she and only one other woman were inducted into the Confrerie des Hospitaliers de Pomerol, a first in this traditionally all-male wine fraternity.As a recently discovered jewel in the crown of Bordeaux, Pomerol does not have an official classification system, yet the standards set for the vignerons here are high. The château’s vineyards are comprised of glacial gravel deposits and clay, and vineyard work is focused around soil health, low yields, and maximizing ripeness. Cover crops are planted between vineyard rows to encourage microbiological activity in the soil. No chemical or synthetic herbicides or fungicides are used, and Claire is also careful not to eliminate vineyard pests entirely, citing their importance to the vineyard’s ecosystem. The vines average forty years of age and give naturally low yields. The wines of Gombaude-Guillot are classic reflections of Pomerol: rich and supple, with a deep gravel mineral structure. This vin de garde has all of the grace and finesse for which the appellation is known, without any of the highbrow pretention or price.
Nicole Chanrion
When Nicole Chanrion began her career in the 1970s, convention relegated women to the enology labs and kept them out of the cellars—even her mother thought winemaking was man’s work—but she would not be deterred from her dream of becoming a vigneronne. With six generations of family tradition preceding her, she grew up helping her father in both the vineyards and the cellar in the Côte-de-Brouilly, one of the southernmost crus of the northern Beaujolais. Though she is mild-mannered and slight of build, her determination and conviction have consistently defied all doubts. Ever since taking over the family domaine in 1988, she works all 6.5 hectares entirely by herself, from pruning the vineyards and driving the tractors to winemaking and bottling, all without bravado or fanfare. In 2000 she became president of the Côte-de-Brouilly appellation, a position of respect and importance among peers. It’s small wonder then that she is affectionately referred to as “La Patronne de la Côte,” or the Boss of la Côte.The Côte-de-Brouilly appellation sits on the hillsides of Mont Brouilly, a prehistoric volcano that left blue schist stones and volcanic rock along its slopes. These stones yield structured wines with pronounced minerality and great aging potential. After her formal training at the viticultural school in Beaune Nicole began working at a her family’s domaine and gained a deeper appreciation of the traditional winemaking techniques of the Beaujolais: hand harvesting, whole cluster fermentation, aging the wines in large oak foudres for at least nine months, and bottling unfiltered. The resulting wines are powerful, with loads of pure fruit character and floral aromas.
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet
When Jean-Paul Thévenet took the reins of his family’s Beaujolais domaine in 1976, the region was in the midst of a productivity boom. Following WWII, modern developments including powerful fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides were introduced as progresssive solutions to traditional farming practices and rapidly became widespread. Jean-Paul’s father embraced these changes, which at the time were welcome improvements to the time-consuming, physically demanding labor to which the generations preceding him had grown accustomed.Jean-Paul picked up where his father left off until a childhood friend convinced him to return to pre-industrial ways of farming and winemaking. Marcel Lapierre, who also ran a domaine in Villié-Morgon, had been experimenting with natural vinifications of organically farmed fruit with promising results, guided by the mentorship of local biochemist and vigneron Jules Chauvet. With Lapierre’s counsel, Thévenet began by eliminating synthetic treatments in his vines and in 1981 made a first attempt at producing a natural wine, using ripe, hand-harvested fruit fermented whole-cluster with vineyard yeasts, very little added sulfur, and no chaptalization. His first successful vintage came in 1985, and it would take years of additional tastings, discussions, and late nights with Lapierre and two other local boys, “P’tit Jean” Foillard and Guy “P’tit Max” Breton, before Jean-Paul (known as “Polpo”) would achieve consistency with his new methods. The Gang of Four, as Kermit later dubbed the Villié-Morgon rebels, soon began winning over hearts and palates with their fine, perfumed, terroir-driven Morgons.
Growing up at the domaine, Jean-Paul’s son Charly took an early interest in vigneron life, and specifically the world of natural wine. As a teenager, he worked in Marcel Lapierre’s cellar for three years before returning home to help his father. It was upon Charly’s impetus that Jean-Paul began tilling his vineyards in 2000, finally investing in the necessary equipment to work the soil mechanically. In 2006, eager to strike out on his own, Charly purchased his own vines in the neighboring cru of Régnié, in which he introduced biodynamic practices.
Father and son now work together under one label, carrying forth Jean-Paul’s vision of pure and profound Beaujolais from old vines via sustainable farming and low-intervention winemaking. The Thévenets’ plush, mouth-filling Morgon and spicy, stony Régnié are a testament to their status as natural wine pioneers, definitively cementing their legacy in the Beaujolais hall of fame.
From the Blog
Elena Lapini’s Ribollita Recipe
Earlier this month, Elena Lapini of Podere Campriano shared her recipe for ribollita with us. She explained, “Usually, every family in the Florence area (ribollita is typical only in Florence, Arezzo, and the plain of Pisa) has its own recipe that was passed down from generation to generation, and I have my own recipe that came from my grandmother. Here is that recipe, translated into English because we occasionally make it in our cooking classes and I offer it to my English-speaking guests.
“As you might know, it was traditionally a peasant recipe, made of bread, vegetables, and broth. It was usually done on Friday, because the Catholic religion says that meat should not be eaten on Friday, but then it was also heated in the following days and this is why the name ribollita (re-boiled) was born. It seems the name was born around 1910, but already in the Middle Ages, a similar bread soup was cooked that was simply called by another name. Today, it is eaten during winter because of our abundance of winter vegetables.”
Click here to view our 6-bottle sampler of Tuscan reds to pair with ribollita.
Posted on January 29, 2020, 4:11PM, by Tom Wolf
Earlier this month, Elena Lapini of Podere Campriano shared her recipe for ribollita with us. She explained, “Usually, every family in the Florence area (ribollita is typical only in Florence, Arezzo, and the plain of Pisa) has its own recipe that was passed down from generation to generation, and I have my own recipe that came from my grandmother. Here is that recipe, translated into English because we occasionally make it in our cooking classes and I offer it to my English-speaking guests.
“As you might know, it was traditionally a peasant recipe, made of bread, vegetables, and broth. It was usually done on Friday, because the Catholic religion says that meat should not be eaten on Friday, but then it was also heated in the following days and this is why the name ribollita (re-boiled) was born. It seems the name was born around 1910, but already in the Middle Ages, a similar bread soup was cooked that was simply called by another name. Today, it is eaten during winter because of our abundance of winter vegetables.”
Click here to view our 6-bottle sampler of Tuscan reds to pair with ribollita.