KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT

• Organic and biodynamic viticulture
• Low yields
• Hand harvested
• Indigenous yeasts
• Low to no sulfur
• Fermentations in cuve

Vouvray Moustillant “La Dilettante”:

No SO2. Natural pétillant using the traditional style of Vouvray. Wine is aged in barrel prior to bottling.

Vouvray Brut “La Dilettante”:        

• A sparkling Vouvray, released as a non-vintage wine
• Made in the traditional method (Champagne method, i.e.: induced secondary fermentation in bottle aging, disgorgement, and dosage)
• Produced using minimal sulfur
• Domaine disgorges bottles once a year
• Dosage: .8g/L

Vin de France Pét-Nat Rosé “Elle est pas bulle, la vie?”:
• Juice obtained by saignée method after 4 days of carbonic maceration
• Wine finishes its malolactic fermentation
• Aged in cement tank
• Disgorged ater 6 months sur lattes

Vouvray “La Dilettante” Sec:                       

While Catherine and Pierre work together in the vines and the cellar for all the Breton wines, the Vouvrays are Catherine’s pet project (along with the Bourgueil Dilettante below).  The wine comes from 40-year old Chenin Blanc vines planted in flinty soil.  A very gentle pressing is followed by a short vinification in stainless steel.  There is no maloactic fermentation and the wine is bottled in the spring following harvest.  Made for immediate consumption. 

Vouvray “Pierres Rousses” Sec:                       

A wine made by the son of Catherine and Pierre, Paul. A very gentle pressing is followed by fermentation in 1-to-2-year-old barrique. After primary fermentation, wine ages in barrique for 7 months. Wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation. “Pierre Rousses” is a lieu-dit in Vouvray. 

Vouvray Bois Guyon:
• A parcel situated in Noizay that belonged to Catherine’s parents and which they vinified through the 1989 vintage
• The parcel lay fallow until Paul replanted it in 2016
• Paul’s vinifications of this parcel included long ageing in barrel, but with some residual sugar due to botrytized grapes (a sec tendre style).
• His wines are slightly frizzante, while the 1989 vintage of his grandparents is closer to a moelleux
• The last vintage of the parcel before it was uprooted (1989), and the first vintages of the parcel after replanting (2019 and 2020) were released together.

IGP Sauvignon Blanc “Aussi Sec” :
• Fermentation in older oak barrels lasts 3 months
• Wine undergoes malolactic fermentation

Bourgueil “La Dilettante”:

Dilettante “Dabbler” is a project started by Pierre’s wife, Catherine Breton.  Similar to the Trinch but vinified using whole cluster, carbonic maceration without sulfur.  Another wine meant for immediate consumption, low alcohol, low-sulfur, pure Cabernet Franc.  Aged in cement “eggs” and bottled unfiltered in the Spring after harvest.

Rosé d’Anjou “La Ritournelle” Moustillant (dry):
Rosé de Loire “La Ritournelle” Moustillant (off dry):
Pierre Breton’s idea is to make a rosé that approaches the pinnacle of naturalness. These are two different cuvées, never made in the same year, whose grape provenance is identical. From one year to the next the AOC is determined by the amount of residual sugar; 7/8 g takes the “Rosé d’Anjou” classification, whereas a sec takes the “Rosé de Loire” classification. The wine is cold fermented and then racked and further chilled to stop the fermentation. It is bottled with approximately 0.5 atmospheres of pressure. There is only a very small addition of sulfur-dioxide just before bottling, so the wine has wonderful purity. A Ritournelle is catchy little tune, or the chorus of a song, that you can’t get out of your head. The Ritournelle label is a way to identify all the rosé that the domaine makes.

Bourgueil “Avis de Vin Fort Clairet” :                

First made in 2009. A light red wine which sits on its skins for 6 - 8 days before pressing. “Avis de Vin Fort”, a reference to the maritime warning “Avis de Vent Fort” (meaning strong winds are in the forecast), is a play on words to evoke the idea that if the weather is bad, one should sail back to shore and have a glass of wine instead.

Bourgueil “Nuits d’Ivresse”: 

Nuits d’Ivresse “Drunken Nights” is the name of a special cuvée of selected old vines from top clay and limestone sites in Bourgueil.  The wine is vinified in barriques and kept in wood for a year then bottled the following December a little over a year after harvest.  This wine is an homage to the methods of Jules Chauvet and does not see a drop of sulfur throughout its lifetime (harvest, vinification, bottling).  Therefore it must be drunk quickly or stored in the dark at a proper temperature (14°C or less).

Bourgueil “Trinch”: 

“Trinch” is named after a German expression meaning “cheers” championed by the poet and philosopher Rabelais.  Trinch is a Cabernet Franc from younger vines vinified in stainless steel with a cold maceration.  It is made for early consumption and typically has very accessible fruit, soft tannins and low alcohol.  Bottled in the Spring after harvest.

Bourgueil Les Galichets:    

Galichets is the name of the gravelly terroir on the land surrounding the Breton winery in Restigné, in a reputed plateau at 50 meters altitude situated in between the flat land and the slope.  The vines are old, and the vinification is more traditional.  The wine is bottled after a year in stainless steel, unfiltered, in the early Fall before harvest.  Style emphasizes lively fruit and is made to drink young.   

Bourgueil “Franc de Pied”:                   

This is a bottling done from the Bretons' one parcel of un-grafted Cabernet Franc vines, near the parcel of Galichets.  They remain in good health.  The vinification and the style is the same as for Galichets.

Bourgueil Clos Sénéchal:                

Clos Sénéchal is one of the top two red Bourgueil wines produced by the Bretons.  It is from a parcel on the hillside above the plateau of Galichets, where clay and limestone soil sits atop the famed tuffeau of the Loire, the chalky white limestone quarried to build many of the famed châteaux of the region.  Sénéchal is macerated in open wood vats and fermented and aged in wooden foudres.  It is bottled without fining or filtration after 18 months of aging.   

Bourgueil Les Perrières:    

This is the Bretons' greatest red, from one of the most prized hillside parcels in Bourgueil.  The terroir is siliceous clay and limestone, and old vines give very low yields of 20 hectoliters/hectare on average.  The maceration is done in open wood vats and the fermentation and élevage is done in 550-L barriques, a variable percentage of which are new.  The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered after two full years in wood. 

Chinon “Beaux Monts”:                              

This Chinon is sourced from the village of Beaumont. The vinification and élevage take place in wooden vats and barriques. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered after one year in wood, in the early Fall before harvest.

Chinon Beaumont:                              

This Chinon is made from several parcels on clay and limestone hillside soils. The vinification and élevage takes place in wooden vats and barriques. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered after one year in wood, in the early Fall before harvest.

Chinon St Louans :       

This is the Bretons' top cuvée of Chinon, from an outstanding clay and limestone hillside parcel.  It is a wine to age, as opposed to the Beaumont above. The St Louans is macerated in open, wood vats and fermented and aged in 550-L barriques for two years before being bottled unfiltered and unfined.  This is a big, structured Chinon, very long lived.

Bourgueil Rosé Sec “La Ritournelle”:
The Bourgueil rosé is made from direct press and undergoes malolactic fermentation. It is not filtered, but lightly fined with diatomaceous earth. The wine is vinified and aged in stainless steel tanks.

Vin de Pays du Val de Loire Grolleau:
The Bretons' Grolleau undergoes carbonic maceration for 3 weeks in an open-top wood vat. There are no pumpovers or punchdowns. The wine is bottled in the April following the harvest.

Vin de Pays du Val de Loire Grolleau “Primeur”:
• Carbonic maceration in cement tank
• Wine is bottled in November following the harvest
• This is a Beaujolais Nouveau style wine