KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

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.

Meyer-Fonné

Strangely enough, Kermit came upon the Meyer-Fonné wines for the first time at his home down in Provence. He was tasting with Daniel Ravier, the winemaker at Domaine Tempier, and the two were blown away at the first, dazzling sip; now that we’ve all gotten to know the domaine, we understand why. Félix Meyer is a rising star in Alsace and has an evident instinct for his craft. He is the third generation in his family to be making wine since his grandfather founded the domaine in the late 19th century. Since taking over in 1992, Félix has already left his own mark, modernizing equipment in the winery, developing export sales, and now expanding the family’s holdings in many of Alsace’s great vineyard sites, including several grand crus.

It’s all about the details at Meyer-Fonné, with an emphasis on tradition and respect for terroir. The winery and family home is in the village of Katzenthal, known for its distinctive granite soils. Meyer is a master at the art of blending and astutely applies this skill in mixing the wine from various parcels into complex, balanced cuvées. He also believes in raising his wines on fine lees in large, older foudres, as was the tradition in Alsace. All of Meyer’s bottlings are characterized by stunning aromatics and a signature backbone of minerality and nerve. Racy and elegant, his wines are difficult to resist young but have all the right qualities for the cellar. For aromatic and textural seductiveness, no one in Alsace can top Meyer-Fonné.

François Rousset-Martin

Blink and you might miss Nevy-sur-Seille, a village tucked away in the Vallée des Reculées, where François Rousset-Martin makes his wine. Albeit discreet, this part of the Jura resembles something of the American West—undiscovered and wild, and rich in natural habitat. The backdrop here is dramatic: Massive limestone and marl cliffs perched atop pedestals of sloping vineyards, and in the foreground, flocks of livestock grazing and snoozing the day away. Traditionally a mixed farming region, the Jura is witnessing a new generation focused exclusively on winemaking, and in the case of Rousset, redefining what we consider typical of the area with his vins ouillés.

François first caught the wine-bug growing up in Burgundy where his father was a micro-biologist for the Hospices de Beaune. Childhood trips were spent in the Jura getting to know and falling in love with a parcel of family vines which he would later vinify with his father. After earning an oenology degree and continuing his journey in the southern Rhône and Languedoc regions, he returned to his Jurassian roots and in 2007 officially launched his winery. While his scientific background provides François with a literal understanding of the transformation from grape to wine, he’s most influenced by keen intuition, and winemaking lore passed down from his great grandfather, also a winemaker.

François's raison d'être is to better know and understand the incredible terroirs in which he is invested. His new project near the amazing town of Baume-les Messieurs holds great potential once the vines are of age. His current work is most focused on making previously inconceivable wines within the Château Chalon appellation, labeled as Côtes du Jura since he makes them in a non-oxidative (ouillé or topped-up) style. Vinified by climat with little to no sulfur and bottled unfined and unfiltered, the Rousset wines are complex and persistent, falling somewhere along the spectrum of floral and delicate, exotic and savory.

Domaine Jean-Claude Marsanne

The Marsanne family, as their name attests, has a long and deep-rooted history in the northern Rhône, in particular around Mauves, the birthplace of the Saint-Joseph appellation. In 1920, current owner Jean-Claude’s grandfather, Jean-Pierre, became the first in the family to focus solely on vineyards—no easy task given the impossibly steep slopes of Mauves, where everything must be worked by hand and pickaxe. Jean-Pierre started with just a few small parcels, selling off his crop to prestigious négociants, and was quickly renowned throughout the region for the exceptional quality of his grapes. His untimely passing in 1950 forced his son, Jean, to quit school at age 16 to take over the domaine. He continued his father’s work in earnest, his vineyards often being recognized amongst the village’s best, not just for their exposition and soil, but also for the attention to detail young Jean paid to each vine. The grape sales financed some small land purchases in and around Mauves, and the domaine slowly grew to 3 hectares. In 1970, Jean made the leap to begin making and bottling the wines himself. Over time, a small, but loyal following developed, especially among France’s fine dining establishments, which valued the finesse and elegance of Marsanne’s cuvées. The domaine remained largely unknown on the international scene, overlooked by many journalists and clients who sought out bolder, more extracted styles.

Since taking over from Jean in 1991, Jean-Claude has continued to add select new parcels, growing the domaine to 9.6 hectares. While still mostly focused on Syrah from the hallowed terroir of Mauves, he now farms a few small plots of Marsanne for his Saint-Joseph blanc, as well as some Viognier and Syrah in the Ardèche hills west of the village. He also inherited a superb plot of Crozes-Hermitage that once belonged to his grandmother.

Kermit came across Jean Marsanne during his early adventures in France in the 1970s, and was struck by the wines’ aromatic complexity and Jean’s meticulous care for the vineyards. He even managed to import a few bottles in those early days. Kermit and the Marsannes lost touch and life went on, until decades later when Kermit spotted a familiar label while dining out in Paris. The bottle was ordered, uncorked, and an old collaboration was renewed.

Jean-Claude holds tightly to the traditions of his family. These include farming the steepest parcels by hand, as was done by his grandfather; using indigenous yeasts for slow, natural fermentations, like his father taught him; and aging his wines extensively on fine lees, releasing each cuvée at its most expressive moment. The reunion with Marsanne is one of great pride on both sides.

Château Feuillet

Maurizio Fiorano grew up outside Turin and moved to Milan for his studies, but his life took an unexpected turn when he married and moved with his wife to her hometown of Saint Pierre in the Valle d’Aosta. Fiorano continued his work as a surveyor, but his long commute became burdensome when the two of them started a family. By the time their second child came along, Maurizio had had enough and left his old job for good. He didn’t have any definite plans and he knew that his wife’s business of running a small inn was not for him. But she had inherited vineyards from her family, so why not make wine to serve in her restaurant? The idea suited him perfectly, and he went to work in the vines. In the beginning his production was tiny: he signed up to show his first vintage at VinItaly but arrived at the gargantuan expo with just four bottles! Today his production remains small, but he is careful to export to many different markets. He may not be born and bred, but Maurizio says he feels like a Valdostano, and this is his way of showing off the local products all over the world.

If Maurizio became a vineyard owner by chance, he was exceedingly lucky in the placement of his plots—he will humbly tell you that it’s not hard to make good wine here. The vines sit in a very shallow sandy soil, but their feet wriggle into crevices in the solid granite bedrock. Any rain is quickly dried out by cleansing winds. And the vineyards are planted on an ancient riverbed, where over the millennia the Dora Baltea River has cut through the mountain, creating the current river valley and leaving behind mineral deposits that the wines happily lap up. The trump card, however, may be the exposition of the vineyards, which in combination with the chilly climate, high altitude, and drastic diurnal temperature shifts provides the magic charm sought by vignerons everywhere: extremely long hours of gentle sunlight. In fact, the vineyards here capture the sun so perfectly that the almond trees scattered over the slope blossom at the same time as those in Sicily, over 550 miles farther south! This gives the grapes an exceptionally long, slow ripening season that in turn offers very unusual red wines with the heft of a sunny climate that are still refreshing and light on their feet, as you might expect of a northern wine.

Yves Leccia

Yves Leccia has a certain presence and noble bearing to him, much like his wines. In France they have often been referred to as the “Rolls-Royce” of Corsican wines, a reputation earned after nearly 30 years of making consistently elegant and sophisticated wines.
Raised in a small village in the heart of Patrimonio, Yves worked alongside his father in the vines and cellar at the earliest age he could. The Leccias have been making wine from some of the finest terroirs of Patrimonio for countless generations, and there was never the least doubt in Yves’ mind that he would continue the tradition. Originally working alongside his sister, he decided to branch off on his own in 2004 and focus on the single terroir he felt was the top in Patrimonio. This terroir, “E Croce,” sits on a thin chalk soil above a thick bedrock of pure schist, facing the gulf of St. Florent. Yves is a firm believer in the idea that if you want something done right you need to do it yourself, and thus he tends to his vines alone and works the cellar by himself as well. He keeps his yields low, knows when to harvest, and knows how to let E Croce express itself in the wines. Not a single bottle comes out of the domaine that isn’t meticulously looked after from start to finish.
In Corsica, Yves is celebrated not only for his wines, but also for being a founding member of A Filetta, a legendary and proudly nationalistic Corsican polyphonic singing group. Spend some time with Yves and you won’t hear him boast or even talk much about his accomplishments. His name, Leccia, is Corsican for Oak. The name is ironic if you look at Yves’ wines, given that he’s never had his wine touch a single oak barrel and has never allowed wood to enter his cellar. The name is less ironic if you look at Yves himself, with his stoic manner and understated personality.
Kermit touts the aging capacity of Yves’ reds. He opened a 1998 in 2010 that he still talks about, comparing it to the best the south of France has to offer.

Catherine Le Goeuil

The hilltop village of Cairanne on the left bank of the southern Rhône between Orange and Vaison-la-Romaine is a picture of Provençal fantasy where fields of lavender paint the landscape purple and proud plain trees line the marketplace in the center of town. Cairanne belongs to the Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation and is widely regarded as the star among the seventeen villages that have the right to use this designation.
Catherine Le Goeuil’s taste for adventure has made her a leading pioneer in Cairanne. Having been born in the Congo to French parents, she had already lived in interesting places, but she longed to return to her roots. In 1993, with little experience and great determination, she and her family bought a six-hectare domaine. Soon after implementing one of their first chemical treatments on the vines, Catherine became very ill. The viticultural direction for the domaine became instantly clear. In her mind, farming as naturally as possible was the only way to go. Over time, she started the conversion to organic farming, and is now fully certified in this methodology. In a village just shy of one thousand inhabitants and only two others who farm organically nearby, her decisions have been met with suspicion and trepidation. Though rooted to the place both figuratively and literally, she is still considered an outsider—not that she lets this dilute her conviction in any way.
Cairanne is located deep in the heart of the Vaucluse and boasts spectacular views of the famous Dentelles de Montmirail and Mont Ventoux. Catherine’s vineyards are frequently subject to the forceful mistral, which is known to purify vines of excess moisture when it is not wreaking havoc on her beautiful flower garden. Her vineyards enjoy all the benefits of organic farming: a grassy cover crop in between vineyard rows that provides nutrients and microbiotic growth and well-aerated soils in a typically tough and relatively impermeable sandy molasse. She credits this soil for giving her wines with finesse and approachability, but she deserves credit, too. Brave trailblazing, risk-taking, and persistence in the face of scrutiny have given this creative maverick the fortitude to make delicious, elegant blends year after year.

Veuve Fourny & Fils

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

Domaine Giudicelli

Muriel Giudicelli, whose parents hail from the same village in Corsica, was always enthralled with the French island 120 miles off the coast of Provence. Even though she grew up mostly outside of Corsica—her parents were teachers who worked around the world, including on mainland France—she traveled back to the island frequently to stay with family during vacations. When the wine bug eventually bit, Muriel knew that Corsica was where she wanted to settle.

Like many vignerons who aren’t born into a winemaking family, her path to wine came through university courses, where she undertook agricultural and soil studies. Wary of modern enology, Muriel took the unconventional route of training with small domaines all over France to learn the craft, while waiting for any good opportunities to arise in Patrimonio, in the north of Corsica.

During her studies, she had befriended Antoine Arena, who, one day in 1996, called her up and told her about a retiring vigneron with terrific old vines, no children to take over, in a great part of Patrimonio, who was looking to sell. Muriel jumped at the opportunity, bought those 5 hectares of vines, and in 1997 began making wine. From day one, she farmed organically. She obtained organic certification in 2006 and biodynamic certification in 2012.

Muriel’s original holdings, as well as newer ones she has added since then, are all in the highly regarded Campo Gallo (“field of the rooster”) sub-region of Patrimonio, distinct due to its diverse pockets of green clay, red clay, granite, schist, and limestone. Yves Leccia’s parcels border hers. Today she has 10 hectares in total, which she works with her husband (he’s in charge of the vines, she’s in charge of the cellar) and only one employee.

Since 1997, Muriel has avoided the easy sale of the local market. Her main market has been and is still Paris. She wanted to make wine for wine lovers, not primarily for tourists, and was inspired by Antoine Arena’s vision of making Corsica and Patrimonio known beyond its borders and respected for its quality. With her Patrimonio whites and reds, Muriel has joined Antoine in cementing this legacy!

I Pàstini

Our first-ever foray into the heel of the Italian boot might not be what you expect. Puglia is the likely birthplace of Italian wine (and, as follows, French wine!), with the vine originally traveling here via Greek settlers who crossed the Adriatic channel. Today, it is the second-largest producer of wine, most of which is red, out of Italy’s twenty regions.

I Pàstini is a small, family-run winery in the Valle d’Itria in eastern central Puglia. Founded by Gianni Carparelli and his father Donato, they grow their grapes on land their ancestors worked: a beautiful limestone plateau overlooking the Adriatic Sea that is co-planted to ancient, (multi-millennia old!), olive groves.

The Valle d’Itria is located roughly in between the coastal towns of Brindisi and Bari, and is made up of a dozen or so small, agrarian towns that are distinguished by their “trulli,” conically-shaped stone structures that historically served to house people, store grain and other staples, and feed livestock. This area experiences hot days during the growing season but they are not excessive and are tempered by cool nights and foggy mornings, and of course the influence of the nearby Adriatic Sea. This Valley is known as the white wine production center of Puglia.

After studying the history of the indigenous grape varieties out of this area, the Carparellis sourced vine cuttings of exactly what they wanted to plant, selecting three local white grapes, Verdeca, Bianco d’Alessano, and Minutolo, and the local red grape, Susumaniello. After vinifying their wines in a neighbor’s cantina for a number of years they built their own winery and cellars, which came online in 2012. They are currently nearing the end of their organic conversion in the vineyards and will be certified organic starting with the 2019 vintage.