KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

Bèrto

Situated in Castelnuovo Don Bosco in Piedmont, the Distilleria Quaglia was purchased in 1906 by the great-grandfather of the current distillery director, Carlo Quaglia. A succession of ancestors passing historical and traditional knowledge of distillation, liqueur, and vermouth production from one generation to the next brings us to present day. Our fortunate introduction to Carlo and his masterful artisanship came from brothers Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino, to whom they entrust the production of their Barolo Chinato with staggering results.

The ambition of the Bertò line is to preserve a multitude of traditional liqueurs and vermouths from Piedmont. We first began importing their two sweet vermouths, the red (Ross da Travaj) and white (Aperitiv dla Traddission), which are standard-bearers of traditional vermouth di Torino and express typical Italian craftsmanship. To make their sweet vermouths, Carlo infuses a variety of local, home-grown, and carefully sourced herbs and spices for two months until gently pressing them off so not to extract vegetal qualities that could upset their subtle aromas. The resulting infusion, along with sugar and alcohol, is added to a base of dry Italian wines and ages for a minimum of one month before bottling. The vision speaks for itself, resulting in Piemontese vermouths that can be enjoyed on their own, perhaps in a tumbler with ice and a simple curl of orange peel.

Since this time, we have expanded our imports of their products and now work with a fragrant dry vermouth, three liqueurs (Aperitivo, Bitter, Fernet), and our first spirit import, an aromatic dry Gin. Among the myriad cocktails that can be mixed with these ingredients, perhaps the one we were most excited about was the Bèrto Negroni—so much so we introduced a pre-batched bottling (highly anticipated by the entire KLWM staff) to the collection.

Riofavara

One of the newest additions to our portfolio is Kermit’s first Sicilian producer: the Riofavara estate, which is on the southern tip of this legendary island. The Padova family has tended vines here for almost a century, but only in 1993 did they begin bottling their own wine. Just a few years later, Massimo Padova took over the estate along with his sister Marianta, their cousin Antonella, and Massimo’s wife, Margherita. This energetic young team has worked tirelessly over the last dozen years to build a new winery and hone production techniques, resulting in an impeccable expression of the land they prize so highly.
The philosophy at Riofavara revolves around two central concepts: Sicilian typicity and the environment. Before rejoining his father at the estate, Massimo executed a careful study of the region’s wineries, zeroing in on the most talented and meticulous producers and determining what vineyard qualities and production methods were the keys to their success. Armed with his findings and reassured that their own land was among the region’s best terroirs, he ensured that every possible measure was taken to hone the quality of their wines. The family is so fervently dedicated to organic production that a few years ago they deemed the official Italian certifying agency too lax and “fired” them, establishing their own stringent standards that demand quality in the finished wine as well as environmentally friendly practices during production. Today they are happy to provide proof of their organic status from a small group called ASCA, which they find more rigorous in their inspections.
Riofavara is located in the Noto Valley, just a few minutes down the road from the town that gave Nero d’Avola its name, and was the first producer to dignify this grape with the use of its own indigenous yeasts. Though the area’s image still suffers in some circles from the historic production of high-alcohol wines that were good only to boost thin wines from the mainland, estates like Riofavara have completely reversed this trend, eliciting vivacious, mineral wines from the zone’s rocky limestone and marl terrains.

André & Michel Quenard

Savoie is a picture of fairy-tale perfection: snow-capped peaks, green rolling hills, wildflowers, and cold, sparkling mountain streams. This idyllic region hugs the western Alps, where Michel Quenard and his family farm twenty-two hectares of vineyards along the steep, rocky slopes of the Coteau de Torméry around Chignin. The limestone scree that makes up this vineyard land, resulting from millions of years of erosion of the majestic peaks of the Massif des Bauges, lends great character to the wines produced here.

Michel’s grandfather started the domaine in the 1930s. Though he slowly increased the vineyard holdings, he also sold off most of his wine in bulk. It was not until 1960 that Michel’s father, André, began bottling under their own label. Armed with a degree in viticulture and enology from Beaune, Michel joined the domaine in 1976, expanding vineyard holdings and making improvements to the cellar. Today, he is joined by his son Guillaume. While they are far from the only Quenards in Chignin, they are certainly the most well-known—perhaps this is due to the severity of their terrain and the quality of wines it produces. Andrew Jefford writes in his contemporary classic, The New France, “Michel Quenard and his father André are masters of the Bergeron grape, known in the Rhône Valley and elsewhere as Roussanne. They argue it should be limited to the best and steepest local sites where it can ripen fully, like the Coteau de Torméry, giving wines of real texture and perfume as it does so” (p 122). We think it is one of the most unique and beautiful renditions of Roussanne in the world.

Despite the domaine’s proximity to the Alps, the vineyards enjoy a surprisingly warm microclimate with southern sun exposure. Fig and olive trees are also found among the vines, unusual for such a snowy region. There are twenty-one crus in the Savoie appellation, encompassing more than twenty permitted cépages—including several endemic varieties exclusive to Savoie. The Quenards’ vineyards are planted to some of the region’s best known, with a focus on Bergeron, Jacquère, Mondeuse, and Altesse. Michel and Guillaume bottle multiple cuvées, highlighting the region’s diversity of grape varieties and the different terroirs they farm. The stoniness of their vineyards expresses an alpine freshness and lively minerality in their wines. Their cuvées go beyond the simple “eclectic” that categorizes wines from the region; whether they are quaffed or savored, they are all unique revelations that reflect the complexity of their terroir and the fine artistry of these master vignerons.

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.

Villa di Geggiano

The brothers who run this estate boast a grand villa just outside Siena, a pope in the family, three last names, and some of the best Chianti Classico on the market today. Andrea and Alessandro Boscu Bianchi Bandinelli are the current proprietors of the Villa di Geggiano, a national monument that has been in their family since 1527; documents show that the family was already producing wine here and exporting it to Great Britain in 1725. Originally the family’s summer house, the villa still touts its 18th-century décor and furnishings, and the family is proud to tell of the famous guests who have graced these rooms. Today the estate covers twenty hectares, encompassing the formal outdoor theater that is still used in the summer, a tantalizing vegetable garden, and grounds that include about eight hectares of vineyards. Andrea generally handles the commercial side of the business while Alessandro prefers to stay in the vineyards and cellar, but both brothers are well versed in every aspect of the operation and make decisions jointly. Being especially concerned with the environmental aspect of their craft, they have always worked their vineyards organically, and the estate obtained official certification in 2006.
Geggiano follows the classic tenet that wine resembles its maker: these are distinguished, classy cuvees that nevertheless show the distinct stamp of the terroir. This Chianti earns the title of Classico not just by meeting technical requirements but with its full personality, which shows the balance of bright fruit, a deep, leathery core, and vibrant acidity that is the region’s signature. The recurrent theme when Geggiano is mentioned at KLWM is food pairings (a high compliment coming from this crowd) because theirs are quintessential food wines and the perfect accompaniment to so many dishes, especially Tuscan ones, from grilled vegetables to wild boar ragù. When Kermit has the good fortune to stay for lunch, he comes back raving about it, which makes for some jealous smirks from the staff.

The Guest House at Villa di Geggiano

Champagne Paul Bara

The Montagne de Reims boasts some of the best Pinot Noir in the region, and Bouzy is its capital. The key to Bouzy’s inherent greatness lies in its deep, chalky subsoil which imparts intense expression of fruit and great mineral complexity in its grand cru wines. The village of Bouzy and Champagne Paul Bara are practically synonymous. As the published village historian, Paul is indelibly linked to the lore of his hometown. Many argue that he is their most renowned producer, being one of the rare récoltants-manipulants in a region inundated with the mass-produced wines of the large, corporate champagne houses. These récoltants-manipulants, or R.M.s as they are known, are of the few that still grow their own grapes and make their own wines. Champagne Paul Bara is the quintessential example, where everything is done with a personalized touch.
Over the years, gradual improvements have been made to the estate: the surface area of the vineyards was expanded to eleven hectares (only 26 acres!), the winery and press modernized, and the cellar extended – and what an impressive cellar! It is carved entirely out of pure chalk and reaches a depth of over thirty feet below ground. When Paul returned home at the end of World War II, he found these same cellars raided, pillaged of nearly all inventory, and irreverently trashed by the German occupying forces. Of the few bottles that were salvaged, one can still experience the longevity and timeless quality of the Bara’s classic style. When Paul retired, he passed the direction of the estate over to his eldest daughter, Chantale, who has kept their family traditions and their house style very much alive. The Baras make their wines by hand with low-yielding vines and good maturity ensured by prolonged bottle aging. Andrew Jefford, author of The New France, calls them, “…essential references for anyone who wants to enjoy and understand the ripe, dry richness of Bouzy…” 

Château Belles-Graves

Relatively secluded, surrounded by its vines, in a place far from the worries of the outside world, Château Belles-Graves is a small glimpse of what one person’s paradise might be like. Idyllic pastures, vineyards, and gardens decorate the landscape, and the focal point is a beautifully-tended labyrinth made of vines in the gardens of the château. Moreover, the property is rich with history: the vineyards here date to at least the 16th century, when they first appeared on a map of the region, and the building’s edifice as we know it today dates back to the 18th century, before the French Revolution. Though the ownership has changed several times, the old Domaine du Drouilleau, as it was once known, finally settled in the hands of Jean and Hermine Theallet in 1938. Until his death in 1997, Jean’s first cousin, the famed explorer Jacques Cousteau, would visit each year to taste the new vintage before resuming his travels out at sea. It is the Theallets’ grandson, Xavier Piton, who runs the seventeen-hectare estate today and receives guests at the château’s highly-recommended chambres d’hôtes. Keep it in mind for your next vacation.
Situated in Lalande de Pomerol, just north of Pomerol, Belles-Graves produces Merlot-dominated wines with a lush, velvety texture and very fine tannins. The vineyards average forty years of age and are planted on slopes that descend to the east, south and west of the estate. Though they sit just across a small river from some of the famous estates of Pomerol, their greatness comes from their own terroir of varied clay and gravel where flint, quartz, and mica offer distinct mineral components to each parcel. Yields are kept low, the maceration is long, and the wines are never filtered. The final blend consists of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc. The finesse and subtlety that characterize this wine are matched by its complexity and depth. In Bordeaux’s sea of oft-criticized, overly-expensive, and even over-rated wines, it is refreshing to find a domaine, a château, whose wine is far from banal and whose price point feels comfortable.  

Davide Vignato

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

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

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

Régis Minet

One could easily consider Régis Minet the Loire Valley’s answer to an action hero. He may play it cool on the outside, but at closer look, one sees a man of brooding intensity on an insatiable quest for adventure. It may just be in the blood. His grandfather, Robert Minet, was an artisan tonnelier, or barrel-maker. At the beginning of the last century, Robert kept a mere three hectares of vines in the eastern Loire town of Pouilly-sur-Loire—just enough to make the family’s wine. He, too, was very independent, living autonomously off his own livestock and fresh vegetables from his farm. When he passed away in 1976, Régis left his studies to continue the work of the domaine without giving it a second thought. Since then, he has made this tiny farm a full-time domaine, and has succeeded in adding an additional eight hectares of vineyards to the holdings. It is certain that his love of his native terroir translates into his wines, although one sees it in many other aspects of his character as well. Watching him fervently serve a plate of crottins de chevre to guests, seeing his latest fossilized finds after a day of diving into the bottom of the Loire River, or watching him tinker with his motorcycle after an epic ride is proof enough that Régis shares both his grandfather’s rogue-ishness and love of the land.
Pouilly-sur-Loire produces one of the greatest Sauvignon Blancs in the world. Régis’ vineyards sit at 750 feet, surrounded by hills on the far east of the Loire River, and centered proudly on the prized limestone and clay of the Kimmeridgian chain. The scattered flint in these vineyards imbues the wines with a character quite distinctive from the neighboring village of Sancerre. In the eloquent words of KLWM Store Manager, Steve Waters, “You couldn’t ask for a cleaner, fresher, flintier, or truer expression of Sauvignon Blanc. Its mouth-watering acidity, depth of flavor, and fleshy texture will have you racing back for more.”